Time to go completely digital or not?

D

Donnie Evans

Sophomore
Jan 12, 2011
206
2
18
Louisville, GA
www.ogeecheeriverband.com
Ok, with all the X32 discussion I'm beginning to get the bug again. Currently, I have a GL2400-32, MixWiz 16:2, and an 01v96v2. I don't have any expansion cards or external Pre's yet with the 01v, but my goal has been to make it a 28-32 input small footprint FOH. I can very seldom get by with 12 inputs, so the 01v gets very little use as it is right now. The MixWiz and GL are my bread and butter.

So here's my dillema: with the money I could sell the 01v96 for, plus the money I will be spending to upgrade to 28-32 inputs, I would be fairly close (close enough to me..) to the cost of a new X32. But then there is no small footprint digital FOH in my arsenal. I would definitely have to keep the MixWiz for anything needing 16 or less channels, and small FOH footprint. On the other hand, I can keep my 01v96, sell both the GL2400 and the MixWiz, and still probably be able to spend the same "out of pocket" to get the X32 AND upgrade the 01v rig. But then I have no analog board left in the trailer. Thoughts?
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Donnie Evans said:
But then I have no analog board left in the trailer.
Click to expand...

Who cares what is left in the trailer? If all it does is taking up space, get rid of it!!!!!
These days, analogue cirquitry isn't more reliable than digital cirquitry, when mixers fail it tends to be ribbon cables and analogue bits that let you down, so unless you want the GL for the sound or as a backup with more channels than what the 01V96 can provide, sell it while you can.
Don't end up like me, with a museum's worth of old and wonky gear that "might" come in in handy one day, keep the gems and shovel out the rubble before it's too late.
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Well that's sort of my point. I love my GL2400 and the ease of use and sound I get out of it. The MixWiz is easy to use as well and serves me great for smaller stuff. I'm hesitant to throw out all my tried and true workhorses for something sight unseen (or un-heard I should say). But to be able to make the move, all that has to go.
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

You may have to decide if you are doing something because you want to or because it makes sense. If you are doing this for a business purpose then forget it being analog versus digital and focus on what makes business sense. How many of your clients or users really care if the mixer is digital or analog? How many would pay more for an X32 than they do for the GL2400 or more for the 01V96 than they do for the MixWiz and how much more? What opportunities and/or capabilities would be provided by a X32 or 01V96 that don't exist with the GL2400 or MixWiz? Do you face losing work to competitors by not having digital console offerings? How would the purchases affect finances such as depreciation, insurance and so on?
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

I'm sort of in the same boat, but have purchased a StudioLive 24:4:2. I'm keeping my MixWiz for my small footprint/backup console and looking to sell a 24 ch GL desk and my Venice 320. With the on-board FX and a small rack with a KT504 quad comp, a DBX 266 dual comp/gate and a couple of GraphiQ's (2 single rack-space, dual channel units) with a laptop for the EQ's and playback, I'm all set for the smaller, casual gigs.

One Wiz in a road case, one 4 space rack. It's working for me.
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Donnie Evans said:
Currently, I have a GL2400-32, MixWiz 16:2, and an 01v96v2. I don't have any expansion cards or external Pre's yet with the 01v, but my goal has been to make it a 28-32 input small footprint FOH. I can very seldom get by with 12 inputs, so the 01v gets very little use as it is right now. The MixWiz and GL are my bread and butter.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

1: What Brad said. Unless you really see this as more a hobby than anything else, that's the correct way to approach it.
2: If you do decide on a change, would you have the budget to do it in stages? My thought would be to sell the MixWiz and use that money plus a little out of pocket to start expanding your 01V rig - that would still be conveniently compact, and would get you more time making use of that investment and getting more used to working in digital, while still keeping the GL a while longer until either your business needs become clearer or you're more sure of what you want.

HTH,
David.
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Brad Weber said:
You may have to decide if you are doing something because you want to or because it makes sense. If you are doing this for a business purpose then forget it being analog versus digital and focus on what makes business sense. How many of your clients or users really care if the mixer is digital or analog? How many would pay more for an X32 than they do for the GL2400 or more for the 01V96 than they do for the MixWiz and how much more? What opportunities and/or capabilities would be provided by a X32 or 01V96 that don't exist with the GL2400 or MixWiz? Do you face losing work to competitors by not having digital console offerings? How would the purchases affect finances such as depreciation, insurance and so on?
Click to expand...

Well, truth be told, it's mostly about me. I don't see any of the gear I'm looking at purchasing being able to get me more clients or higher pay than the gear I currently use. I'm looking at this solely on an end user basis. I do 99% of my gigs by myself, and less equipment and physical patching means less work on me, and easier and faster load in/out. That said, after doing some more researching on the X32, I may just hold off until January NAMM and see what the rest of the "X" line holds in store. I'm getting a suspicion about a rackmountable version of the 32, and no, not that prototype X16 that Uli posted about on here.
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Donnie Evans said:
Well, truth be told, it's mostly about me. I don't see any of the gear I'm looking at purchasing being able to get me more clients or higher pay than the gear I currently use. I'm looking at this solely on an end user basis. I do 99% of my gigs by myself, and less equipment and physical patching means less work on me, and easier and faster load in/out. That said, after doing some more researching on the X32, I may just hold off until January NAMM and see what the rest of the "X" line holds in store. I'm getting a suspicion about a rackmountable version of the 32, and no, not that prototype X16 that Uli posted about on here.
Click to expand...

You sound just like me. Digital is nice and light quick setups, faster times. I had a gl2200 and was looking for a new desk, in the end, I bought a apb pro desk 8.

