by Ty Ford

Real estate is precious in an edit suite.For now, at least, the big foyers, widehallways and showy suites of indepen-

dent post-production facilities are out. Fastercomputers, cheaper storage and a wide arrayof less expensive, computer-based nonlinearediting and compositing systems have led tosmaller square-foot, more economic opera-tions. Less is more. When it works well, “inthe box” is better.

Few TV station post-production operationsglam it up for clients as much as independentfacilities. Broadcasters, however, have theirown issues, such as finding extra technicalspace needed to create the online versions ofon-air programming. In most cases, audiotakes a back seat. As a result, thoughts aboutwhat to do to improve audio fall by the way-side. Besides, in too many small rooms, theaudio monitors aren’t correctly positioned todo a proper mix and the ambient noise level istoo high for critical listening. And, of course,there’s simply not enough time.

FEATURESThe Renegade Labs people in Grass Valley,

Calif., have a product to cope with thesechanging times. Blue|328 is less than 12-inch-es wide and deep, and just slightly more than7 inches high at the meter bridge. It total itsvolume is less than a cubic foot. With theexception of a line-lump power supply with alatching connector, that’s it. Its diminutive sizegives the mixer an almost toy-like appearance.

This is not a toy.Eight long-throw faders, a master fader,

assignment buttons and rotary controls occu-py the rather Spartan front panel. While the

Blue|328 allows you to solo any audio inputfor scrutiny in the monitor speakers, there’salso a handy headphone jack at the lower rightcorner of the front panel when you need tostick your face even deeper into the mix thanthe ambient noise in your edit suite will allow.Being able to hear what’s going on so easilymeans you may actually be able to improvethe audio instead of letting the little thingsgo. The headphone amp has plenty of drive.

All rear panel audio connections are 75ohm BNC, with the exception of 25-pin D-Sub connectors for monitor and spare pro-gram outputs and the locking power supply

connector. Brightness and contrast rotary con-trols for the front-panel display are also dis-creetly mounted on the back panel.

The four input slots on the rear accept eitheranalog or digital input modules. There are two

analog input modules—a 4-channel line levelcard with a D-Sub connector and a 6-channelcard with two XLR connectors for mics (withphantom power) and a D-Sub connector tohandle the four line level inputs. Included are15-pin D-Sub connectors and harnesses. Thethree digital input cards (supporting 24-bit, 48kHz, 96 kHz and 192 kHz) are: AES, AES withsample rate conversion (SRC), or SDI (SerialDigital Video with embedded audio). The auto-configuring SRC modules works nicely forimporting digital audio direct from CD playersand other digital audio sources. Internally, theaudio is 64-bit floating point.

When fully packed, the Blue|328 accepts32 inputs, mixing up to 16 (eight stereosources) at a time. Each input can also bepolarity reversed to straighten out problematicproduction audio. Any input can be routed toany of the eight standard program outputbusses. There are eight analog monitor out-puts. Any combination of the eight busses canbe selected for monitors or headphones. An

Copyright 2007 NewBay Media (USA), LLC. Reprinted with permission.

R E P R I N T E D F R O M A U G U S T 8 , 2 0 0 7 W W W. T V T E C H N O L O G Y. C O M

Renegade Blue|328 MixerAUDIO MIXER

ApplicationProduction and postproduction audio mixer

Key FeaturesFootprint is a single square foot, 32 inputs, 16-channel mixer with SDI audio extractor option.

Price$5,750 (base price); $6,425 with the AESmodule

ContactRenegade Labs530-273-7047www.renegadelabs.com

FAST FACTSThe Renegade Blue|328 audio mixer

Copyright 2003 IMAS Publishing (USA), Inc. Reprinted with permission. Reprinted from TV Technology

Copyright 2007 NewBay Media (USA), LLC. Reprinted with permission.

additional set of eight analog or digital outputchannels is optional.

