FELIX KRUCKELS: My name is Felix Kruckels. I'm the product manager of the mc-Squared Series of Lawo. And the company Lawo was founded 37 years ago. It's placed in Germany in Rastatt in the Southwest of Germany. We started doing analog consoles already 30 years ago, analog [INDISCERNIBLE] consoles. We did the first digital controlled desk in the mid of '80s, digital control and analog processing. The first fully digital desk was done with the mc 80 in the mid of the '90s, and then we launched three years ago at NAB the mc-Squared 66, and one year ago at AES at Vienna the large-format console, the mc-Squared 92.

On the convention AES in Vienna this year, we showed the first time a full plugin integration into the mc-Squared series, mc-Squared 66 and the mc-Squared 90. Plugin integration means that you have full control of all the VST plugins that you have the possibility oto store all the plugin parameters within the normal mixing console snapshot and you can recall all the parameters, even the dynamic automation. That means now we have all the colors plugins bring with them in a live broadcast, live PA desk as well like you know it from DAWs. Tha means we aim to merge the two worlds, plugin/DAW colors and a full mixing console together into one system.

The big benefit of course is you have all reverbs, all the EQs, you know, from Sony or for example, you know from Waves, you know from UA, you know from TC or Ableton and [INDISCERNIBLE]. Installation routine is quite easy. It works the same way like you do with this on the normal Windows computer. This computer then knows all the plugins which are installed. The control system in the desk grabs these plugins as known plugins. One plugin can be assigned to an effects slot, and then automatically all the parameters are learned by the control system. This is the reason why we can store and recall all the parameters.

Once a plugin is installed to an effects slot, all the tie lines between the server and the HD cord, which is our main routing system, are set up automatically. That means even the setup of the plugins to effects slots are stored within the production. It's our top hierarchy of storing and recalling the settings for the mixing console.

For example, you make a production today and you want to use some reverb, some special vocoders, whatever you want to use out of the plugin would be assigned to different plugins slots, to different effects slots. You have to remix the whole production in one year. You just load the production and everything comes back. All the settings, even the automation you can have special moves in your EQ, reverb, or whatever.

We showed this the first time on the mc-Squared 66. This year, of course you can have this in all the mc-Squared Series desks of the third-generation mc-Squared 66 and mc-Squared 90.