There's an empty space in your studio. Problem is, it's a small one. But you need a mixing console that isn't a stripped-down, featureless toy; a console that will work as hard as you do to get the job done. If this describes you, then we've got a console engineered just for you: DESQ, the desktop IP-Audio console. Use it as a self-contained, standalone console anywhere, or as part of your Axia studio network — DESQ is happy either way.

DESQ is the perfect console for interview studios, live performance spaces for on-air broadcast, news and feature product — whatever. Take it on those road trip remotes, or to sporting events where multiple mics are required. Put it in mobile units or ENG kits. Great for home studios as well — or even on the Production Director's desk: DESQ is only 16" square, so you can put it in places a big console just can't fit. But DESQ is built to stand up to heavy workloads, with a machined-aluminum work surface

DESQ is equipped, not stripped. There are two stereo Program buses, for simultaneous on-air and production work, and a Preview (cue) bus. Talent can choose to monitor Preview using your external speaker, or have cue audio automatically routed to the Headphone feed. There are six fader strips, each with a smooth-to-the-touch 100mm. premium-qualityfader. Like all Axia consoles, channel ON buttons, bus assignment keys and the push-and-turn rotary encoders used for source selection and options control are super-heavy-duty avionics-grade parts. LED button lighting, of course.

Mix-minus for phones and codecs? Yep, just like its bigger cousins; DESQ automatically sends any Phone or Codec source its own backfeed. Three-band EQ is available for any mic, phone or codec source.

A sharp, high-resolution OLED display provides Program metering. You can choose between VU or PPM meter ballistics. Easy-to-read bargraphs with attention-getting Overload indicators help make sure your talent keeps the gain where it ought to be. Another OLED displays the time-of-day clock (which you can slave to your house NTP clock) and an event timer with manual or automatic reset.

Speaking of OLEDs, there's one on each channel strip as well. Each one tells your talent precisely what source is assigned, and provides a confidence meter for source audio. If you happen to have a Phone or Codec source loaded, you'll also see a confidence meter for the mix-minus output. When you press the Options knob, the channel OLED lets you scroll through available options, including source selection, Pan, Balance, Phase Adjustment, EQ and more.