Venue - Live Desk for FOH/Monitors (or Not)

[Howardk]

ICON people, sorry to intrude. I believe this is the closest forum on the subject.

Digidesign, are we going to see a forum for the Venue mixing environment soon?

I have looked over the features and talked to the other live engineers as well as principals of larger touring companies. . . common opinion is - limited number of auxs eliminates it as a monitor console for the majors because many acts require more mixes, due to the prevalence of stereo in-ears. . . Too bad the architecture was not a little more open for optional expansion in that direction, if you don't get the monitor mix position that is 1/2 the sales, and companies these days often like the same digital console at both positions (share A/D, reduced knowledge/support/maintenance costs), so this may actually often result in a zero sale due to the shortcoming. I hope I am wrong on the lack of ability to expand the limit of 16 aux sends (8 Stereo). There is also concern that Digidesign does not understand this market which will not tolerate design obsolecence. . . meaning a new hardware version around the corner will not be accepted practice. . . doing it right the first time and sticking is what is expected in this marketplace. There are other common comments but I will stop because this is not the right forum. . .

Last month I recorded a live 32 track concert remote, to be mixed later. I had hi-end pres (Millenia HV3D, True Systems 8) into 192 i/os and HD. I had time to setup/tweak plugins post soundcheck/ prior to performance. I didn't mix the show (didn't want to jinx it and crash),just left it up to capture and moved faders very carefully. Aside from the mix levels/cues, I must say it was the best sounding remote tracks I have recorded (I have done > 200 concerts for live broadcast). I do hope Digidesign does well with the Venue product. . . I can't wait to really do a live mix, with all the plugins. . .

[David Gibbons]

Hi Howard,

Thanks for your interest in VENUE - yes, we do anticipate making a separate section of the forum for VENUE, but it may take us a few more weeks to get it on-line.

The console's architecture is expandable in many ways, including the DSP, which determines the number of aux busses. However, since it's not shipping until January 2005, it's a little premature to announce what direction the further developments of the platform will take us in. In the meantime, we're all ears about what people want, and take feedback like yours very much to heart.

I hope you get an opportunity to use VENUE to mix with plug-ins live soon, and I'll look forward to your seeing you post your report in the (imminent) VENUE section of this forum.

David Gibbons
Digidesign