Yamaha

Yamaha entered the professional audio market in 1971 with the PM1000, a large-format mixing console that immediately distinguished itself with Japanese precision engineering and a price point that European manufacturers had not anticipated. Within a decade, Yamaha consoles were found in major studios and touring rigs worldwide.

The PM series for live sound was only part of the story. When digital mixing became commercially viable in the 1990s, Yamaha was better positioned than almost anyone to lead the transition. The 02R, introduced in 1995, was the first professional digital mixing console small enough to fit in a rack and affordable enough to appear in project studios — it fundamentally changed what small-room recording looked like.

The later DM2000 and 01V96 continued this democratisation, and the Nuage workstation system aimed to integrate console and DAW at the highest professional level. Yamaha's influence on how recording studios are equipped today — particularly outside the top tier — is difficult to overstate.