Digidesign SC48

Re: Digidesign SC48

The Mix Rack will accept A 3rd DSP Mix Engine card, Which I believe is one more DSP card than SC48. Stage Rack Systems can support up to 5 cards. $ cards seem to handle almost any hbut the most heavy plug in needs. The 2 engines in the SC48 requires some juggling of plug in choices, especially if using a plug in that is DSP hungry. You can also use a hdx card with the Mix rack, only the fwx card that is built into it with the SC48.
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Raul Suarez said:
The Mix Rack will accept A 3rd DSP Mix Engine card, Which I believe is one more DSP card than SC48. Stage Rack Systems can support up to 5 cards. $ cards seem to handle almost any hbut the most heavy plug in needs. The 2 engines in the SC48 requires some juggling of plug in choices, especially if using a plug in that is DSP hungry. You can also use a hdx card with the Mix rack, only the fwx card that is built into it with the SC48.
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Thanks, Raul. "Stage Rack" you mean full Venue system with FOH and Stage racks? That system is over project budget, even used, so I'm limited to MixRack and SC48. But did anyone really hit the limit of DSP power in SC48 with plugins, or it's just rumors?

Also, how many HDx cards you can have in MixRack, one or two (hence the Pro Tools in/out channel count, 64 or 128). Do they eat any processing power out of DSP cards or are strictly I/O? Should not, but it's in theory.

Also, all online documentation on SC48 refers to obsolete Pro Tools LE. Does it mean that you can use whatever Pro Tools you have (HD9 in my case), only limited to 18 channels?
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

The Profile gives you 8 more input faders, dedicated EQ and Aux send controls and a few more dedicated controls. I really wish it had the latching Uber Fader that the SC48 has. The Mixrack has space for a 3rd DSP card, something the SC48 will never be able to accommodate. If you have processing-intensive plug in use, you'll want that 3rd card.

The SC48 includes the FWx firewire card, which is about a $1k add on for the Mixrack. The Mixrack has a more generous plug-in bundle.

I use both interchangeably... but in some cases I prefer the SC48 and the Profile/Mixrack for others.

Have fun, good luck.

Tim Mc
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Raul is probably referring to the new stage racks available for SC48 and Mixrack -where you take the IO cards out of the SC48 or mix rack and put them into remote racks. Each remote can take 3 cards plus an ethernet card; an ethernet card is also needed at the console end.

If you're following the math, yes, that means you're one card short. Ie, 48 in's plus ethernet on the remote end but.. then need to have your outputs local to the console end or, buy a second stage rack. You could do 32 in, 16 out, ethernet in the stage rack and have another 16 in at the console.

andrew
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Arik Semagin said:
But did anyone really hit the limit of DSP power in SC48 with plugins, or it's just rumors?
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Verbs tend to eat up the most DSP resources. If you turn on 64 channel mode along with 16 graphic EQs, you can top out your DSP with verb plugins pretty fast on the SC48. I've done it. My current default setup which is pretty close to the edge is 64 channels, 16 graphics, 1 ReVibe, 1 Reverb One, 2 Reel Tape Delay, 6 Smack!, and 8 EQ3 - 1 band instances. With that setup, I can't add another verb plugin but probably have room for some more EQ. Reducing processing channels and graphic EQs helps a lot. Since I run up to 8 monitors mixes from FOH, I need to keep the graphic EQs >8 . I like to keep 64 channels available too but can bump it down to 48 if I need more DSP hungry FX.
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

andrew gissing said:
Raul is probably referring to the new stage racks available for SC48 and Mixrack -where you take the IO cards out of the SC48 or mix rack and put them into remote racks. Each remote can take 3 cards plus an ethernet card; an ethernet card is also needed at the console end.

