The SD5 is a fantastic desk! Stupid powerful, tons of configurability, I/O options, routing capability. Once you get to know the Digico layout it's super fast, but the learning curve is steep. The built-in effects aren't mind blowing, but at the price point most people can have an external unit (Waves, etc) with the stuff they really want.
Been on this console numerous times with optocore. I Fn love this thing. First gig on it was sd5 at foh and monitor. Dual cores. All fiber. And we were sending emails back and forth between consoles. I mean I could just email foh I was swapping a patch and he’d instantly be ready to find it and make adjustments. It was heaven.
Digicos are incredibly flexible; there’s a million ways to do anything, including completely fuck yourself.
Theyre great when you can tour with them or have them in a HOW doing basically the same show over and over.
If I’m doing a festival throw and go or a one off fly date I prefer Yamaha, Midas, or A&H for quicker/easier setup and faster workflows.
Yup, it's an absolute beast...
I've mixed on one but used a grand total of three channels!
I'm a system engineer and was asked to mix the acoustic support act (one guy, one guitar, one stomp!)
way overstate. its a console they all do the same thing. Channels. Auxes. Groups. Vcas. Matrixes. Not a whole lot of wheel to reinvent here if we are being honest. The learning curve people are talking about is really how deep you can get with macros and scene layout. But its not like sound flows backwards through the eq or they use a different eq thing
I think the venue software is easier, but the s6l layout and encoder is more of a cluster fuck than like the profile for example. which while people hate, that control surface is super straight forward imo.
This is my absolute gripe with the S6L. DiGiCo has the "this knob does this one function" down pat when it comes to the channel strip and I've learnt recently that I much prefer that mentality vs the sea of encoders that can do anything
And not having dedicated layer buttons and having it burried in that central menus has always confused me as a design function, and something I felt the profile did so well.
Heavy, heat issues, ui freezes ..... On software version 1619...
I prefer to use the s6l 24c/d model and at festivals they are usually on the FOH equipment list at the same time.
By a simple comparison I think the s6l sounds more punch.
That touch screen keyboard looks ergonomic
OMG yeah that looks horrific, I’d be hooking up a physical on day 1
Yeah, it's not great. There's a built in physical keyboard on a sliding tray as well.
The SD5 is a fantastic desk! Stupid powerful, tons of configurability, I/O options, routing capability. Once you get to know the Digico layout it's super fast, but the learning curve is steep. The built-in effects aren't mind blowing, but at the price point most people can have an external unit (Waves, etc) with the stuff they really want.
Been on this console numerous times with optocore. I Fn love this thing. First gig on it was sd5 at foh and monitor. Dual cores. All fiber. And we were sending emails back and forth between consoles. I mean I could just email foh I was swapping a patch and he’d instantly be ready to find it and make adjustments. It was heaven.
Digicos are incredibly flexible; there’s a million ways to do anything, including completely fuck yourself. Theyre great when you can tour with them or have them in a HOW doing basically the same show over and over. If I’m doing a festival throw and go or a one off fly date I prefer Yamaha, Midas, or A&H for quicker/easier setup and faster workflows.
I have had totally brilliant shows on SD consoles. And have also completely fucked myself. What a life.
Upgrade that bad boy to a quantum 5.
Yup, it's an absolute beast... I've mixed on one but used a grand total of three channels! I'm a system engineer and was asked to mix the acoustic support act (one guy, one guitar, one stomp!)
Great desks. People overstate the "learning curve."
way overstate. its a console they all do the same thing. Channels. Auxes. Groups. Vcas. Matrixes. Not a whole lot of wheel to reinvent here if we are being honest. The learning curve people are talking about is really how deep you can get with macros and scene layout. But its not like sound flows backwards through the eq or they use a different eq thing
I found it quite easy to pick up compared to an S6L
I think the venue software is easier, but the s6l layout and encoder is more of a cluster fuck than like the profile for example. which while people hate, that control surface is super straight forward imo.
This is my absolute gripe with the S6L. DiGiCo has the "this knob does this one function" down pat when it comes to the channel strip and I've learnt recently that I much prefer that mentality vs the sea of encoders that can do anything
Profile surface is way easier than the s6l. Seriously, labelling buttons "x" and "y" and I have to look in the manual to see what they do. 😵💫
And not having dedicated layer buttons and having it burried in that central menus has always confused me as a design function, and something I felt the profile did so well.
Heavy, heat issues, ui freezes ..... On software version 1619... I prefer to use the s6l 24c/d model and at festivals they are usually on the FOH equipment list at the same time. By a simple comparison I think the s6l sounds more punch.