I've been test driving the Digico SD11 a bit recently and am quite impressed with all the features they've packed into such a small package. (Many here will know that I'm a Digico fan).
For those of you that don't know, the SD11 is their smallest console. It can be rack mounted or sit on a table. It has 16 ins and 8 outs on board (plus one each of AES in and out) and can connect via a Cat5 cable to the D-Rack (their Cat5 remote box) which provides 32x8 or 32x16. The console itself handles up to 32 channels, up to 8 of which can be made stereo, giving a total input count of 40 plus 1 talkback mic input. The output structure of the console is completely flexible like their other consoles and in addition to a Master Bus (on the SD consoles the Master bus is given as the first Stereo Group) and an 8 x 8 Matrix, it can provide 12 buses which can be a mixture of auxes or groups and each of the 12 buses can be made mono or stereo.
The console features the same fader bank layout as the rest of the SD series consoles, but with just 12 faders. When you load a "fresh" session, the faders come setup into banks of channels, groups, auxes, control groups, and matrix outputs, but from there each fader and each layer is completely customizable, so any fader can appear anywhere on the console (and multiple times). Like the SD9, a row of 12 knobs and buttons follows selection keys to the left of the 15" touchscreen for adjusting parameters like gain, pan, and aux sends on the screen. To the right of the screen is a full EQ strip, HPF and LPF controls, and simple compressor and gate controls. The interface on the screen is exactly the same as the rest of the Digico SD consoles, so those familiar with another Digico console will feel right at home on this one. Above the screen amongst controls for headphones and 2 solo buses and a USB port is a section of 8 macro keys (if the console can do it, it can be programmed to a macro).
Under the hood of the SD11 is the same DSP technology powering the rest of the SD consoles giving it performance that goes far beyond anything else its size (yes, I'd like my little bitty console to sound like a $250k top-market console!). In addition to the usual compliment of digital console features (this console has high pass, low pass, fully parametric 4-band EQ, compressor, and gate on every input and output), the SD11 allows up to 4 instances of a dynamic EQ (think BSS-901 or XTA D2) to be used, up to 4 instances of a multi band compressor to be used, 4 FX engines, and 12 graphic EQs. Also like the rest of the SD consoles, it has a snapshot system that starts out shallow (the snapshot scopes all parameters) but can get extremely detailed (individual parameters on individual inputs or outputs).
I took the console to do a corporate gig in a small theatre. 5 lav mics, 2 handheld mics, a podium mic, and video playback. I set up the top layer with my main 10 inputs (the playback channel was stereo) followed by 3 groups for processing (lavs, handhelds, podium). Everything was right in my reach. Ringing out mics was a bit involved since the PA (groundstacked KARA) was sitting right on the stage and in very close proximity to all the mics. I was immediately impressed with how the sound of the mics remained natural and smooth after what I deemed was entirely too much EQing.
I had set up to mix a band with the console, also using its onboard MADI port to track the show to my laptop, but the event fell through. So to give it a "band test," I hooked up the console to my laptop and ran some multi-tracked shows back through it. It performed just as I would expect from any Digico console, more reason why they're my first choice. It had the headroom and clarity I've come to expect from the rest of their product line. Depending on the band, I could see it becoming a bit difficult to chase around a bunch of levels if you've got to be everywhere at once.
Although this console is sized similar to a Yamaha LS9-16, it's not a direct replacement. Its price point puts it in a league a bit higher, but at the same time you gain a lot more into a similar footprint: increased sonic quality, more IO options, a full-sized touchscreen, and a digital snake option. I think it fills in a place in the market for people looking for the most they can get into a small package, like many "corporate" audio gigs I've done over the years. With the ability to mix 12 stereo auxes, it could also easily fit in a tour bus bay as part of an IEM rig.
Let me know if you're curious about anything I've left out!
Update: I just got an email from Digico that for their anniversary, the SD11 will be getting a feature boost (along with other consoles). It now has more dynamic EQs, more multi-band comps, more FX, and DigiTubes (tube emulation from the SD7) along with an increased count of flexi-channels (the number of channels the can be mono or stereo). They'll also be releasing a broadcast variant of their software for the 11, with some application specific features added in.
