Re: X32 Discussion
Scott, you said a lot. While nobody can argue the need for large hardware inventories, much of the discussion here seems to forget what it is that makes one rental company seemingly "better" than another--perhaps that's where the difference is--a sound company as opposed to a rental company. At one level you could successfully argue that the access to big inventories leads to success in the Pro Audio industry, but I would like to think that success is the result of a lot more. Any good business model has to take into consideration the "value added" in the delivery of products or services and Pro Audio is no exception! A console is simply a tool we use as a part of a much larger system to provide the client what he or she is wanting. In looking at the overall cost picture, console cost is really not as big an item as some here have suggested. In order to produce any show, we need to put in place a myriad of other systems (power distribution, stage snakes, inputs, output distribution, various speaker and amplifier systems, and, of course, personnel).
For those who think there is not much difference between a sound company and a rental house, look at the fabrication facilities of most viable sound companies. Consoles are just a small part of the picture--this is a business where you cannot find turn-key, "off-the-shelf" solutions for many of our needs--we fabricate what we need. Innovation is not limited to the hardware we put in place but has to include the manner in which it is deployed. We talk of a sound system very loosely, ignoring that any properly designed sound system is really a combination of many other systems and that it is in how we integrate these systems, through fabrication fostered by innovation, that we achieve our success in this industry.
The X32 console definitely fills a void in digital console deployment. Previously, one could argue that deploying a digital console artificially required the client to "buy into" much more than was needed in terms of channel count and processing horsepower. Larger digital systems do require more personnel to deploy and maintain especially when many of those consoles have ancillary racks for processing, remote head amps, and such--really not much different that larger analog deployments. If I base the success of my business model solely on the ability to deploy a more expensive console, then I might as well shut the doors because I am not taking into account the value that I am adding in the delivery of products & services to the client. This is a service industry, not just a hardware one. In the digital world, the landscape is continually changing and, if I want to maintain a fair measure of success, my model must change to accommodate these industry changes.
Scott, you said a lot. While nobody can argue the need for large hardware inventories, much of the discussion here seems to forget what it is that makes one rental company seemingly "better" than another--perhaps that's where the difference is--a sound company as opposed to a rental company. At one level you could successfully argue that the access to big inventories leads to success in the Pro Audio industry, but I would like to think that success is the result of a lot more. Any good business model has to take into consideration the "value added" in the delivery of products or services and Pro Audio is no exception! A console is simply a tool we use as a part of a much larger system to provide the client what he or she is wanting. In looking at the overall cost picture, console cost is really not as big an item as some here have suggested. In order to produce any show, we need to put in place a myriad of other systems (power distribution, stage snakes, inputs, output distribution, various speaker and amplifier systems, and, of course, personnel).
For those who think there is not much difference between a sound company and a rental house, look at the fabrication facilities of most viable sound companies. Consoles are just a small part of the picture--this is a business where you cannot find turn-key, "off-the-shelf" solutions for many of our needs--we fabricate what we need. Innovation is not limited to the hardware we put in place but has to include the manner in which it is deployed. We talk of a sound system very loosely, ignoring that any properly designed sound system is really a combination of many other systems and that it is in how we integrate these systems, through fabrication fostered by innovation, that we achieve our success in this industry.
The X32 console definitely fills a void in digital console deployment. Previously, one could argue that deploying a digital console artificially required the client to "buy into" much more than was needed in terms of channel count and processing horsepower. Larger digital systems do require more personnel to deploy and maintain especially when many of those consoles have ancillary racks for processing, remote head amps, and such--really not much different that larger analog deployments. If I base the success of my business model solely on the ability to deploy a more expensive console, then I might as well shut the doors because I am not taking into account the value that I am adding in the delivery of products & services to the client. This is a service industry, not just a hardware one. In the digital world, the landscape is continually changing and, if I want to maintain a fair measure of success, my model must change to accommodate these industry changes.