Most people go to these lower priced digital desk for ease of use, as far as load in and out and wieght.

Behringer, we still use them for door stops, or shims to level things out, doesn't look like they are sending new products out in 100% ready to go condition.

The entry level digital does not sound better, its just a easier to setup product, for quick and easy gigs.
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Well I made the move and it was a tough decision, but I'm glad I did. My Studiolive with the iPad app has made my work easier and more profitable.

Sorry about all that "junk" I unloaded on you, Alan ;)~;-)~:wink:
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Chuck Simon said:
Well I made the move and it was a tough decision, but I'm glad I did. My Studiolive with the iPad app has made my work easier and more profitable.

Sorry about all that "junk" I unloaded on you, Alan ;)~;-)~:wink:
Click to expand...

If you have any more of that junk give me a call, we will use it. All your gear is working fine! Thanks again. For the extra 10 minutes of setup and having everything in front of me I'll stick with analog gear. So is all my Drawmer, Bss, Klark, Aphex and Ashley junk also?,,,,,
 
Donnie Evans said:
Well that's sort of my point. I love my GL2400 and the ease of use and sound I get out of it. The MixWiz is easy to use as well and serves me great for smaller stuff. I'm hesitant to throw out all my tried and true workhorses for something sight unseen (or un-heard I should say). But to be able to make the move, all that has to go.
Click to expand...

Donnie, you can replace the mix wiz with the 01v96 and a 2u skb case with a ADA8000 for under $300. No big upgrade to keep a small footprint.

The decision for the larger desk is harder.
In the low end of the price range there is only the X32 and SL24 right now. The next step up ($8k or so) has lots of choices.
I think there will be a bunch of exciting stuff next spring though.


Sent from my iPad
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Alan Sledzieski said:
If you have any more of that junk give me a call, we will use it. All your gear is working fine! Thanks again. For the extra 10 minutes of setup and having everything in front of me I'll stick with analog gear. So is all my Drawmer, Bss, Klark, Aphex and Ashley junk also?,,,,,
Click to expand...

Alan, if you are interested I have some analog "Junk" that I'll be listing on here shortly due to my X32 purchase(s)
Klark square one
drawmer stereo comps
ashly gqx 3102 graphs
ashly 4 ch protea
etc...
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Like the Presonus desks that preceded it, the added recording functionality of the the X32 could be the key here - in that if you are able to (or think you can) make more money than you're currently making, by selling the extra facility of a full 32 pre-channel strip inputs as stems for further mixing by clients (or yourself, if that's your thing) then it's a clearer path to amortizing the initial outlay to upgrade.
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Guy Graham said:
Like the Presonus desks that preceded it, the added recording functionality of the the X32 could be the key here - in that if you are able to (or think you can) make more money than you're currently making, by selling the extra facility of a full 32 pre-channel strip inputs as stems for further mixing by clients (or yourself, if that's your thing) then it's a clearer path to amortizing the initial outlay to upgrade.
Click to expand...

Most of the bands I mix for are pretty small potatoes, so I charge $40 for the raw recorded tracks on a USB drive. I find under the $50 mark works out. If all 3 bands purchase the tracks it's an extra $120 for the night.

Not to mention saving scenes for the bands. When they return it's just a matter of calling up the scene, resetting the gains and then the sound check is pretty much done. A song or two and its good to go. I went to the SL24.4.2 based on the number of aux's the amount of processing etc etc. remote mixing via iPad and recording were bonuses.
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

I recently sold off my GL2400-32 and most of the processing gear I had that went with that system. I now have enough funds to buy an X32. Actually, once I sell all of my external processing that I was using, I'm going to be pretty close to TWO X32's. The convenience of having everything in one digital package at essentially the same cost makes it a fairly easy decision. The only thing holding me back is that the X32 doesn't have enough history behind it yet. Until then, I have a very reasonable source to rent higher end digital consoles to get me by on the larger shows.

Personally, I'd suggest going the route of selling off the analogue gear and setting yourself up with 2 digital systems, since the cost to do that is essentially going to be a wash for you. The quality and reliability of most digital gear today is up to par with the average analogue gear that you are currently using, and the price is now in line. Of course, next year, there will be even better digital choices to pick from, so choose wisely.
 
Re: Time to go completely digital or not?

Alan Sledzieski said:
The entry level digital does not sound better, its just a easier to setup product, for quick and easy gigs.
Click to expand...

Well speaking from experience the X32 certainly does not sound any worse than the GL2400, or the Venice it replaced in our club. And one could argue that with the added functionality of fully parametric EQ's and not being limited on dynamics, one can get a better mix on a digital desk than club level analogs such as GL2400 with the standard amount of outboard you usually see with them.

At a club I worked at in Seattle I would occasionally bring in my 01v96 so I wouldn't have to use the mackie 1604 with a large funk band. People would always say it sounded better. Does an 01v96 sound better than a 1604? I very much doubt it. What they were hearing is the added amount of control I had compared to the 1604.

Same thing recently, regulars at my house gig come up fairly regularly and say the the club sounds better since we got the new mixer (X32). Again, in an apples to apples comparison I don't actually think the X32 sounds better than a Venice, but then again, definitely not worse either. But I'm no longer limited in what I want to do in my mix. I don't have to prioritize what I have to compress etc...and I like the mixes better.

My point is no one is going to hear a decrease in sound quality by replacing a GL2400 with digital. I'd say sell off the analog, keep the 01v96 for small footprint gigs and an X32 will handle your bigger gigs with zero outboard needed (maybe a DSP, not sure what your FOH rig is, but you know what I mean). Then you would have everything you need with only two mixers would you not?

What does it matter that there's no analog in the truck?
 
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