DHD.audio has chosen IBC2026 as the launch venue for a major new addition to its broadcast sound production platform: the MX3 console range. MX3 retains the modularity, operational versatility and expandability of DHD’s established Series 52 models while adding new capabilities to support the fast-changing production workflows in what the EBU has termed the Dynamic Media Facility.
Programme formats evolve, and studio staff shrink in number or are assigned wider roles, but the supporting technology is expected to meet increasingly creative requirements without frequent financial outlay. The DHD approach to system design allows new features to be added through gradual investment in specific modules rather than total system replacement. DHD’s third generation of Series 52 control surfaces, MX3, demonstrates this strategy by combining the industry-proven robust construction of DHD products with the freedom to add new features when required: built to last, built to change.
MX3 consoles are fully compatible with the external digital processing cores which have long been a feature of DHD systems. This design coherence gives users the freedom to enhance their DHD production infrastructure to match new workflow demands or industry standards without having to reinvest in an entirely new system at frequent intervals. DHD installations have surpassed 10,000 units and continue to increase in number.
Audio-over-IP has long been a central aspect of DHD’s Series 52 range, including compatibility with AES67, Dante, Ravenna and SMPTE 2110 protocols, if required, to handle very large channel capacities. MX3 retains that versatility, supplemented by secure standard IP networking between desktop control panels and local or remote signal processing cores; this replaces the DHD APC (audio/power/control) protocol used in current Series 52 systems.
Every MX3 module is a self-contained network device, linked via standard Ethernet with PoE+ along a single cable per console column. Consoles are assembled from these building blocks: typically a central module with six-fader expansion modules in a frame supplied with or without over-bridge modules, plus optional displays mounted above the over-bridge. Modules can be added, exchanged or repaired in operation, and the assignment between console and processing core is no longer fixed. The operating concept is guided by a simple principle: what you see is what you control. Displays throughout the surface show what the adjacent controls currently do, following the selected view.
“DHD this year celebrates the 30th anniversary of its foundation and has been building modular systems right from the start,” summarises Marc Herrmann, Managing Director. “Control surfaces, processing cores, analogue and digital connectivity, software and APIs all unite into a single system which can be upgraded or expanded to any desired extent at any time as new standards are adopted or studios are repurposed. What remains are the system and the existing investment.”
Get to grips with the new MX3 on DHD stand 8.B46.
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