Robin Whittaker, engineer and inventor with a passion for performance audio, formed Out Board Electronics in London in 1987. The company’s first commercial products were a patented motorised fader and shortly afterwards the SS1 live sound moving fader automation system. The SS1 system was first used on the West End production of Miss Saigon and afterwards on productions of Into the Woods and City of Angels amongst others.

The SS2 fader automation system was an evolutionary product following on from SS1 allowing greater number of faders and switches to be controlled.   SS2 formed the engine for the widely used 8 by 8 and Octopus automated analogue matrix systems for theatre sound effects. The SS2 also powered moving fader retrofit automation systems for the Soundcraft Europa and Midas XL3 sound mixing consoles amongst others.

In addition to developing own products the Company has also designed the automation engine for the award winning Midas XL4 sound mixing console. The continued development of audio products produced the QP4, a quadraphonic pan control for spatial audio control within a 4 channel sound field