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Old 02-13-2011, 12:19 AM   #14
yep
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Join Date: Aug 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blechi View Post
With the last digital Behringer console (DDX3216) the problems were not at all with the moving parts. It was more the mic preamps and the powersupply was also a weak part.
The concept of the new console (available ~3. quarter 2011) is at least for live use genius. (32i/16o onboard, AES50, Ultranet etc.)
If Behringer doesn't fuck up the mechanical and electronic part, other manufacturers of digital consoles will have a hard time, and i can imagine many bands using it instead of 'been-20-years-on-the-road, don't-touch-AUX1, channels-1-7-12-are-fucked'-club consoles with their often questionable sideracks (if any).
As for studio use: For the bedroom homerecorder it will probably be too expensive and a (project)studio will most likely think twice before buying a console with cooling fan and 'Behringer' written on it.
I don't want to go too far down the road of arguing hypotheticals, but I'm kind of surprised to hear this initial optimism specifically for live applications. It's been a awhile since I did live sound for a living, but I keep in touch, and my experience is that flying-fader digital consoles tend to be looked on with something close to horror by FOH sound techs unless you're talking about rarefied, big-budget tours with redundant DAW rackmount systems and dedicated travelling sound engineers.

If anything this breed of hybrid software-based digital console seems to be primarily a tool for home/budget studios, with the ability to use it in occasional live sound for poorly-supported gigs.

But I can't imagine choosing such a thing for a primary FOH console when reliable analog mixers from Mackie, Soundcraft (or Behringer, for that matter) are available for the same price. What use does a FOH mixer in a nightclub really have for motorized faders and onboard digital reverb? How is motorized fader recall useful when you have to mix it live anyway?

If anything I would have thought the opposite: that this was primarily of interest to budget studios who wanted to break away from mouse/keyboard mixing...

Do bands now bring their own mixing consoles to grimy bars with junk equipment? If so, where do they put the existing console? Do they re-route all the snakes at soundcheck and leave it set up for the other bands?

I've done stuff where the band had its own rack and brought its own rackmount mixer and sent stems to the FOH mixer to keep their sound intact, and I have definitely seen the band's tour manager or soundman work the console for their set, but this notion of showing up at the corner bar with your own full-blown console is new to me...
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