Zaxcom Fusion

Zaxcom Fusion

The Zaxcom Fusion is a high resolution audio mixer and recorder for reality television, surround recording and ENG. Lightweight and power efficient, it replaces multiple mixers and portable recorders that are currently used to mix audio for recording to camera via RF link or hardwired cable.

Building on the Deva location recorder the Fusion has an extensive software and hardware history based on the continuous refinement of our location recording technology.

The functions of mixing, recording and audio effects are seamlessly integrated providing features, functionality and audio quality unobtainable with separate solutions. Fusions eight mix busses are a perfect match for the new generation of ENG cameras that record four to eight tracks of audio.

The Fusion is ideal to use with Holophone™ and Soundfield™ microphones.

Downloadable Brochure ( 995K)

Effects Package*

The Effects package is unprecedented in a portable mixer for location use. Fusion's powerful 32 bit floating point DSP provides three-band EQ with peak or shelving filters, notch filters, soft knee compressor, expander and delay on every channel.

A software based effects package ensures there are never any differences channel to channel due to passive component aging. A Fusion will sound just as good today as it will 10 years after it was purchased.

All effects are constant delay so a channel with EQ has the same phase and delay as a channel with no EQ selected.

EQ

The Fusion includes six filters per channel. The EQ is phase accurate channel-to-channel and totally adjustable. Shelving and pass band filters are displayed graphically and sound alike on any channel they are assigned to. EQ filter audio quality and flexibility cannot be equaled with an analog EQ system. Two notch filters per channel provide an excellent tool to remove any periodic noise such as 60/120Hz hums, lighting ballast noise, etc. The frequency selectable high pass filter is a standard feature.

Compressor

A full-featured soft-knee compressor is optional on each input channel and standard on each bus output, this is a total of eight or 16 compressors. Ration, Threshold, Attack, Release and Makeup Gain are all controlled separately on each channel.

Expander

The Expander is a great new tool that expands the dynamic range of audio. This function can be used to lower the noise floor of a noisy microphone or recording environment. When mixing a large number of channels the expander is useful in limiting the increase in noise floor contributed by miltiple channels to a mixed track.

*optional

Analog Inputs

Fusion incorporates eight very low noise, low distortion microphone preamps with 48V phantom power. Many Emmy® and Oscar® winning productions have been recorded with the Zaxcom preamp. The transformer-less design enhances audio quality by eliminating low frequency distortion commin in transformer-based microphone preamps. Each of the eight inputs can be switched between mic and line level operation and features a powerful 48V phantom power supply.

Digital Inputs

The Fusion has four AES inputs with sample rate conversion. Each input can have a different sample rate. The Fusion will seamlessly convert the incoming AES audio to the sample rate Fusion is set to. This is key on location where it is not always possible to lock together external AES sources.

Mixing

Fusion can mix 16 inputs to eight output busses and records up to eight tracks* on the internal Compact Flash card. The Mixer has infinite routing capability, any input can be routed to any output pre-fader, post-fader or phase inverted. The Deva Mix-12 control surface can also be utilized to form an all digital location recording and mixing package.

Analog Input Limiter

The Fusion's analog input limiter prevents high level audio from clipping the A-D converter in the analog domain.

Recording

The Fusion records simultaneously to two Compact flash cards creating a 100% solid-state recording with a backup. CF cards were chosen because of their immunity to extreme temperature and motion.

Audio is recorded in two separate file formats, MARF and FAT32. The main CF card records in Mobile Audio Recording Format (MARF) which is designed to be fault tolerant ensuring that if power is lost during a recording all audio up to that point is recoverable. The MARF system and its audio-centric operation has eliminated several of the reliability issues associated with FAT32 recordings.

The backup card records on the common FAT32 file system so cards can be given away to post or copied to any computer.

