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  #1  
Old 10-21-2019, 05:10 PM
sjgam sjgam is offline
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Default S3 vs Two S1's

Curious why new buyer would opt for S3 over two S1's - my pass at pro's and con's:

Display - S1's have tablet meters and other display functions while S3 has led meters in surface of controller

Modular/Expandable - S1's with magnets are modular and can go larger than 16 tracks

Price - 2 S1's are cheaper but iPad Pro choice gets it closer to total price, no tablet or small tablet - much cheaper

Number of Encoders - S3 has 32 encoders with two independent rows and two S1's only 16

Buttons - S3 has more customizable buttons

Pre's - S3 has two mic pre's

Size - two S1's are 4 inches narrower than S3

Quality - both seem the same and have current modern design in line with Dock.
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  #2  
Old 10-21-2019, 08:47 PM
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Southsidemusic Southsidemusic is offline
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Default Re: S3 vs Two S1's

Well I will add that the S3 has a more expensive feel. Quite a lot better feel and with a Dock and iPad it is a Super killer setup. The S1 will replace the aartist series which was the budget line of Avids controllers and the S3 is still a much Higher end unit so thats not a good comparison! ... sorry! The S1 will be around 1000-1200 USD and the S3 is 4-5 times that price for a reason.

The S3 has built-in 4-input, 6-output AVB Core Audio interface to connect your studio, Record vocals and instrument performances through two high-quality XLR mic/line inputs and two TRS line inputs. And connect studio speakers, headphones, and other gear to four line outputs and one stereo headphone output

Now the S1 will be the budget line of the Avid line of controllers and the S3 is still a much more high end unit.
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  #3  
Old 10-22-2019, 05:59 AM
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reichman reichman is offline
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Default Re: S3 vs Two S1's

All of the above, and:

Pros:
-S3 has meters on every fader.
-With Dock, you don't need screens over the faders, so S3 looks better and fits in front of the computer monitor better.
-not sure yet how S1's will support S3's very useful Multimaster Mode with VCAs.

Cons:
-S1's modifier keys on the bottom are easier to use and more like the S6.
-Sel/Rec switches are located in a better place on S1.

I have no regrets having purchased S3. I wouldn't trade it for a discount and two S1s.
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  #4  
Old 10-23-2019, 07:10 AM
TrackerLe TrackerLe is offline
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Default Re: S3 vs Two S1's

As Avid implied, the S1 will replace the S3... This unit fade away... It will be supported, but you cannot buy it anymore...
So why?


The S1 has the same hardware components as the S3.

It has one oled row; the s3 has two, but this is no problem...
The S1 has no audio interface, but the interface of the s3 is obsolete for people using HDX and HD Interfaces.
The s3 has cheap metering next to the faders, but with the S1, you don΄t need it. With using the s1 with Ipads or Android tablets, you get the S6 Metering. No need for a second row of Oleds, cause with the Displays, you get everything you need. The S3 is not better in quality... S1 uses alp Faders and the same knobs as the S3...



AND THE MOST IMPORTANT thing is, you can use up to 32 Faders with the modular S1. This will never happen to the S3, cause Eddie Jones said, that there are so massiv problems to integrate the 2 S3s.... It will never happen... S3 is EOL... The S1 will be the replacement...
I love my S3, but i will sell it, cause this unit has no future anymore...
And if i think to have 4 S1s, with 4 Ipad Pros... Wow great setup...
Great Metering and perfect visual feedback... Eddie said, that the s3 will be support till 2022, i think...but when the s1 is released, the s3 will vanish from the market...
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  #5  
Old 10-23-2019, 08:55 AM
sjgam sjgam is offline
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Default Re: S3 vs Two S1's

Quote:
Originally Posted by Southsidemusic View Post
Well I will add that the S3 has a more expensive feel. Quite a lot better feel and with a Dock and iPad it is a Super killer setup. The S1 will replace the aartist series which was the budget line of Avids controllers and the S3 is still a much Higher end unit so thats not a good comparison! ... sorry! The S1 will be around 1000-1200 USD and the S3 is 4-5 times that price for a reason.

The S3 has built-in 4-input, 6-output AVB Core Audio interface to connect your studio, Record vocals and instrument performances through two high-quality XLR mic/line inputs and two TRS line inputs. And connect studio speakers, headphones, and other gear to four line outputs and one stereo headphone output

Now the S1 will be the budget line of the Avid line of controllers and the S3 is still a much more high end unit.
The AVID reps at the AES event in New York confirmed the S1's have the same knob, fader, buttons and OLED displays as the S3.
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  #6  
Old 10-23-2019, 09:07 AM
sjgam sjgam is offline
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Default Re: S3 vs Two S1's

Quote:
Originally Posted by TrackerLe View Post
As Avid implied, the S1 will replace the S3... This unit fade away... It will be supported, but you cannot buy it anymore...
So why?


The S1 has the same hardware components as the S3.

