Promusic Summit Video (Español)

Summit Concept Art Part 3

Just thought I'd upload another concept art piece for the Phonic Summit. At this point it was called "Intuitive 32" - at least according to the design. This design is a lot more compact than what we ended up with, but didn't work on an engineering level and was a bit too crammed for the most part.

There are a few functions here Phonic employees wish they could have retained for the final version, but the way they ended up developing the unit didn't leave much room for any of the bells and whistles.  We'll see for the next version though.

Summit System Restore Software

There are instructions for this in the user's manual, but since it's a printed book it was a little difficult to insert a hot-link to the download file. So the link below is to compensate for that. Click the link below to download the Summit Restore File.

Summit Restore Software

This is different to the firmware updates in that it installs the Summit's operating system from scratch.  This is done during the booting process (check the user's manual for instructions, it's all in there).  If a firmware update fails, it may be necessary to perform the system restore from scratch before trying the firmware update again.

September 2010 Update: The restore method detailed in the user manual has been altered slightly since its publication.  The Summit Restore file listed above will also include release notes that have new installation instructions included.

Firmware 1.10.13 Out Now!

The Summit firmware has been updated.  The new firmware, in addition to the start-up menu previously mentioned on this blog, has a new DSP program for better performance.  Not too shabby right? 

Download the latest firmware now!

Settings Recall Function

There's been a bit of firmware talk lately (both in the office and on this blog), and there's one new function that hasn't been mentioned, which may be of interest. With a new firmware update - coming soon, so this is a sneak peak - users will be given the option to load all of their previous settings (or not), directly after the initial restart.  Take a look at the screen below.

Also, I haven't given you a look at this yet, but check out the 4 dynamic processor indicators on the current firmware version.

Basically those Gate, Expander, Compressor and Limiter indicators at the bottom there will light up any of those colors depending on the status of the dynamic process (that's already been discussed, so I won't bore you with details again!).

Another Summit Firmware Release!

Almost a week to the day, Phonic is uploading another brand new Firmware release. It's not the biggest of updates, but it's interesting none-the-less.

Basically the update is a few new indicators in the METER and FADERS menus. If you're in the channel tab, you'll be able to see 4 new indicators for each channel. There's one for each of the dynamic processors: Expander, Gate, Compressor and Limiter.  We've included these just to give you a little idea what's going on.

So these indicators may be any one of three colors. Yellow means that the dynamic process is turned off, and blue means it's on.  Red, on the otherhand, means the dynamic process has been tripped and is currently active.

We also updated the firmware so your settings will autosave approximately every 5 minutes, but that's not that big of a deal - particularly since you can just use the scenes function to save any time you like!

Download link hasn't changed. Get it here!

Summit Support

We've started receiving support questions for the Summit digital mixer (from actual owners, that is). I thought I'd just share one with you. This one particular customer, from Sweden (not sure it really matters where he's from, but there it is), wanted to know how you use the effects and apply them to more than one input channel.

The process is simple, really. Both of the effect processors allow you to take the source signals from either an input channel or an AUX mix. Therefore, to get the signal from multiple channels to the effects processor, you just need send the channels to an AUX mix. You then use the AUX mix as your effect's signal source.

The easiest way to get your channels to the AUX mix is to push any of the "AUX" buttons to the left of the mixer. This will swap the mixer to AUX send mode, and you can use the faders to send the corresponding channels to the AUX mix you've selected. Piece of cake!

If you've purchased a Summit and have any questions, you can get support through the Phonic website (www.phonic.com).

Summit Concept Art Part 2

Here's another cool exclusive.  Everybody bask in its awesomness.

At this point we were calling Summit the iD-something-something.  There was going to be a number after the two letters, which hadn't yet been decided on.  We had decided to change up the inputs and outputs a bit at this point.  This was a while before we eventually settled on 16 mic/line, with the ability to pair them up for stereo inputs.

Again, we tried to pack too much into too small a design, and the end result was a bit 'wishy-washy' and not very intuitive.   If you look at the back panel, though, you can see the final design start to take shape.

Click to embiggenize

AUX and Group Mixes

From the first tab of the View menu (CHANNEL) and onto the second tab: AUX/GROUP.

The above picture shows the AUX 1 channel sends.  You can select the AUX or Group mix you want to view/alter by using the icon on the right hand side of this menu (it currently says AUX 1, but will display whichever mix you've currently selected).

You can't see it in this image, but this whole screen is actually a series of level meters.  On the left-hand side of the image you can see 16 virtual rotary controls (brown indicates their "pre-fader sends").  Above these users can view the level of signal that is currently sent from the corresponding channel to the AUX mix.  The overall level of the AUX mix (pre- or post-fader!) can be viewed on the right-hand side next to the virtual fader.

So what are these virtual rotary controls for?  You can actually adjust the AUX sends to the currently chosen mix by pushing these and spinning the onboard jog wheel.  But if this isn't to your liking, the mixer's hardware also has these buttons:

These adjust the FADER MODE of the Summit (as suggested by the CAPITALIZED name above the buttons).  Push the any of these AUX buttons and you will be able to adjust the AUX sends to the selected mix using the 16 channel faders on the Summit.  Piece of cake.

So, for example, you push AUX 1 in the FADER MODE section.  Your faders will then move into their appropriate positions.  If you have absolutely no channel sends to your AUX 1 mix, the faders will all fall down to the minus infinity point.  You can then push any of these faders up to send that channel to your AUX1 mix.  To return to channel mode, simply push the "channel" button in your LAYER MODE section like so:

AUX and Group mixes can be assigned to the Multi Outputs on the back of the mixer, but we'll talk about that when we get there.