Camera/Stereo RF Link Connection

Fusion connects directly to the 10-pin Hirose connector located on most cameras. This will provide a two channel camera feed with audio return. It can also connect to a TRX900AA transmitter with an STA100 Stereo Adapter for a two-channel camera RF link with return audio and time code transmittion. All audio connections are balanced line level which eliminates the mic level ground loop noise common in FM wireless systems. The Fusion camera output level is 0dBu and is directly compatible with most cameras without the use of external amplification.

Touch Screen Interface

Fusion's full color touch screen interface is the key to ultimate functionality. It provides instant control of over 300 mixer cross points and over 200 user parameters. It's easy to read in direct sunlight and offers a lock feature to prevent accidental operation.

Metering

The Fusion provides metering of all input channels and output busses in four different formats based on user preference. Channel metadata is superimposed on meters to aid in meter identification. Signal levels are color coded to aid in rapid identification of overload conditions and touching a meter selects individual channels for PFL solo monitoring.

Firewire Port

Fusion acts as a master to power and control external FireWire hard drives and DVD-RAM drives.

RF Interference Protection

The Fusion was designed from the ground up to operate in close proximity to sensitive receivers. Wireless devices can coexist in the sound bag with the Fusion running from the same power source.

Time Code

A full-featured SMPTE time code interface is standard. All common frame rates and time code modes are supported including auto-load. The Fusion automatically enters record and stop based on incoming time code. The Fusion timecode clock keeps running even when the power is off.

Input Sample Rate Conversion

Fusion will accept any unlocked AES signal with a sample rate of 32KHz to 192KHz. The dynamic range of the sample rate conversion is 124dB offering completely transparent conversion of digital audio from one sample rate to another.

Fusion Specifications

Input
Analog inputs: 8 Mic/Line level with 48V phantom power
Connectors: XLR
Analog Dynamic Range: 117dB
Mic level range: -56dBu to -26 dBu
Line Level in put range: -10dB to +8dB
Distortion: 0.001%
Frequency Response: 20Hz to 22KHz
THD + Noise: 0.001%
Input Clipping Level: +28 dBu
Mic Powering: 48V phantom
Input Limiters: 8
Digital inputs: 8 (4 AES pairs with sample rate conversion)
Digital input connector: DB15 mini
High pass filter: 20Hz to 220 Hz adjustable
Output
Analog outputs: 6 Balanced 0dBu at -20 dB FS digital
Analog output connector: DB25
Digital: 4 AES pairs (8 channels)
Line Output Clipping Level: +20dBu
AES output user selectable: Mix or Direct out
Internal Mixer
Mixer type: 32 bit floating point DSP
Mixer cross point: 16 input x 16 output (Pre-fader/Post-fader/Phase Inversion)
A-D/D-A Conversion size: 24 bit
Head Room: Selectable 12-20dB
Effects (optional)
EQ: 3 band parametric selectable shelving or peak type
Notch filter: 2 band 20Hz to 20KHz frequency range adjustable
Compressor type: Soft Knee
Compressor adjustments: Attack, Release, Threshold, Ratio, Make-up gain
Expander Adjustments: Attack, Release, Threshold, Ratio
Recording Tracks
4 Tracks: Standard
6 Tracks: Optionsl
8 Tracks: Optional
Data Storage
Internal: 2 Compact Flash Card slots
External: Disk interface: IEEE 1394 FireWire port with host mode control (supports many DVD-RAM and external hard drives)
FireWire host power: 15 Watts
Pre-Record: 0-10 seconds
Miscellaneous
Delay: 0-60ms per channel
High Pass Filters: 30Hz to 220 Hz adjustable, 6dB per Octave
PS2 Port: supports Zaxcom recommended PS2 compatible keyboards
Display: Full color LCD touch screen
Meters: Vertical or horizontal, user selectable
Size: 10.6" x 7.7" x 3.2"
Weight: 5lbs w/out battery
Power
Internal: NP1 12-18V - 8 hours of usage (Li-ion)
External: 10-18 VDC
Battery Meter on LCD display

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