Yamaha Digital

Randy Gartner

Randy Gartner

Junior
Jan 12, 2011
465
18
18
72
Pennsylvania
randygartnersound.com
Yamaha was one of the pioneers in Digital consoles and were very popular . But it doesn't seem their new generation is catching on. I have yet to see one of the new QL/ CL mixers. And I haven't seen any listed on the tours featured in some of the sound magazines. I am seeing alot of Digico, some Midas and of course the Venue.Do you see any reason that the Yamaha's aren't catching on? Also, I have heard alot of great things about A&H's DLive but I haven't seen any out on tours. For something that get's so great reviews,you'd think you might see one somewhere.
 
Are you looking for a specific application? The CLs are a pretty solid rental desk. In my opinion if an engineer wants digico, he is carrying it himself.


 
No idea what locally means for you but every major market that I know of has multiple CL5s available in much the same way that PM4ks were ubiquitous back in the day. Also much like the PM4k they aren't toured because other consoles caught that market, currently Digico's and back in deepest darkest analog days it was Midas. The Dante networking implementation and CL / QL / RIO hardware line up are a huge draw for rental companies that do corporate work, perhaps less so for those whose work is music centric.
 
Riley Casey said:
No idea what locally means for you but every major market that I know of has multiple CL5s available in much the same way that PM4ks were ubiquitous back in the day. Also much like the PM4k they aren't toured because other consoles caught that market, currently Digico's and back in deepest darkest analog days it was Midas. The Dante networking implementation and CL / QL / RIO hardware line up are a huge draw for rental companies that do corporate work, perhaps less so for those whose work is music centric.
Click to expand...

My take on it is similar to yours.

As a regional production company three or four years ago I had to pick the next console. Avid hadn't yet released anything interesting. Digico was still way above our price point and BE that wanted Digico brought them.

For me it was beteeen Yamaha and Midas. Out of the gate, the CL pricing once you added in the stage box(es) was still 30% more than a similar Midas package. This was even before MG dropped the Midas pricing another 30%.

If the CL was clearly preferred by BE we would still have purchased a pair. But in fact from my vantage point at the time it was the opposite. Midas was 30% less and made more BE smile. So thats the way we went.

I do think the CL is a fine desk. Since we owned M7/LS9, the CL still easy for me to mix on when I need to. For some jobs its a better tool. It just was priced too high vs the competition in the first few years.

The companies that buy and love the CL tend to have more corporate clients. Automixing was a big thing. Dante was a big thing. The event budgets tend to also support the price difference:)

Jason


 
Last edited:
Agreed with Riley and David's responses. We own consoles from Avid and Yamaha including the QL1. The QL1 makes a good return on investment, is constantly rented out, and usually has 4 channels of lav mics piping through it in a boring conference room.

The Profile and SC48's go out a handful of times in the summer for large festivals with lots of good photo ops and flashy lights.

IOW, They both get good usage, but sex sells.
 
It depends on the market. I see very different consoles in different markets. (rental, touring, conference, theatre, musical, clubs, etc. and all of this on different levels)
Yamaha does very well with the CL and QL in certain markets, like rental, for instance. They seem to be not sexy enough for touring, although they have some share there as well. The PM10D, well, too early to tell, I think.
The dLive does well in touring and rental, for a desk that new.

All these observations go for Germany, partly Europe.
 
I've come across quite a few CL's on various shows I've been playing at in the last year or so (I am performing more these days than running production). I'd say they are pretty common, easily found in all the decent-sized markets. I think they are a really solid desk. The Avid desks are still the most fun to mix on in my personal opinion, but the Yamaha's are workhorses and sound WAY better than the previous generation (LS9, M7CL)
 
Top Bottom