Re: May the mouths water
If folks are coming in with their own console, I don't see what difference it makes whether you have a digital snake or not - there's still got to be an analog split to the two dissimilar systems anyway. If that's wired at your current FOH location, then yes, probably the stage box under the console is the way forward. There are digital out cards for the GLD that give you Dante, MADI, and others, but they would need to be broken back out to analog, which is completely ridiculous considering there's really nothing wrong with an analog split - particularly if you already have one.
I'm with you - I want to see the build quality before I lay down the green. If street prices are $6K - $8K, this thing is a great value if it doesn't suck.
As far as "Fisher Price" and large surface/fader ratio, I would counter that the Avid Venue has those things in spades. 6' of console for 24 faders?