For those of you that don't know, the SD11 is their smallest console. It can be rack mounted or sit on a table. It has 16 ins and 8 outs on board (plus one each of AES in and out) and can connect via a Cat5 cable to the D-Rack (their Cat5 remote box) which provides 32x8 or 32x16. The console itself handles up to 32 channels, up to 8 of which can be made stereo, giving a total input count of 40 plus 1 talkback mic input. The output structure of the console is completely flexible like their other consoles and in addition to a Master Bus (on the SD consoles the Master bus is given as the first Stereo Group) and an 8 x 8 Matrix, it can provide 12 buses which can be a mixture of auxes or groups and each of the 12 buses can be made mono or stereo.
The console features the same fader bank layout as the rest of the SD series consoles, but with just 12 faders. When you load a "fresh" session, the faders come setup into banks of channels, groups, auxes, control groups, and matrix outputs, but from there each fader and each layer is completely customizable, so any fader can appear anywhere on the console (and multiple times). Like the SD9, a row of 12 knobs and buttons follows selection keys to the left of the 15" touchscreen for adjusting parameters like gain, pan, and aux sends on the screen. To the right of the screen is a full EQ strip, HPF and LPF controls, and simple compressor and gate controls. The interface on the screen is exactly the same as the rest of the Digico SD consoles, so those familiar with another Digico console will feel right at home on this one. Above the screen amongst controls for headphones and 2 solo buses and a USB port is a section of 8 macro keys (if the console can do it, it can be programmed to a macro).
Under the hood of the SD11 is the same DSP technology powering the rest of the SD consoles giving it performance that goes far beyond anything else its size (yes, I'd like my little bitty console to sound like a $250k top-market console!). In addition to the usual compliment of digital console features (this console has high pass, low pass, fully parametric 4-band EQ, compressor, and gate on every input and output), the SD11 allows up to 4 instances of a dynamic EQ (think BSS-901 or XTA D2) to be used, up to 4 instances of a multi band compressor to be used, 4 FX engines, and 12 graphic EQs. Also like the rest of the SD consoles, it has a snapshot system that starts out shallow (the snapshot scopes all parameters) but can get extremely detailed (individual parameters on individual inputs or outputs).
I took the console to do a corporate gig in a small theatre. 5 lav mics, 2 handheld mics, a podium mic, and video playback. I set up the top layer with my main 10 inputs (the playback channel was stereo) followed by 3 groups for processing (lavs, handhelds, podium). Everything was right in my reach. Ringing out mics was a bit involved since the PA (groundstacked KARA) was sitting right on the stage and in very close proximity to all the mics. I was immediately impressed with how the sound of the mics remained natural and smooth after what I deemed was entirely too much EQing.
I had set up to mix a band with the console, also using its onboard MADI port to track the show to my laptop, but the event fell through. So to give it a "band test," I hooked up the console to my laptop and ran some multi-tracked shows back through it. It performed just as I would expect from any Digico console, more reason why they're my first choice. It had the headroom and clarity I've come to expect from the rest of their product line. Depending on the band, I could see it becoming a bit difficult to chase around a bunch of levels if you've got to be everywhere at once.
Although this console is sized similar to a Yamaha LS9-16, it's not a direct replacement. Its price point puts it in a league a bit higher, but at the same time you gain a lot more into a similar footprint: increased sonic quality, more IO options, a full-sized touchscreen, and a digital snake option. I think it fills in a place in the market for people looking for the most they can get into a small package, like many "corporate" audio gigs I've done over the years. With the ability to mix 12 stereo auxes, it could also easily fit in a tour bus bay as part of an IEM rig.
Let me know if you're curious about anything I've left out!
Update: I just got an email from Digico that for their anniversary, the SD11 will be getting a feature boost (along with other consoles). It now has more dynamic EQs, more multi-band comps, more FX, and DigiTubes (tube emulation from the SD7) along with an increased count of flexi-channels (the number of channels the can be mono or stereo). They'll also be releasing a broadcast variant of their software for the 11, with some application specific features added in.
