Back in July 2019, at the Avid Connect Live event, part of the Summer NAMM 2019 show in Nashville, Avid announced the Avid S1 control surface as a replacement to the Avid Artist Mix. Last weekend at IBC 2019 as part of their IBC coverage, Product Specialist Dave Tyler gave a much more detailed look at the Avid S1 compact control surface, which is planned for release later this year…

Who Is The Avid S1 Aimed At?

Simply put, it is aimed at music creation, audio post and video production professionals, more specifically freelancers working from home or in compact edit suites and mix rooms, whether that is engineers working in music creation, sound designers, audio post-production engineers like dialog editors, foley and sound effectors editors, or video editors. From recording and editing tracks, to mixing and monitoring in stereo or surround, the Avid S1 has been designed to provide comprehensive control and visual feedback for any audio professional.

As the demand for new content continues to increase, audio post-production facilities are often juggling multiple projects across different mix rooms to stay on deadline. The Avid S1 has been created to provide the hands-on sound recording, editing, and surround mixing capabilities of bigger consoles in a much smaller footprint. Being a Eucon control surface, you get the deep DAW integration, for a range of DAWs and NLEs and flexibility in a versatile control surface designed for fast project turnaround. Plus, its price makes it an easier choice for freelance sound editors and mixers.

For video production the Avid S1 can also provide the hands-on control needed to not only navigate large video projects quickly, but also complete sound editing and mixing tasks with greater speed and precision than working with a mouse and keyboard, making it a versatile and slimline surface that fits easily between your display and keyboard.

More Than One DAW - Not Just Pro Tools

The Avid S1 is a portable and affordable slimline surface and because it is a EUCON control surface it is designed to work with multiple DAWs, like Pro Tools, Nuendo, Pyramix, Logic Pro, Cubase as well as NLEs like Media Composer and Premiere Pro that support Eucon powered control surfaces. Avid’s control protocol has been designed to deliver deep hardware/software integration not only with Pro Tools but a range of other DAWs and NLEs and is designed to give full touch and tactile access. You can even switch between multiple applications and workstations, all at the touch of a button.

Expandable

If you need more faders, Soft Keys, and/or transport controls, you will be able to connect up to four S1 units together to create an extended control surface with 32 faders that provides more tactile control to handle larger mixes. As well a four S1s, which clip together with magnets, you will be able to connect the Pro Tools Dock to the Avid S1 to add dedicated transport controls, a jog wheel, focus fader, and more under your fingertips.

The Avid S1 has been designed to deliver the best of both worlds, providing motorised, touch-sensitive faders, touch-sensitive knobs, and physical keys integrated with a touchscreen to support VCA spill, monitor control, custom layouts, and other pro-level capabilities to go way beyond what MIDI-based controllers can offer.

New Avid Control App

The Avid S1 not only features high-resolution OLED displays, that are in the Avid S3, but it also integrates with the free Avid Control iPad app, providing visual feedback to enhance your workflow. From track names, parameter values, and automation, to S6-style monitoring, metering, and channel processing views, you get the comprehensive feedback of a high-end console in a versatile surface for the budget-minded.

With the combination of the S1 and the free Avid Control app you can be very agile in your workflows like instantly jumping to tracks by simply selecting one in Tracks View or swiping through multiple channels in Mix View on the touchscreen, eliminating tedious software click-throughs, the Avid S1 automatically banks to follow your every move on the app.

At IBC 2019, Avid’s Gil Gowing gave a sneak peek of the upcoming Avid Control app…

The Control app has been rewritten to provide high-res metering, including gain reduction as well as automation status and EQ, dynamics, and panning curves. On the monitoring side the new app offers S6 style monitoring control with a dedicated Monitoring View that will support up to 9.1 surround, where you can quickly assign and control talkback, listenback, and speaker sources and levels right from the surface to speed up recording and mixing workflows.

The new Avid Control app offers support both both landscape and portrait modes, giving even more insight into your project, so you can stay informed and make better creative decisions.

Android And iOS

The new Avid Control app will run on both iOS and Android, so you won’t need to get an iPad if you would rather not go the Apple route.