Need help convincing a club owner to buy DSHOW

[soundbobby]

hi
our venue staff really wants a sc48! the club owner needs some information regarding repair and longevity of the dshow consoles.

i know all the pros to getting this console as i am an engineer. what are the problems engineers are having with these consoles after using them for a few years? Are there any problems of failure during a show? obviously there is a warranty for the first year but what happens if something fries after that? Has anyone had any problems with digidesign regarding a repair with dshows yet?
what is the typical life span for the sc48 if used on 3 bands every night?thanks for taking the time to read this! we all know this console is the bomb, but i really need to convince the owner it wont fail after 5 years of heavy use in order to get my crew on this unbelievable product!

bobby
http://www.troubadour.com

[emluper]

Bobby,

We've had ours in a permanent install since April of '05 and haven't had a failure yet. That goes for hardware as well as software. The system has been rock solid for us.

The people you might want to contact are the touring guys. They beat them up like any other console and if anyone would know of hardware issues it's them. Try some of the companies out of Nashville.

Erik

[C Hawk]

I work for a touring company and can say that the venue systems are way more stable and rugged then any other digital consoles. (I had a mix rack fall down a flight of steel stairs and apart from the chassis slightly twisting the system worked flawlessly )

I can't really comment on the sc48 specifically but its a similar engine to the other consoles and I would be confident having it bounce around in the back of a truck.

The the profile/ sc48 faders do tend to become a bit rough after about a year or two but the faders are extremely cheap to replace and take about 3 minutes to install.

As far as convincing the owner to buy one, get a quote on a 48 channel analouge console, 48 comps and gates, 10 studio quality reverbs, 10 studio quality reverbs and 16 graphic EQs.

[soundbobby]

thanks for the info. I don't have to prove it's cheaper , I have to prove that after buying it, that if and when it fails, how quick can I recover the problem. Thanks for the tip on the faders. Can you purchase all parts individually from Digidesign and install them yourself?

[soundbobby]

thanks for the info. I don't have to prove it's cheaper , I have to prove that after buying it, that if and when it fails, how quick can I recover the problem. Thanks for the tip on the faders. Can you purchase all parts individually from Digidesign and install them yourself?

[C Hawk]

yes and yes

BUT......

ALWAYS make sure any work you do doesnt void your warranty!

[craig-tx]

Digidesign does sell a "Spares Kit". I am not sure how applicable it is to the SC-48, but if there is one for it, perhaps having one on hand will give you the confidence your boss needs.

Here is what the spares kit aimed at the original D-Show system includes.
The D-Show Spares Kit Features:
* Stage Rack power supply
* Power supply module compatible with FOH Rack, D-Show Main unit or D-Show Sidecar
* 40 GB FOH Rack System Hard Drive with Mounting Kit
* 256 MB RAM module
* TDM Flex Cable for connecting DSP Mix Engine cards
* FOH Link cable for connecting the FOH Rack to the D-Show Main unit
* Console Link cable for connecting the D-Show Main unit and D-Show Sidecars
* Knob & Fader Cap Pack (8 of each type of knob/cap)
* 80mm Cooling Fan and Filter Kit
* Fader Replacement Kit, consisting of two channel faders and one ACS fader
* D-Show Tool & Fasteners Kit
* D-Show Service Guide