It has one oled row; the s3 has two, but this is no problem...
The S1 has no audio interface, but the interface of the s3 is obsolete for people using HDX and HD Interfaces.
The s3 has cheap metering next to the faders, but with the S1, you don΄t need it. With using the s1 with Ipads or Android tablets, you get the S6 Metering. No need for a second row of Oleds, cause with the Displays, you get everything you need. The S3 is not better in quality... S1 uses alp Faders and the same knobs as the S3...



AND THE MOST IMPORTANT thing is, you can use up to 32 Faders with the modular S1. This will never happen to the S3, cause Eddie Jones said, that there are so massiv problems to integrate the 2 S3s.... It will never happen... S3 is EOL... The S1 will be the replacement...
I love my S3, but i will sell it, cause this unit has no future anymore...
And if i think to have 4 S1s, with 4 Ipad Pros... Wow great setup...
Great Metering and perfect visual feedback... Eddie said, that the s3 will be support till 2022, i think...but when the s1 is released, the s3 will vanish from the market...
I think you are correct on the quality level - they are the same.

Eddie from Avid on this forum explicitly stated that the S3 is not EOL. Of course market demand in the future will force these decisions on any of the products including S3.

Interesting how you and other actual S3 owners have different takes on to keep or move to S1.
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  #7  
Old 10-23-2019, 10:50 AM
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Southsidemusic Southsidemusic is offline
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Default Re: S3 vs Two S1's

Quote:
Originally Posted by sjgam View Post
The AVID reps at the AES event in New York confirmed the S1's have the same knob, fader, buttons and OLED displays as the S3.
S3 still is a whole other animal. S1 is replacing the ARTIST MIX/Control NOT the S3 so why do you keep thinking a 5000 dollar unit would be the same quality as a 1000 dollar unit i.e. S1 ??!! What did you think the reps would say - No don’t buy the S1 cause it’s a low budget product which it is ... period!
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  #8  
Old 10-23-2019, 11:27 AM
sjgam sjgam is offline
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Default Re: S3 vs Two S1's

Quote:
Originally Posted by Southsidemusic View Post
S3 still is a whole other animal. S1 is replacing the ARTIST MIX/Control NOT the S3 so why do you keep thinking a 5000 dollar unit would be the same quality as a 1000 dollar unit i.e. S1 ??!! What did you think the reps would say - No don’t buy the S1 cause it’s a low budget product which it is ... period!
As a fact they stated that the knobs, faders, displays have been upgraded in the S1 to the same as those in the dock and s3. Not unusual to upgrade parts while developing new product.

The higher price is also influenced by S3 having double the faders, double the encoders and oled displays, more programmable buttons and the two pres with avb interface and of course whatever they think the market can bear.

I am personally drawn to the s3 (dock and mix owner) as for home project user 16 is the max faders I need and the S1 tablets will interfere with monitor display view and I can get the meter display with the dock and I personally like the meters on the controller. And I really like the two rows of encoders to have immediate access to two plugins or plugins and sends at same time. Also maybe the S1 release may drop the used prices on s3’s.
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  #9  
Old 10-24-2019, 12:27 AM
Jamie Mac Jamie Mac is offline
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Default Re: S3 vs Two S1's

Quote:
Originally Posted by Southsidemusic View Post
S3 still is a whole other animal. S1 is replacing the ARTIST MIX/Control NOT the S3 so why do you keep thinking a 5000 dollar unit would be the same quality as a 1000 dollar unit i.e. S1 ??!! What did you think the reps would say - No don’t buy the S1 cause it’s a low budget product which it is ... period!
It are exactly the same components. So it makes for a very enticing choice compared to the S3, which I own but always thought was overpriced for the rather low quality faders and buttons it has. Pricing on the S1 makes more sense.

I am looking into switching over to S1 for a small mixing suite as, by the looks of it, can offer more for my workflow (thanks to the ipad), at a cheaper price and with the exact same components of the S3.

I also know of other studios who currently have d-commands and havenot switched to S6 or S4 because of the increased price and instead are looking at the S1 as replacements. Not the S3.

The fact that the S3 is 5k and the S1 is 1K is irrelevant to its actual quality and use case, and given that the components are equal, the S1 makes sense as a substitute for the S3 in a lot of cases.
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  #10  
Old 10-24-2019, 06:23 AM
sjgam sjgam is offline
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Default Re: S3 vs Two S1's

I think with S1's introduction with same quality components, one has to think of good use cases for deploying the two sets of encoders. As for the tablet meters feature, none of us have working experience with S1 to conclude the meters and other interactive display features have enough value to deal with accommodating the extra vertical space of tablets sticking out above your controller possibly in front of part of your monitor or just have strong preference for the meters embedded on the S3. I think most buying a 5 k controller already have invested in an audio interface. In a live situation the pre's/AVB interface make a lot more sense with S3L. Have to come to terms with maxing out at 16 faders and on flip side, in a tight/mobile situation have the smaller format S1 to literally physically fit were the S3 might not fit.

That extra row of encoders is attractive to me as I am all about less menu diving while editing parameters. But I don't see a lot of chatter on this forum about exploiting them.
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