Favorite Digital Consoles

[zee06]

What is everyone favorite digital console, or brand of digital console and why?

[klaudio spinel r]

yhea... m7cl or pm5d....

[Nathan Young]

Ive used both Digidesign Venue\Profile. Ill have to say its my favorite because of ease of use. and nice user interface..amazing board!!! Remote control is nice too. plus it has a great sound.

[E-Rock]

For me a console is a console. (within reason) I'll mix on anything put in front of me and never blame a shitty performance on the gear. I've polished huge turds with terrible consoles with broken faders and sticky knobs.

I've used handful of the different digital desks available and all have their pros and cons. Yamaha may not have the best sounding consoles, but the industry has accepted them as the de facto standard so it would behoove every engineer to get to know their way around them. Yamaha was very smart in creating consoles like the M7CL and LS9 that are at a lower pricepoint for regional sound companies to go digital and carve their niche in the corporate world.

(my personal opinion of Yamaha is not to trust any piece of pro audio gear mfd by a company who also mfs personal watercraft, drums, microwaves and motorcycles. Too many irons in the fire)

Digidesign consoles are quickly catching up to Yamaha in popularity. I haven't spent enough time on one to formulate a detailed opinion but what I expereinced wasn't terrible.

The most stable console I have used is the Allen and Heath iLive. It's a LINUX based console. Kings X is carrying one on their current tour and it's executing flawlessly.

The Digico D5 is a very intuitive desk that sounds great (for a digital) and is easy to navigate. It's drawback is the Windows operating system driving it.

Midas XL8 is probably the best digital desk I've come across, however good luck finding a budget to fit it in unless you're working with a super-duper-superstar. The XL8 feels and sounds like Midas Analog. Can't beat it.

[Gregory Gately]

I use the M7CL for IEM on this tour and is my preferred console for monitors. I use every mix available. There are some great things about using the M7, touch screen being A#1. User interface is simple, and easy to learn. On board processing is amazing, effect gates and compressor/de-esser all work how they should and sound clean. Fast and simple sometimes works better imo. For the price it can not be beat.
Major pains of the board are the internal clocking, the output is a little digital sounding, meaning it is not as warm as some other digital consoles out on the market.
I like the PM5D it is has a few extra bells and whistles that can make your artist happier in the long run if only it had a touch screen.

[Juan "Punchy" Gonzalez]

PM5d...love it for live theater (all those damn wireless) and rock n roll

[Nick Walsh]

For ease of use, I'd say Yamaha MCL7. It has its draw backs but also big plusses. edisen power, Touch screen, foot print, and it doesn't even sound bad!

[Audio Chica]

Digital Consoles, trying to find a couple of seminars to go to really need to learn the digital world still stuck on analog ugh

[Jeffrey Avritt]

I agree the m7cl is a good console and very user friendly however my console of choice is the pm5d..........started my digital training on the pro mix 01 then the pro mix 01v then the 02r then the pm1d and have played with the spirit live 324 and inovason's and my fav is still the pm5d..........the d5 is impressive but i think that for me and the ladder i climbed with yamaha the pm5d is it.......

[John Ryan]

Hi friends...just came back from Milano, where the italian distributor fort Midas Consoles gave us a great presentation and hands-on experience with the new Pro6...awesome! They also had an XL8 there which I hadn't seen before and I was enlightened by the features on these mixers...my favorite still remains the PM1D and PM5DRH, but I feel that as soon as I will get a chance to do some gigs on the XL8 or Pro6, my choice for digital mixers will undergo some questioning...really grat and clever layout and then, of course...the great Midas sound...and nobody can beat this feature yet as far as I know.

[Mark Dudzik]

I'm the shop manager of a small outfit in Vegas. If anyone wants to stops by and play on the 8 give me a ring. I could make love to that dang thing! Coming up having to mix on whatever was around really makes you appreciate all these new fangled digital boards. I have no complaints on the the 5d or m7 as well. Making room for a round of Pro 6's next month can't wait. That's my experience in the live digital realm. It seems with software updates all consoles across the spectrum are getting more reliable. Don't get me wrong, gigs with all analog are what made me get into the business, but digitals getting cooler and cooler.

[Nate Stockman]

Everyone has their own opinion. Im not a huge fan of the yamaha digital stuff, dont like how they sound. Midas stuff is always great, best preamps in my mind, but talking digital, the XL8 is pricey. I hear the Midas Pro 6 is cool and a lot less money. Anyone used one yet?
My favorite digital consoles are the Studer Vistas. Great layout, lots of control, sounds good and lots of great stuff inside. However, I was running it with a Meyer rig, so that helped!

[Robert "Void" Caprio]

I have totally fallen in love with the Digidesign D-Show Profile. Easy, intuitive, terrific plug-ins, sounds great and I love the small footprint. Can't wait to get it hooked up with ProTools for Virtual Soundchecks. I do also like the XL8 but I don't see 'em too often. Might be seeing a lot of the Pro6, that remains to be seen.