The What: Yamaha Corporation of America, Professional Audio division, has released the MMP1 Studio Monitor Management System. With advanced audio routing capabilities and DSP features to configure and manage monitor environments from stereo up to complex immersive audio configurations, the MMP1 is designed for use in music and post-production studios around the globe.
The What Else: Monitoring is a vital element in the production environment as it directly affects the quality of the final product. The advent of immersive audio formats has raised the bar higher than ever, increasing the need for precise sound field reproduction. While the migration to efficient DAW-based in-the-box production systems are gaining traction, the Yamaha MMP1 accommodates up-to-date management methods with precision and accuracy.
The heart of the MMP1 is a 40x36 Monitor Matrix to monitor source mixing that supports formats from stereo to immersive audio, including Dolby Atmos, Auro-3D, and NHK 22.2. Also, eight cue outputs and two talkback systems between the control room and booth allow communication between multiple artists and directors. Additional features such as cough mute, cough mute override, and studio speaker auto-mute are also provided, enabling microphones to be muted from external controllers via GPI and GPO, with current status monitoring available via the MMP1 Editor software or iPad App.
“The Yamaha MMP1 offers production facilities the high-quality monitoring control solution in a streamlined design with stunning audio quality needed to deliver great mixes, no matter the format,” said Nithin Cherian, PA product marketing manager, Professional Audio division, Yamaha Corporation of America.
A 32x32 speaker management matrix with crossover filters for bass management on all channels follows the monitor matrix, allowing greater freedom and flexibility rather than just providing a limited selection of preset patterns. Both Finite (FIR) and Infinite (IIR) filters are provided for precise bass management and to maintain flat phase response characteristics between channels for optimum sonic clarity and imaging. Time alignment delay and EQ are also included in the new MMP1 for comprehensive speaker output control.
The system provides 32 inputs plus eight DSP channel inputs, 32 outputs plus stereo downmix outputs and stereo headphone outputs at 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96kHz and can be configured as 20x20 channels at 176.4kHz and 192kHz, as 32x32 channels at 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz, or as 16x16 channels at 176.4kHz and 192kHz.
The Yamaha MMP1 includes eight channel strips that support a wide range of applications. Each is equipped with four selectable EQ types: precise, aggressive, smooth, and legacy offering a comprehensive range of response shaping options, plus a number of analog vintage effects modeled at the component level using Yamaha VCM (Virtual Circuit Modeling) offering professional grade processing accuracy.
In addition to the eight analog and 16 AES/EBU (via 25-pin D-Sub) inputs and outputs, the MMP1 also features 64 channels of Dante I/O audio networking capabilities. The new unit also brings together high-performance AD/DA converters that support sampling rates of up to 192kHz, a sonic design that realizes the quality and accuracy production engineers demand. It also provides advanced audio networking for extended system scalability.
The Bottom Line: The Yamaha MMP1 is engineered to provide flexibility to manage the diversity and complexity of state-of-the-art studio monitor configurations and communication needs, providing a solution that delivers monitoring and functionality in the most efficient way. Powerful matrix mixers, flexible signal routing, and sonic quality make the MMP1 well suited for a diverse range of applications.
