Non X32 Digital Mixer Questions

Re: Non X32 Digital Mixer Questions

Peter Etheredge said:
The church I'm working for is going through a renovation program/capitol campaign and technology upgrades are one of the key elements, including replacing the 12 year old Spirit Live 4-2 (ICK!) with a digital console.

Our budget is going to be around $10,000 and under (I might be able to fight for a few thousand more if the feature set is right) and despite the plethora of options now offered in this range I'm finding very few that can do what we need them to do. Mainly we want to be able to multi-track record, have a digital snake with at least 16 channels to add to the inputs up on stage (snake system is maxed out), and still have at least 12 inputs up in the booth for wireless and feeds from the new projector system. Ideally I'd like to be able to expand input capability even beyond this for future growth (one of the big reasons I'm not including the X32 in this search - I'm afraid that it will immediately be maxed out on inputs and we'll be facing the same issues we already are having come Christmas when we have a big mproduction supported by a full band)

So far the best options seem to be either a fully expanded GLD system with a dante card (number of inputs could be a problem down the road, but it does look like it has an nice easy to use interface and I've had nothing but good experiences with its big brother iLive) or an LS9 system with dante card and SB168-es (I'm very well familiar with the LS9 and Yamaha mixers in general, although I'm not a huge fan of the work flow on this board compared to some of the new consoles that have come out over the past few years - does have a lot of inputs though).

As you can see there are pluses and minuses about each of these and therefore I'm curious about other options such as the Midas Pro1. For example, with the Pro1 is there a way to live multi-track record other than a DN9650 with a Dante card? I hate the idea of having to buy both a whole rack unit put a card just to do this. Any other mixers I'm not thinking of that would be recommended?

Thanks for the info!
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just a reminder of the original post!
 
Re: Non X32 Digital Mixer Questions

Nick Davis said:
just a reminder of the original post!
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I think Peter got the answers he was after and has moved on to the Demo stage before he buys...:razz:

Peter Etheredge said:
Thanks for the info everyone.

As of now the GLD is the recommendation I'm submitting because it does everything I need minus the ability to expand to beyond 48 inputs, which is still pretty darn good. Any question I can ask myself as to what would be a downside to this console cannot be answered with a negative, and now that includes the question "is there a better option". Seems like a no. Right now we're working on getting a demo to try for a Sunday.

Looking at 10 years down the road we will hopefully be at a point of just building a new and much larger space, in which time I'll fight for a budget that accordingly meets the needs of a larger space and the larger groups it can accommodate.
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Re: Non X32 Digital Mixer Questions

Hey Peter, just wondering if you have the GLD yet? I am very interested, as we are also going through a bit of an upgrade, and I am thinking that teh GLD might work for us as well. So I'm very interested to see what you think of this desk. I have never worked on a digital desk for live sound, so am worried about the awkwardness of getting ot a function that is 2, 3, or 4 clicks away, particularly in a live setting when you need to make that crucial chnage NOW.

Any feedback will be worthwhile.

A&H is continually making improvements and adding features to their GLD. Last month, they added iPad control of monitors for the muso's, and a personal email I received from them mentioned that they have some other really good developments in the pipeline, but didn't say what.

I have been keeping an eye on a few forums, and I don't remember one bad comment about the GLD. Price is very good for the feature set, and it gets us into the digital space, along with all its benefits, like recording, remote operation for setup and on-stage mix setup, etc.

Comments?
 
Re: Non X32 Digital Mixer Questions

Sean Verwey said:
Hey Peter, just wondering if you have the GLD yet? I am very interested, as we are also going through a bit of an upgrade, and I am thinking that teh GLD might work for us as well. So I'm very interested to see what you think of this desk. I have never worked on a digital desk for live sound, so am worried about the awkwardness of getting ot a function that is 2, 3, or 4 clicks away, particularly in a live setting when you need to make that crucial chnage NOW.
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I'm not Peter, but my church installed a GLD in September. So far most of us are loving it, and our hard-core analog guy is starting to come around.

Fader assignment on the GLD is pretty flexible so it's easy to get all your "money" inputs and group controls (be they DCA or subgroups) onto a single layer where you live most of the time if that's the way you want to run it. That said, flipping between layers is no big deal and as fast and easy as taking a step or two to go from one end of a large analog console to the other.

