Yamaha DM3 digital mixer – The Dante equipped X32 killer?
4,4 / 5,0 | 
The new Yamaha DM3 digital mixer range could shake things up in the small format, mid-priced mixer market. With its super compact dimensions, 22 channels, Dante connectivity and affordable price tag, this desk deserves a close look…
Yamaha DM3
So what do we have here then? The new Yamaha DM3 mixer family is the latest in a long, long line of digital mixers from Yamaha. At the time of launch, we appear to have two mixers: the ultra-compact DM3S and the Dante Equipped DM3-D. If you’re in the marketplace for a sub $2k digital mixing desk, then there’s lots of competition. Desks such as the Behringer X32 and Allen & Heath SQ Series are big players, so why should you consider the DM3?
Small Footprint – Big Features
The obvious standout design feature is the small footprint and “8 plus 1” fader configuration; coupled with a touch screen this should give plenty of real-time control over the 22 channels. Both the DM3S and DM3-D offer you:
- 16 Mic/Line (12 XLR + 4 XLR/TRS Phones Combo) inputs, and 8 (XLR) outputs
- USB: 18 inputs, and 18 outputs
- 8 DCA groups with Roll-out
- 18 Effects, and GEQ on Mix 1-6 and Stereo channels
Additionally, both desks support sample rates up to 96kHz
Dante Equipped
The DM3-D offers a serious trump card over other mixers in this price bracket, integrated Dante support for 16 channels of I/O. Most desks in this price range require the purchase of an expensive, additional Dante card while others simply don’t support Dante at all. Coupled with the integrated 18-channel I/O over USB this is a seriously versatile desk; I can see this being attractive to home and project studio owners as well as live sound engineers.
What’s the Catch?
Depending on your viewpoint, only having 8 faders is either a workflow restriction or a portability bonus. In real-world use, I’ve never found myself mixing with more than 8 faders simultaneously. I don’t see it as a significant trade-off, in fact, the ability to take your own FOH console on a plane as hand luggage, for example, is very appealing!
Availability and Prices
The Yamaha DM3S is currently available for order.
Yamaha DM3S
You can also order the DM3-D from Thomann now.
Yamaha DM3
More Information
- Manufacturer Webpage
- More about digital mixers
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- yamaha-dm3-d: Yamaha
With a price of $2000 it’s too high to be a killer of anything with this feature set. Even Yamaha TF1 is only a few houndred $ more…….
Seriously. Never mixing more than 8 faders?
It’s a really big restriction for 2k$. OK for the Dante connection but nothing to compare with a X32
The X32 internal processing is still only 16bit, 48KHz! There is world of clarity, fidelity, and sound resolution missing on the X32. This is capable of 96KHz. I would still choose the Allen & Heath SQ-5 however.
totally agree, I find that I typically need 16 channels from head gear to wired mics and handheld. Musicals require even more. I get by with 24 channels but looking to upgrade to 32.
I am comparing this to my current portable solution, the Ui24r. but, I feel like the UI still has a larger feature set, despite the lack of faders. this is tempting as a replacement for the type of work the UI does for me. being able to mix on any device, though, like the Surface Pro, is still a challenge. if they bring their mix app to the desktop, the portable Dante enabled mixer is quite tempting.
I like
Probably is killing the XR18, not the X32. Not so many features for his price range. But hey, it’s the professional Yamaha, not the “entry-level” Behringer. 👎
but it’s not really a “22” channel mixer – it’s 16 channels. And that definitely doesn’t make it an x32 killer in any sense of the term.
It’s basically a high end XR18 with a control surface.