Kevin, if it's been a few years since you looked, you should definitely have another look, since they have extended the scene management significantly. You can download "Director", their Windows/Mac editor to look at any functions, you don't need the console to see what features/functions are available.
Maybe have a look at this video when you get time. I'd be interested to know what you see as limitations in this updated system.
The 1.60 version adds "roles" as well which is yet another level of scene management
I still haven't used the console myself, but my understanding is that there is MIDI over TCP/IP support for Windows now.
You use what they call the "DAW Control" software.
https://www.allen-heath.com/dlive-home/software/
I see that they do not have MIDI control for eq, so you're right about that.
I downloaded the dLive Director when it first came out and have played with it on and off. I am on version 1.61 and I see that 1.70 is the latest so I am downloading that one now.
I am watching the dLive V1.5 webinar as I write this. I have some time now but these 2 videos you imbedded are long. And one of the presenters talks slow, so I go into the settings on the videos and I change the play back speed to 1.25 and sometimes to 1.5. It is a silly thing I do when watching slow speaking training type of videos. I did the same thing with some Yamaha videos.
The SQ6 is not a bad board and it will suit some people very well, but I believe in people knowing all of the facts as best as they can be shared and understood. My problem come in with the limitations that when I talked to the paid sound guy at my church the problems I had with the way the SQ6 works (mostly user interface or capabilities) he said they are the same on the dLive. Like limited number of things that you can assign to the “Soft Keys”. It also doesn’t help that there are only a limited number of scribble strips on the “Soft Keys”. And some of it doesn’t make sense to me, but this is already too long so I can address some of that at another time.
Some of the behavior regarding scene navigation is the same in the dLive and the SQ6 as far as I can tell. Not what I consider the best way to do theatrical events. If you have a LOT of time to preconfigure the show and there will never be any quick changes you need to do (like during rehearsals) then it is powerful. But I have never worked in that kind of environment. I will spell out some of this below.
I was so curious as to the exact behavior of the SQ6 and since it has been a little while since I last played with one I went and picked it up again (while writing this) to play with it. I have next to me for a few days. Some of what I have written below I had already written before I just picked up the SQ6. I will edit where appropriate but I may just comment about my testing results.
As I was watching the video the one thing that they keep doing is having to click on a scene and then hit go. It seems as though there isn’t a just single recall to next scene function. And I remember something like that when playing with the SQ6. Actually there is a way (the only one that I have found) to recall sequential scenes, just set a soft key or the footswitch to “Scene Recall Go” / “Auto Increment”. When you press that soft key it recalls the settings of the next scene but it then is really cued up on the scene after that one. If you step thru to scene 6 (Current: scene) you will notice that the scene list is actually on scene 7 the (Next: scene) so if you make a change and then hit Store, you will be storing your changes to scene 7 not 6. The “Scene Previous” function doesn’t recall the previous scene, it just moves the cursor up the list, you have to then hit the “GO” key on the scene page or you could set one “Soft Key” to “Scene Previous” and another key to “Scene Recall Go” without the auto increment turned on. And if you do jump back in anyway, either with the 2 different soft keys or by touching the scene that you want to go back to, on the scene screen you will see at the top that the current and the next scene both are on the same number so to go ahead one scene you will have to hit your soft key “GO” twice. I don’t see a way to insert a scene on the SQ6.
In summery the basic “GO” functionality mostly works but the “BACK” is way too awkward to use in a theatrical situation. There really needs to be a way to jump back quickly in case of a mistake on somebody’s part. The footswitch jack on the SQ6 is very good because none of the “Soft Keys” are in a convenient place to be able to rest your hand on and then hit the “GO” when you need to. For that same reason I have a “GO” “BACK” box that I made for the Avid Profile and the SC48. I was able to put that right next to the mixer for recalling scenes on these mixers when using them for Musical Theater.
There is a lot of granularity to the scene management on the dLive and some on the SQ6 and I have been familiar with that. But what they are calling tracking isn’t what I would call tracking. With Palladium the fader moves I make are automatically tracked so if you mix a scene and have the relationship of the faders the way you want them they stay that way in subsequent scenes until you change them again. This includes if you make a change in the middle of a series of cues from that point on that change you made will stay till you make another change. It isn’t manipulating snapshots, it is seamless. I don’t need to hit a bunch of buttons to keep changing these modifications. When I go to the next scene (as long as I have “Learn” turned on) that is how that scene will be when I next return to that scene. There is a separate function in Palladium if you want to change the trim of your faders. And regarding the trims, from the Palladium used guide - “Trims can be channel, character or actor based”. In this video they seem to be referring to something similar as relative mode, auto tracking.
Also I just heard (on this video) what the Midi capabilities are and the DAW thing that you mentioned doesn’t replace the need for a windows driver to do what I am referring to. They say that they are working on a windows version. And last I talked to them and asked the question on their forum the windows drivers still don’t exist from them.
I want to add that the M32, as it comes, I don’t think is capable for my required work flow to do theater sound. I only recommended the purchase of one (now we have two to use at the same time) after I found Palladium. For concert work or repetitive events the scene management built into the M32 is just fine. I just did 2 events where I just recalled the scene from last year and I didn’t have to spend hardly any time configuring or changing anything.
I hope this explains some of my issues with the SQ6. As I said not a bad board for the right applications.
