re: X32 Discussion
Mike, SOF is the use of the faders in place of an aux mix's knobs. Just like mixing for house, you can glance down and see what is up (and how far up) in an aux. You can toggle between main/aux or the aux mixes. Sometimes this feature is called "fader flip" or "flip mode." Can be a real time saver and sanity checker.
DCA groups are pretty much like the VCA groups in analog mixers. If you're unfamiliar with that, IIRC Allen & Heath has an article about mixing on VCAs on their web site. You might want to google for it. VCAs differ from traditional audio groups (or "submasters") in that they control the levels from the internal signal path of the assigned channel rather than the output level of a hard-wired summing bus. It affects only signal level, it has no impact of routing. Think of it this way: groups/submasters are for signals you want to *process* as a group; VCA/DCAs are for signals you want to *control* as a group.
The use of VCA/DCA groups does not limit or change your use of traditional groups. You can still assign the kit or panned toms to a stereo group for additional dynamics processing; vocals to groups for some overall dynamics or EQ, etc.
The one caution I offer is that you need to understand how DCA assignment will affect the signals to the personal monitoring systems. If you have keyboards assigned to a DCA and you pull that down a little, does it change what the player hears?
