An upgrade over a previous version, the Heritage Audio MCM8 II Mixer is an enclosure for up to 8 lunchbox-style 500 Series modules, both from Heritage or other manufacturers. What makes the enclosure special is the company's On Slot Technology, which leverages the latest generation of power electronics to provide a supply of power on a per-slot basis. Each slot has its own power supply linear regulation stages, which makes each module isolated from the rest. This helps address some of the issues encountered when modules of different kinds share one common power supply. Instead, they simply share the same heavy gauge steel enclosure.
What makes this version different from its predecessor is a significantly lower noise floor in the summing stage. This has been engineered to ensure a hiss-free mix, especially when the program material is quiet in nature. This mixer follows a passive voltage summing topology, having the gain loss restored by a classic '73-type Class-A output stage.
You'll also note the new bypass button, which allows you to bypass each individual 500 Series module at the press of a finger.
On the side of each connector, each slot features test LEDs for checking the correct power operation (red for +16V; green for -16V). The power capability of the unit is 400mA per rail, per slot maximum, with an overall 1.4A (1.6A noncontinuous) per rail, whichever is reached first. The total available phantom power is 140mA. The heavy gauge steel enclosure has an aluminum front panel.
There are pan and fader controls per slot on dual concentric potentiometers. Pan pots have a center detent for precise center positioning. Each channel features an On switch to assign the channel to the mix bus. Connections are made by means of both gold plated XLRs and DSUB25 input and outputs, with standard Tascam protocol. A stereo XLR input section on the back of the unit allows several MCM8 II units to be daisy-chained. You'll also note stereo XLR outputs.