If you're following the math, yes, that means you're one card short. Ie, 48 in's plus ethernet on the remote end but.. then need to have your outputs local to the console end or, buy a second stage rack. You could do 32 in, 16 out, ethernet in the stage rack and have another 16 in at the console.

andrew
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Wondering how the empty Stage48 box looks on inside. Is that just 4U rack chassis with 1U Ethernet card installed? If so, how many I/O cards you can realistically connect to it? If it's daisy-chain connection, has anyone tried to get 3 input and 2 output cards in some generic 6U case?
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Greg Cameron said:
Verbs tend to eat up the most DSP resources. If you turn on 64 channel mode along with 16 graphic EQs, you can top out your DSP with verb plugins pretty fast on the SC48. I've done it. My current default setup which is pretty close to the edge is 64 channels, 16 graphics, 1 ReVibe, 1 Reverb One, 2 Reel Tape Delay, 6 Smack!, and 8 EQ3 - 1 band instances. With that setup, I can't add another verb plugin but probably have room for some more EQ. Reducing processing channels and graphic EQs helps a lot. Since I run up to 8 monitors mixes from FOH, I need to keep the graphic EQs >8 . I like to keep 64 channels available too but can bump it down to 48 if I need more DSP hungry FX.
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Greg, did you actually experienced hitting the limit with this setup, or just guessing that it may happen? And also, did you try to run this setup on MixRack or Profile FOH rack with at least three DSP cards, to see if there's any difference. For me it's critical, bc client is choosing between SC48 and used MixRack, I gotta give him reasoning. Thanks!
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Arik Semagin said:
Greg, did you actually experienced hitting the limit with this setup, or just guessing that it may happen? And also, did you try to run this setup on MixRack or Profile FOH rack with at least three DSP cards, to see if there's any difference. For me it's critical, bc client is choosing between SC48 and used MixRack, I gotta give him reasoning. Thanks!
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Yes, I got some pop up message like "not enough resources" or something trying to add another instance of Reverb One. I have been able to run more plugins on systems with more DSP cards without issues. So certainly a Mix Rack or Profile system with more DSP onboard is going to handle more plugins at once with all the channels and graphics turned on.
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Arik Semagin said:
Greg, did you actually experienced hitting the limit with this setup, or just guessing that it may happen? And also, did you try to run this setup on MixRack or Profile FOH rack with at least three DSP cards, to see if there's any difference. For me it's critical, bc client is choosing between SC48 and used MixRack, I gotta give him reasoning. Thanks!
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There is room for 3 DSP cards in the Mixrack, only 2 in the SC48. Rev One seems the most resource intensive of the stock Avid stuff. Reverbs eat lots of DSP, but by far the biggest resource hog amongst plugins is PITCH shift/harmonics.

Some compressor plugins don't "reinstantiate" in a thrifty manner; at least one 1176LN (Purple or Bomb Factory, don't recall which) uses something like 50% for each instance of plug. The SMACK! comp uses only 17% for each reinstantiation. I get a lot of BE show files that have a dozen or more SMACK! but only a couple of 1176.

Arik, I suggest you send an email to Sheldon @ Avid with a list of the proposed plugins and console configuration and ask how much DSP will be needed and how much will be available for expansion.

I like mixing on our SC48 and sometimes it's the right tool even though a Profile has more input faders.
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

I Just took delivery of a new SC48 last Wednesday and had it out working this past weekend. I've mixed on SC48's and profiles in the past, but usually just fader pushing. I had the opportunity to mix an opening act and I must say I really like the board! The eq is awesome and the comps sound very transparent. Coming from a yamaha world, I feel the SC 48 sounds more "artistic" whereas the yamaha sound is more utilitarian.

I'm still getting used to the workflow, but once I figured out assignments and commands its very easy to set up. It took longer for me to get the monitor bracket mounted than it did to start up the console and have it making noise.

Overall I'm excited to use the board, I think it will pair well with our M7 as a versatile FOH and monitor console package.
 

