‘A statement of intent’: Merging Technologies exec talks Pyramix 15 and R&D

Back in October, Merging Technologies unveiled its highly anticipated Pyramix 15 system. Headliner caught up with product manager, Maurice Engler, to find out more about this latest iteration, as well as the company’s R&D culture.

Unveiled at this year’s AES show in New York (although not available until the end of Q1 2025), Pyramix 15 comes with a modern redesign and an enhanced user experience, bolstering its claim as the DAW of choice for high quality audio production. It offers track counts and I/O capabilities up to 384 low-latency I/O at 44.1/48 kHz, and 64 I/O in DSD/DXD. What’s more, it boasts an advanced real-time editor, versatile fade editor, complete mixing and mastering functionalities, and immersive workflows, including support for the Dolby Atmos ADM format.

Pyramix 15 remains a Native (ASIO/Windows-based) DAW that works with all sound cards. It is available in three software packages (Element, Pro, and Premium) with the option to add the Masscore real-time engine, enabling up to 384 low-latency I/O with Merging converters or direct integration with RAVENNA/AES67/ST2110.

It is without question a hugely significant moment in the evolution of Pyramix, and one that product manager Engler considers to be a statement of intent to the market.

“There were two very crucial points at the heart of Pyramix 15,” Engler tells Headliner. “One being that, as we have been integrated into the Sennheiser Group under the Neumann umbrella, there were some people who were thinking that as Sennheiser is a hardware company they will only focus on hardware. And, therefore, Pyramix innovation will be dropped. And as some users have been using the technology for many years, they may have questioned whether or not to keep investing in it. So, for me, it was important on to bring something out that is a big milestone; something that says the Sennheiser Group is embracing what we are doing and embracing software. This is fundamental for Merging and for our users – there is a long-term investment in Pyramix. Our users want to know that Pyramix will still be here in two, five, 10 years’ time, and beyond.

“Also, it’s taken a little bit longer to release a new Pyramix than usual, so it was crucial that Pyramix 15 had a ton of new features, user experience, and a new user interface. We wanted to make sure we had addressed our users’ long term questions and requests for features. Of course, there will always be one person who says, ‘I don’t like these new features’! But we know that the vast majority of our users are pleased with what’s coming. We unveiled it at AES in October and the feedback from everyone in attendance was very positive.”

Two of the most notable updates with Pyramix 15 are centred around the user experience and the user interface.

“The user experience is very important for existing users, and also for new users who are using it for the first time - they will suddenly have simplified access to what Pyramix is about. Because Pyramix is so flexible and professional, it has had the image that it comes with a steep learning curve. We can’t remove that learning verve but we can smooth it.

“Secondly, there is the user interface. We completely remodelled everything so that the emotional relationship with your software is refreshed - it has a new element to it. It’s important that with the main tool you use every day you can discover something new. You can create something new and be surprised by it. And you still have all of the classic Pyramix functionalities.”

As Engler alluded to earlier in our conversation, the acquisition of Merging Technologies by the Sennheiser Group in 2022 marked a moment in the history of the company. With such acquisitions, changes and tweaks to operations are inevitable, and in this case, it seems, have only served to benefit the R&D process.

“Like with every integration or acquisition, there are changes,” Engler elaborates. “But I would say two things. The first is that previously at Merging we would sometimes make decisions with a wet finger, and we were sometimes lucky because we had a good sense of what was happening in the market. But it was risky at the same time.

“With Sennheiser, we have to put a process into place and argue our case for what we want to develop,” he continues. “They aren’t saying no, they just want to understand the case for it. And that then requires a clear plan for how and when it is going to be completed.

“Of course, being a bigger company, and if you have a bigger project that requires more resource, if they believe in, it they will fund it. So, we have increased our R&D, we have more engineers. And there are things that we wouldn’t be able to do as just Merging. But the core principles of R&D and innovation are the same. We always want to listen to our users and then assess what is possible to develop, what is not possible to develop, what will take a long time to develop, what is the most complex or simple thing to develop. We then aggregate that information and prioritise accordingly. It’s vital to understand what the market demands and how long it will take to deliver on those requests.”

As for what the future holds for Engler and Merging Technologies as we approach the end of 2024 and prepare to enter 2025, there is little that can be revealed at present. Suffice to say, there will be plenty of new products and solutions hitting the market in the not-too-distant future.

“Obviously I cannot say what the roadmap is bit I can give a few hints,” Engler smiles. “We announced Pyramix 15 in October but it will not be available until the end of Q1 2025. We’ve also just launched a new Hapi Mk III, and of course we are working on more new products that I can’t talk about at the moment. But 2025 will be the year of Pyramix!”