Sound engineers know what Euphonix stands for - the rest of you most likely don't. The Greek root of the "euphony" term means "beautiful music"; and the name wasn't chosen just for how it resounded: Euphonix are now one of the best brands money can buy when it comes to professional audio mixing consoles.

The oncoming NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) show will be the place where Euphonix will officially unveil their latest creation, a monument of technology and style, extreme functionality and engineering design: the S5 Fusion.

As specced by Euphonix, the S5 Fusion is an extension to the successful System 5 series of consoles but it bring many powerful updates meant to make HD TV broadcasters at least most happy. Noticeable features such as onboard DSP control for every channel with simultaneous external DAW control are surely to make a lot of sound professionals raise eyebrows with most interested looks.

Due to the broad expansion of the HD TV format, a lot of tracks at best processing quality are required in todays television - the S5 Fusion promises it will cover any needs, says Andrew Wild, Euphonix vice-president and marketer. ""We're aiming at broadcasters doing HD TV shows who want a lot of tracks and need a quality product, but can't afford to spend a lot of money on a big film console" he adds, speaking about the S5 Fusion.

One of the most interesting and redefining-mixing options in the S5 Fusion is the EuCon Hybrid technology: it allows to "drag" tracks from the external DAW "on" the internal control surface, mix them with the local DSP and then release them back in "different layouts" such as separate DSP, Nuendo, Pro Tools and so on.

As a matter of fact, Nuendo, Logic Pro and Pyramix are directly supporting the new EuCon technology and its protocols; on the other hand, the S5 Fusion sports the ability to control a lot (hundreds) of DAW/DAW-related applications via its control surface. Pro Tools, Final Cut Pro and Digital Performer are but few well-known names in this list.

The $150.000 console will have its official release at the NAB convention which will take place in Las Vegas between April 16th and 19th.