Digidesign makes its foray into the loudspeaker market with two near-field
monitor offerings — the RM1 and RM2 — co-developed with PMC, the
Professional Monitor Company. The monitors unite PMC’s legacy of fine,
handcrafted design and meticulous manufacturing with Digidesign’s deep
expertise in digital signal processing (DSP) engineering. Both monitors also
utilize PMC’s Advanced Transmission Line (ATL™) technology, which
yields amazing high-resolution sound, unrivaled clarity, incredible dynamic
range, and unprecedented low frequency accuracy. And with the revolutionary
DSP-based digital crossover, which provides steep and pure filters with virtually
zero phase shift, signals delivered to the drivers are completely distortion-
and interference-free. Expected May 2007.
Available as a 5.5-inch two-way (RM1™) and a 6.7-inch two-way (RM2™),
the Digidesign® RMS monitors incorporate innovation in almost every aspect
of their design—from amplifier topology to acoustics and the deployment
of advanced digital signal processing. Key technologies employed in Digidesign
RMS monitors include the following:
Advanced Transmission Line Technology
Digi's RM1 and RM2 RMS monitors employ PMC’s Advanced Transmission Line (ATL™)
technology, which combines sophisticated cabinet engineering, proprietary drive
unit and crossover components, and patented absorption materials to deliver
enormous benefits over sealed and ported designs. As a result, Digidesign RMS
monitors deliver improved audio resolution with a higher sound pressure level,
reduced distortion, flat frequency response, and deeper, more defined bass
frequencies than other speaker designs of similar size. And since the frequency
response remains consistent at all volumes, there is no need to crank the volume
in order to achieve maximum bass response.
Bass Port Emulation
Although ATL technology provides a more accurate bass response than traditional
ported designs, PMC and Digidesign engineers developed a unique Bass Port
Emulation feature that allows the monitors to emulate the tonal characteristics
associated with ported bass reflex speakers. As a result, the Digidesign
RMS monitors make it easy to hear a mix as it truly sounds as well as how
it translates to a ported speaker. With the Bass Port Emulation off, the
frequency response is flat and free of any additional coloration.
Onboard DSP Engine
Both monitors benefit from a 48-bit, fixed-point digital signal processing
(DSP) engine that manages various tasks, including the monitors’ complex
frequency crossover, speaker positioning EQ settings, trim level, and Bass
Port Emulation.
The two-way, DSP-based digital crossover features revolutionary steep and
pure filter designs that ensure an exceptionally clean transition, with virtually
zero phase shift, between the two drivers’ response curves and roll-off
rates. The net result is the ideal transition between the high frequency and
low frequency drivers as well as superb phase response over a wider listening
window.
Superior, Analogue-Controlled, Class D Amplification
Each driver in RMS monitors is powered by independent, analogue-controlled,
Class D amplifier, which combines the efficiency and size advantages of digital
amplifiers with the precision, control, and sound quality of audiophile linear
amplifiers. The power amplifier section within each speaker is 92% efficient
in comparison with a linear Class A amplifier, which generally operates at
around 50% efficiency. This means more power for the speakers and less escaping
in the form of heat. And unlike typical Class D amplifiers that have a load-dependant
frequency response, the specially-designed Class D amplifiers in Digidesign
RMS monitors can sense the loudspeaker voltage directly and provide an extremely
accurate frequency response regardless of the reactive load presented by
the transducers.
Amplifier performance is further enhanced with the inclusion of a linear
power supply, which provides two times the peak current headroom and better
noise isolation than typical switch mode designs.
RM1 and RM2
Specifications:
- 5.5-inch (RM1) or 6.7-inch (RM2) LF driver optimized for the ATL design
- 1-inch soft dome, ferrofluid-cooled HF driver
- Independent, analogue-controlled, Class D amplifier for each driver
* RM1: 80w LF, 50w HF
* RM2: 100w LF, 50w HF
- Balanced analogue input (XLR)
- AES 3 digital input (XLR)—accepts 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz sample
rates
- AES digital input (RJ-45)
- AES digital THRU connector (RJ-45)
- HF control: adjustable from -4 dB to +3 dB in 0.5 dB increments
- LF control: adjustable from -4 dB to +3 dB in 0.5 dB increments
- Channel Assign: select which AES digital input channel (left or right)
to produce
- Gain Trim encoder: set the input sensitivity from 0 dB to -15 dB