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Re: Digidesign SC48

+1 on that. I like the desk a lot. I've had limited time on the regular Profile surface, but I think I like the layout of the SC48 better though it doesn't have as many functions available simultaneously. And I really dig having the lockable flex channel.
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

My SC48 is on it's second gig today at a local hip hop festival. This is the first show I've mixed Hip Hop on an SC48, and the EQ and built in comps are excellent for taming even the worst ball cupping MC's. Way easier to get the Eq I want than previous shows on the Yamaha consoles. I'm running just a pinch D-verb Medium Room1 and it sounds great to make he vocals "bigger". Really enjoying the board, making my day easy.
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Tom Manchester said:
My SC48 is on it's second gig today at a local hip hop festival. This is the first show I've mixed Hip Hop on an SC48, and the EQ and built in comps are excellent for taming even the worst ball cupping MC's. Way easier to get the Eq I want than previous shows on the Yamaha consoles. I'm running just a pinch D-verb Medium Room1 and it sounds great to make he vocals "bigger". Really enjoying the board, making my day easy.
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Congrats!

Give ReVibe a spin on reverb duty. I find it highly preferable if I have the DSP available.
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Silas Pradetto said:
Agreed. So why would Avid keep replacing hard drives with hard drives, if any single user has experienced multiple show-stopping failures? Why wouldn't they issue a recall or an 'upgrade' and replace all hard drives in the field? For such a high-profile company, they seem to be overlooking one of the cheapest-to-fix points of failure they have.

And, the SC48 is not that old.
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We just replaced our M7 with a SC48 at our mega church. I am getting a little scared listening to you talk about harddrive failures. How much are the harddrives for the SC48.
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Arturo Reyes said:
We just replaced our M7 with a SC48 at our mega church. I am getting a little scared listening to you talk about harddrive failures. How much are the harddrives for the SC48.
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Arturo... You probably will not have an issue since your console won't be moving... These failures are probably due to the transportation, vibration and handling of a mobile console. If you were worried about it, you could change a hard drive for an ssd drive , faster boot time and no moving parts. Btw a hard drive for the console is the same as any hard drive for a computer... Since the console is basically a computer, with some audio inputs ;)
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Thanks for the info. Have to do a little more research on a ssd drive. Any way i love this mixer. Have to be careful, but love the fact that I can use my plugins for an actual live mix.
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

Arturo Reyes said:
Thanks for the info. Have to do a little more research on a ssd drive. Any way i love this mixer. Have to be careful, but love the fact that I can use my plugins for an actual live mix.
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It's not a huge worry. After the 40GB Toshiba HD in our SC48 slowly died a couple of years ago I installed the smallest 2.5" SATA drive I could find at Best Buy, a 320GB. That drive is still running fine, but I'm getting ready to install a Samsung EVO 640 80GB SSD and carry the spinning platter drive as backup.

Yesterday we had the first RAM problem, ever. Blue Screen of Death during boot, after the red Venue splash screen. I called AVID's 24/7 support number and the tech said "RAM - reseat it first, if it still fails, remove them one at a time and reboot... etc. The RAM stick in Slot 0 was bad. Fixed with a 2GB stick of DDR2 1600 for $32. Originally it had a pair of 512MB...

The SC48 is fairly easy to service, AVID techs are great about emailing PDFs of relevant service manual pages and will stay with you on the phone if you need help with any part of the process.

Enjoy mixing on your SC48. :)
 
Re: Digidesign SC48

The SC48 uses the same 2.5" drives as you would find in laptops. Those drives are designed to tolerate movement and daily abuse. While it's possible that rough transport could kill one, they are more likely to simply die of old age. Such drives don't have a terribly long life span, and SC48's are getting old enough now that many of the early shipped ones are probably due for a replacement.

Regarding using SSD - I recall reading something about this, and I think previously SSD wasn't recommended. Something about the Windows XP environment that is the base platform (I think XP Embedded?) not using the SSD properly - TRIM command - not that it wouldn't work, but it wouldn't work optimally. Maybe that has changed. http://www.howtogeek.com/165472/6-things-you-shouldnt-do-with-solid-state-drives/
 
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