Video (NTSC/PAL/HDTV) and AES3idsync are provided, and the Blue|328 auto-detects SD and HD signals and bi- and tri-levelsync. When both AES and video sync sourcesare connected to the Blue|328, the sync sourceis a menu choice. The sync connection doesnot loop through the unit.

Signal flow with the Blue|328 is verystraightforward. From any of the 32 inputs,audio travels though a 32x16 matrix. The 16outputs are then gain trimmed, with signalssent to the LCD input meters. Also in the pathare delay, dynamics and EQ for each of the 16channels. These channels are then mixableacross eight outputs. All analog outputs areactive and balanced.

For the experienced operator, this amountof control means you can process audio as it’sgoing into your nonlinear system, correctingEQ and delay problems way upstream. Theamount of delay is indirectly proportional tothe sample rate of the audio. At 48 KHz themaximum is sixteen frames, eight frames at 96kHz and four frames at 192 kHz—in tenth of aframe increments. Inputs can be ganged,applying delay across a group of tracks.

Renegade Labs earlier this year announcedVersion 2.0 software for the Blue|328 mixer.Version 2.0 adds support for SDI with therelease of the new Model 304 8-channel SD/HDSDI input module. This new module extractsup to eight channels of audio from any of thefour available groups. A simple user interfaceprovides selection of the group of audio themixer will extract and route to inputs.

Version 2 adds another 200 memory registersand naming register snapshots, and supportsprogram, monitor, or meter outputs fed to thedigital, analog, or optional outputs. Version 2also adds up to eight channels of returns to theBlue|328, allowing a set of inputs to be desig-nated as returns for monitoring conformance.This is an especially useful feature where a sur-round sound mix may be required and the oper-ator may want to monitor the record returns forconformance. This works with Version 2 with-out having to tie up additional faders.

IN USETo get a more “in the trenches” reaction

to the Blue|328, I dropped it off with SeniorAudio Engineer Bob Bragg and FacilityEngineer Russ Jacobs at Producers Video inBaltimore. Producers Video is evolving theirvideo technology upstream to HD, and hasbeen using Graham-Patten DESAM mixers.

The Blue|328 was installed in one of theirAvid suites. An SRC module was sent alongafterwards and was quickly installed, due tothe Blue|328ÿs flip-open architecture.

Prepare to be under whelmed by the lookof the Blue|328. It’s not sexy, unless small andutilitarian is sexy to you. The Blue|328 took upless than half the space of Producers Video’sexisting audio mixer, but had enough dedicat-ed controls to get the job done.

The controls feel solid and professional.The buttons switch noiselessly. BNC connec-tions mean the mixer can easily be lashed to avideo patch panel for audio routing. TheBlue|328’s ability to de-embed audio from anSDI stream was also a plus. No reinsertion

module exists at the moment.The three-band parametric EQ bands have

notch filters and are configured for 20 Hz-1kHz, 100 Hz-10 kHz and 1 kHz-20 kHz; +/-12 dB. That’s adequate for tweaking programs,but you’d probably want more for more seri-ous mixing efforts.

The faders can be programmed as eightpairs of AES stereo audio or as eight individu-al channels. Presets each operator might useare easily created and stored. The volumeknob is a little oversensitive in some parts of itsrange and a more linear taper might help.After removing the Blue|328 from its threeweek stay in a Producers Video’s edit suite,Jacobs said one of the other video editorsasked “where the good mixer went.”

SUMMARYThe Blue|328 brings a lot to the table and in

environments where both functionality andspace are at a premium, and it doesn’t take upmuch of that table. Your biggest problem willbe dealing with people who think it’s cute.

(I should note too that Renegade labs hasreduced the Blue|328 recently to get the basemodel price to $5,750, with an a la carteapproach to the various input modules.Digital and analog outputs, and all processingare still included. Input modules are optional.If you need the AES module only, the pricebecomes $6,425, a savings of $325 from theold list price.)

Ty Ford is on special assignment from RadioWorld and Pro Audio Review. He may be con-tacted at www.tyford.com.