We have a roster of four worship bands (each with dedicated sound tech) who each play once a month--in that kind of environment, the ability to recall settings (which don't change a whole lot month-to-month for any particular band) rather than dialing up four channels of wedges plus FOH mix from scratch every rehearsal and sound check is a real time saver. (Obviously, the recalled settings are just a starting point, but you get the idea).

A&H is continually making improvements and adding features to their GLD. Last month, they added iPad control of monitors for the muso's, and a personal email I received from them mentioned that they have some other really good developments in the pipeline, but didn't say what.
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The iPad control of monitors was for the iLive, I think. As far as I know the GLD iPad app controls the entire console... musos aren't going to go anywhere near that one on my watch.

A&H also just released a personal monitoring system compatible with the GLD.
I have been keeping an eye on a few forums, and I don't remember one bad comment about the GLD. Price is very good for the feature set, and it gets us into the digital space, along with all its benefits, like recording, remote operation for setup and on-stage mix setup, etc.
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My major gripe with it (now that the scene recall and access to the USB audio have been much improved in v1.10 of the firmware) is the lack of an off-line editor, something that A&H have given no public indication of changing any time soon.
 
Re: Non X32 Digital Mixer Questions

Sean Verwey said:
I have never worked on a digital desk for live sound, so am worried about the awkwardness of getting ot a function that is 2, 3, or 4 clicks away, particularly in a live setting when you need to make that crucial chnage NOW.
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That is a concern for many but I think that is also where features such as flexible channel assignment, electronic scribble strips, color coding, split banks, etc. can reduce that concern as you can configure the console to best fit your needs and more readily see what you have.

Also realize that many digital consoles have various shortcuts that you may have to use the console sufficiently in order to learn and to use effectively but can sometimes be quite effective.

I always find it amusing that with large format analog consoles you'd often hear complaints about having to deal with all those channels all the time and wouldn't it be nice if you could only have the channels you operate regularly unless you needed them but now with digital consoles you often hear exactly the opposite. It seems that some people simply think differently and thus for some layers are easy to pick up while others may struggle with them no matter what.
 
Re: Non X32 Digital Mixer Questions

I recently purchased a Pro1. I can tell you it has easy access to all channels.You can do it through pop groups,VCA's or expanded channels.The best thing about the Midas in my opinion is the customer support.I have never had better customer support than I have with Midas.Kyle Chirnside from Midas USA is always available and is very patient and breaks things down so anyone can understand how to get things done.Plus,they sound really great! I have read a few posts from A&H digital owners that they have had trouble getting responses for customer support.Not so with my experience with Midas.They have been great!
 
Re: Non X32 Digital Mixer Questions

Sean Verwey said:
Hey Peter, just wondering if you have the GLD yet? I am very interested, as we are also going through a bit of an upgrade, and I am thinking that teh GLD might work for us as well. So I'm very interested to see what you think of this desk. I have never worked on a digital desk for live sound, so am worried about the awkwardness of getting ot a function that is 2, 3, or 4 clicks away, particularly in a live setting when you need to make that crucial chnage NOW.

Any feedback will be worthwhile.

A&H is continually making improvements and adding features to their GLD. Last month, they added iPad control of monitors for the muso's, and a personal email I received from them mentioned that they have some other really good developments in the pipeline, but didn't say what.

I have been keeping an eye on a few forums, and I don't remember one bad comment about the GLD. Price is very good for the feature set, and it gets us into the digital space, along with all its benefits, like recording, remote operation for setup and on-stage mix setup, etc.

Comments?
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Don't have it yet, just waiting for the capitol campaign to happen in March, so hopefully sometime after that. Well, unless the Spirit does the right thing and dies before then.

As for using digital don't be afraid. I've used all sorts of desks in live productions over the years and while yes, there are extra clicks sometimes you'll find yourself loving all the features and flexibility. With the GLD I don't think you'd have too hard a time navigating it because of all the nice knobs for compression, eq, and such. I haven't used one yet however I have used the iLive and that has the same sort of deal. Of course I also used to own an 01v96 so compared to that anything seems simple to navigate.

What kind of desk are you currently using?
 
Re: Non X32 Digital Mixer Questions

Peter, thanks for the comments. At the moment we are using a Soundcraft LX-7 (24ch) as the main desk, and since we were running low on channels, we also use a 24ch A&H PA28 as a sub mixer for the drums (only using about 9 channels for that). The LX-7 is about 12 years old now, so it is haveing a few problems, and after one repair, it is still not 100%, so this is a great time to upgrade. We have a few outboard units, so it would be good getting it integrated into one unit....
 
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