are 16 faders enough?

[studiowiese]

I`m mixing for film and TV and I was using a 24 channel pro control the last years and i was pretty happy with it!24 faders was enough for me but less wouldn`t be cool!Now i bought a 32 channel d control cause I got it cheap and I m looking forward to the EQ section and surround panner etc.. this was not satisfying for me on pro control!My plan was to sell a fader pack to safe some money but I`m not shure if 16 faders is enough...what is your experience?Who has a 32 cannel d control?Would u say it`s much better to have these 16 more faders or is it only to impress your clients?And i should use the 10.000 what I would probaly get for the 16 faders for something more usefull?

[Craig F]

16 is probably enough
but things to think a bought:
do you need to order different frame parts
with Custom Faders you can have basically a second 16 cannel controller for ether a second mixer or special tracks among other things

[albee1952]

Since you HAVE the 32 fader version, why not remove the 16 fader expansion and live with it for a month. I work on a C24 a lot and sometimes feel that 24 is not enough. Then I go home and work on my 003........

[studiowiese]

I thought may b with the d control it`s a little bit different because of the focus channel but i would like to know what ur experience is...I think u can get used to anything- I could mix a hole movie with only 8 faders or even 1 but that`s not the point...are there more good reasons besides impressing clients for having 32 faders instead of 16?If there are lots of guys who are mixing for film and having a 32 channel d control telling me they end up using only the 16 faders I´d probalbly decide to sell it right away cause i know I`d get used to the 32 faders cause u start to work differently may b and get used to it?
one thing i thought about was may b with 32 channels u have more overview of whats goin on cause the control gives u feedback also I like to leave all my buses on the 1st 8 faders all the time(for example:dialog,st fx,mono fx,music,foleys,mono atmos,st atmos,adr)then u only have 8 (9) more faders
but again, I know that 16 faders is enough and u can do everything u have to do but may b u have good reasons for me to have this extra fader pack?

[studiowiese]

Also i`d like toknow if any of you did this digidesign upgrade from d control to d control ES and if it was worth it!I don`t even know yet how much this woudl be! Do U?

[Soundtrack]

Coming from a 16 fader ProControl we where in the same situation as you and also not sure what the best option would be for a workflow suiting our needs.

After working on the Dcontrol in a 32-fader configuration the answer was very simple to me: go for 32 faders....!

Beside the total overview, what's far more good, you have the option to use two separate Custom faders.

I use our Dcontrol with the 32 faders all to the left, but in the Protools preferences for the controllers a have the follow order:
faderpack - mainunit - faderpack, so Protools thinks it's in split configuration.

This gives you the option to use the 2 Custom faders as two separate faders, giving them both an other function. Very easy and fast working when you you are in big sessions.
Also I let my Custom Faders use a maximum of 16 faders for controlling custom Groups, Edit/Mix Groups, Track Types and Plug-in's

If you would like to try without the extra faderpack, you could just change your preference settings for the controller, so Protools won't see the faderpack....but you will....

Grz,

Louis

[Vedat]

It would be perfect if D-Control came with an 8 fader expansion option as well.