AES 2008: AURATUS Compact Desk Comes with Powerful New NEXUS Board

Innovative AURATUS XCMC board on display at SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP booth

Amsterdam, in May 2008: The entire control and audio-processing hardware of the AURATUS compact mixing console fits onto a single board that slots into a standard NEXUS 3-U Base Device! Thanks to state-of-the-art technology and a sophisticated PCB design, a tremendously high concentration of DSP power could be achieved in the confined space of a single board. This new mixing-console-on-a-board, which will be introduced at this year’s AES Convention, supports mixer configurations with up to 54 audio channels and 8 sums, 8 aux buses, 8 monitoring buses, and 8 mix-minus sums.

Originally, the basic concept of the AURATUS, which was introduced last year, was that of a new handy console available as a desktop or furniture-mount version without legs. The user controls the system using the multiple layers of an AURATUS control surface featuring 8, 16, or 24 faders.

To maximise utilisation of the available DSP resources and to allow for rapid and straightforward operation, the AURATUS’ bus layout is very similar to a hardwired console. The console does not require any user configuration and presents itself just like a fixed architecture analogue desk. Thus, it is an obvious choice for many applications ranging from production and broadcast consoles in radio and TV through to theatre installations. The straightforward layout is also ideal for the role of »house console« in multipurpose venues. Operational simplicity is enhanced considerably by the ability to store multiple sets of console settings for later recall.

A key benefit of this mixer-on-a-single-board concept is the attractive AURATUS pricing. The STAGETEC console family comprising the AURATUS, the AURATUS XL, which uses the same control surface but is based on even more powerful DSP hardware, and the big AURUS console now covers the entire gamut from powerful compact desks to large-scale mixing-console systems.