The all new Fusion 12 from Zaxcom will give you the smoothest shave you've ever experienced because twelve blades means more dispersion. Sorry -- just a little but of shear humor to brighten your day. The Zaxcom Fusion 12 is really a 12 channel, high-res audio mixer and recorder. Zaxcom knows a thing or two about high-res audio mixers -- their Deva product family won an Emmy, and unlike Susan Lucci's Emmy, it wasn't out of pity.

Zaxcom President Glenn Sanders had this to say:

"Our new Fusion 12 blends the rugged durability and performance characteristics of a solid state recorder with the maneuverability of an in-bag audio mixer and recorder. With a wide range of features -- including 12 balanced analog inputs and dual CompactFlash recording -- the Fusion 12 provides unique and compelling capabilities for on-the-go, on-location recording. Zaxcom continually looks for ways to best address and exceed the expectations of the professional audio industry, and we feel we've taken solid-state, multitrack recording to higher levels than previously possible in on-location recording."

Staying true to the Fusion oath, the Fusion 12 keeps weight low and efficiency high. It forgoes using an internal hard drive in lieu of a double dose of CompactFlash cards to ensure all solid-state recording that is both self-descriptively redundant and flexible.

If you're any good at math, you can probably guess that the Fusion 12 can record 12 tracks, and it does so either isolated or as a mix of the 12 inputs. These inputs are all balanced, featuring eight balanced XLR mic / line level ins with phantom power. The other four balanced line ins use a single 10-pin Hirose connector. Everyone uses those!

In actuality, these are pretty useful inputs. They can feed any mix without limits either pre- or post-fader, or they can be used collectively as a four-channel monitor return. Or use them to feed the headphone buss (unless a sign instructing you specifically not to feed the headphone buss is present) in any combination and switch or route configurations with the on-board controls.

What's this mean? It means that the Fusion 12 scores with four-channel camera monitoring fans -- and it scores double with two-channel camera monitoring fans. Monitor two of them at once and amaze your friends. Enough about the ins, though, ins are outs and outs are in. Let's keep with the latest fashion trends, shall we?

The Fusion 12 has eight output mix busses available in both analog and AES digital output options. Top that off with 16 dedicated meters, and a soft knee compressor on all 12 internal record busses and all eight output busses.