D-Command replacement

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by zakco

....an Avid Product specialist who shrugged each criticism off with "what do you expect? - it's a low end, budget controller" His solution for me was to buy an S6 for literally 10x the price. And I still wouldn't have custom plugin mapping

[Marsdy]

Originally Posted by zakco

Yup. I just did this. Found a 4 year old main unit ES version in mint condition with brand new faders for less than than the price of an S3 alone. I also found a virtually unused 24 fader ES model for $6500 but I just don't have room for it unfortunately...

I researched the crap outta this and the more I looked at the S3/Dock combo, the more that seemed like a sideways move and in some ways a step back from the DC. There were some real shortcomings such as:

-No custom plugin maps (apparently none of the Eucon devices can do that!?!).
-No Live room Listen back channels (the DC has 2)
-The talkback button shares a button with another function, is latching only and there is no "auto" setting.
- When set to EQ mode, the dock knobs/display only follow the first EQ insert and cannot cycle down the inserts. Same with the Dynamics.
- when displaying EQ plugin GUI on the iPad display, turning the knobs on the dock changes the parameters on your regular PT display, but the curves do are NOT displayed on the Dock! Seriously...WTF!?!
-The programmable softkeys have no scribble strips, so you have to memorize what they do. The DC by comparison has entire section of scribble strips - one for each softkey that displays their function. In fairness, this is what the iPad is for, but then what is the point of all those unlabelled buttons if we are just going to use the iPad display anyhow, which brings me to the point that there is a ton of overlap between the S3 and Dock. Other than the knobs, the entire dock can be replaced by the S3 and an iPad running PT control app.

I'm really glad that I read every inch of the user guides for these products. I made notes and then verified my concerns with an Avid Product specialist who shrugged each criticism off with "what do you expect? - it's a low end, budget controller" His solution for me was to buy an S6 for literally 10x the price. And I still wouldn't have custom plugin mapping

Avid has completely blown off a major part of the audio market by not offering a comparable controller to the DC in the $15-30k range. So...I doubled down and let my support plan lapse, bought a second 5.1 mac pro as a backup and plan to stay here at 12.7 for a very, very long time.

In fairness to Avid, this isn't true. There is a replacement for a NEW D-Command in the 15 to 30k range, (pound or dollars,) that being an S6 M10. Granted it is closer to 30K!

I would definitely rather have a second hand D-command than an S3/Dock but grey ones are VERY thin on the ground in the UK. (I waited a year and only saw one ES for sale which was WAY overpriced. A few blue ones were available but they looked pretty shot.)

The S6 does have plug-in mapping.... sort of. You can now map plug-in parameters to faders and it works quite well. It's no substitute for full plug-in mapping though so I'd say that was a fair criticism. Also, you STILL can't instantiate sends and plug-ins on the S6 which is pretty poor IMO. That said there's a LOT of stuff you can't do on the D-Command and a lot of stuff you can do a lot faster and more productively on the S6. There are also some VERY cool features in the works for the S6 .

If I had found a D-Command ES for a $6.5k I would have jumped on it though!

[Will Russell]

So this all reinforces my decision that when and if a PT update "breaks" the D-Command I will freeze my system there and stop upgrading. With music recording budgets as low as they are it makes no business sense for me to spend the kinda bread required to enter the S6 pond, and the S3/Dock solution, while pretty slick and compact, would result in the loss of a lot of functionality I use daily on my D-Command.

Time to consider stockpiling spare parts.

[Watagushu2013]

Originally Posted by Will Russell

So this all reinforces my decision that when and if a PT update "breaks" the D-Command I will freeze my system there and stop upgrading. With music recording budgets as low as they are it makes no business sense for me to spend the kinda bread required to enter the S6 pond, and the S3/Dock solution, while pretty slick and compact, would result in the loss of a lot of functionality I use daily on my D-Command.



Time to consider stockpiling spare parts.

+1
As more people explains the new workflows for s6 facility's I am more afraid to let go my D command.

[puffin]

Ditto here,
I picked up a second 24 fader blue DCommand as a plan B.
They are going for around 4k on average which is a steal!

[Liquid Ghost]

Originally Posted by Will Russell

So this all reinforces my decision that when and if a PT update "breaks" the D-Command I will freeze my system there and stop upgrading. With music recording budgets as low as they are it makes no business sense for me to spend the kinda bread required to enter the S6 pond, and the S3/Dock solution, while pretty slick and compact, would result in the loss of a lot of functionality I use daily on my D-Command.

Time to consider stockpiling spare parts.

Are parts still available from Avid if so for how long?
Where else can parts be sourced?
I would take power supplies and faders would be needed in time.

[Drew Mazurek]

Originally Posted by Liquid Ghost

Are parts still available from Avid if so for how long?
Where else can parts be sourced?
I would take power supplies and faders would be needed in time.

I bought an LED power supply from Avid last year.

Supposedly this is the same thing.

https://power.sager.com/snp-z10b-397...gn=power-brand

[Simon Li]

These are the 3 PSUs inside the D-Command.

SNP-Z107 12vDC 11A(https://power.sager.com/snp-z107-3979622.html)

SNP-9544-15v(https://power.sager.com/snp-9544-3985292.html)

SNP-Z10B-3-3v-30A(https://power.sager.com/snp-z10b-3979628.html)

The main 8ch unit has all 3 whereas the fader exp. unit has Z107 and Z10B.

I have replaced Z10B on my fader exp. unit to resolve the "flashing LEDs" problem in the past. And I have recently replaced the Z107 on my main unit because the unit didn't power up. From my understanding, the PSUs are made in Taiwan.

Hope the parts # would help people who are in need of PSUs replacement.

Best,
Simon Li at nOiz

[Neil H]

Faders are usually off the shelf alps units and you'd just need to solder them to the stock fly leads.
Even power supplies could be sorted out with off the shelf alternatives of the correct voltage and current if originals are no longer available, I've done this with Pro Controls and Fader packs (sourced an alternative suitable supply redrilled the chassis to mount it and moded the cable harness to suit).
I'm sure pots could be sourced too, my only concern would be buttons & switches.
This might be beyond the kind of work some people want to tackle but it's all possible none the less.

[Drew Mazurek]

Thanks Simon!! I copied your post into a text doc for (hopefully not needed) future reference.

Originally Posted by Simon Li

These are the 3 PSUs inside the D-Command.

SNP-Z107 12vDC 11A(https://power.sager.com/snp-z107-3979622.html)

SNP-9544-15v(https://power.sager.com/snp-9544-3985292.html)

SNP-Z10B-3-3v-30A(https://power.sager.com/snp-z10b-3979628.html)

The main 8ch unit has all 3 whereas the fader exp. unit has Z107 and Z10B.

I have replaced Z10B on my fader exp. unit to resolve the "flashing LEDs" problem in the past. And I have recently replaced the Z107 on my main unit because the unit didn't power up. From my understanding, the PSUs are made in Taiwan.

Hope the parts # would help people who are in need of PSUs replacement.

Best,
Simon Li at nOiz