In the mid 1990s, Dynacord presented the first generation of the powered mixer, PowerMate. Unlike conventional all-in-one solutions, the PowerMate was designed to exhibit no compromises whatsoever. "Our mission was clear," says Josef Taffner, who as developer played an important role in shaping the design and history of the PowerMate. "We wanted to offer the discerning musician a compact system capable of being used intuitively at the highest performance level.
"Almost all the engineers and technicians in the PowerMate development team are musicians themselves. We knew from our own experience what qualities, in an ideal world, a power mixer ought to possess and were also able to meet the requirements of our customers in a logical way."
The PowerMate was intended to remain affordable by musicians. Martin Traut, business line manager with Dynacord suggests, "If you bought the components - power amplifier, mixing desk, effects unit, equalizer - individually, insisting at each stage on professional quality, you'd end up paying considerably more. And the customers obviously are aware of this."
(Jim Evans)
