[Guncho]

Went to the sold out Joel Plaskett in Hamilton this past weekend and I saw something I've never seen before.

The big mixing console sat powered off in the corner with it's dust cover on while the sound man mixed the entire show on a laptop and two tablets.

Crazy!

Great show btw.

 

[cbg1]

i've been curious about the new digital mixers but it would be a pain to have a tablet go down mid or pre show.....

 

[hollowbody]

I've been using the Mackie DL1608 for over a year now and it's fantastic. Being able to mix from wherever I want in the venue really allows to you some flexibility when it comes to doing sound.

 

[Guncho]

That is crazy!

 

[High/Deaf]

i've been curious about the new digital mixers but it would be a pain to have a tablet go down mid or pre show.....

A sound company would have to be crazy to risk a show on one tablet. I'm sure, at $300-400 each, they have multiple tablets charged up and configured, ready to run the $5000 + board (depending on the size of the show). Probably a hard-wired solution too, for when all else fails.

I know I would never trust one computer for something that important. Only one of many analog devices but my experience with computers is that you can't trust one by itself without at least one level of redundancy. Sad, but that's the way the computer business was allowed to develop.

 

[Guncho]

At the show Saturday at FirstOntario Concert Hall (formerly Hamilton Place), they had no backup. One laptop.

 

[High/Deaf]

Trapeze artists without a net, IMO. I hope their at least not relying on Windows. OMFG!

 

[robare99]

Nice. I regularly mix via iPad.

 

[hollowbody]

A sound company would have to be crazy to risk a show on one tablet. I'm sure, at $300-400 each, they have multiple tablets charged up and configured, ready to run the $5000 + board (depending on the size of the show). Probably a hard-wired solution too, for when all else fails.

I know I would never trust one computer for something that important. Only one of many analog devices but my experience with computers is that you can't trust one by itself without at least one level of redundancy. Sad, but that's the way the computer business was allowed to develop.

Depends on the hardware. My Mackie mixer can be controlled via iPad or iPhone, but if any of it's controlling devices go down, the board continues to function in the last state it was in. So you wouldn't be able to make any changes to levels, etc. until you charged up your iPad again, but odds of a tablet dying that early are slim and even if it did, I can dock the tablet directly into the Mackie to charge and control it from there.

I've done dozens of shows with it and it's not any less reliable than my old Mackie CR1604 or Soundcraft EFX mixer and more versatile than either. I'm sure the pro-level stuff is even more robust.

 

[amagras]

Whenever I've been called to mix a live show (only for friends, I'm not even close a pro in that field) I bring my Pro Tools rig and a PC or laptop, that's what I know and works for me best and as soon as they add firewire or USB to smart phones I will use mine (they fail less than Windows)

 

[High/Deaf]

Depends on the hardware. My Mackie mixer can be controlled via iPad or iPhone, but if any of it's controlling devices go down, the board continues to function in the last state it was in. So you wouldn't be able to make any changes to levels, etc. until you charged up your iPad again, but odds of a tablet dying that early are slim and even if it did, I can dock the tablet directly into the Mackie to charge and control it from there.

I've done dozens of shows with it and it's not any less reliable than my old Mackie CR1604 or Soundcraft EFX mixer and more versatile than either. I'm sure the pro-level stuff is even more robust.

Our experiences differ. I've never had an analog mixer fail in a show. It's hard to be more reliable than that.

I use a lot of computers at work. I can't think of any mission-critical application that doesn't have at least one level of redundancy - and often two. Between hardware failures and software stalls/crashes, redundancy is just a given in that environment. Unlike, say, the telephone industry, which grew from a basic premise of 'work at all costs' and reliability, the computer operating model is 'yea, it will quit, just reboot it'. What's the first question your IT department asks you to do when you have a failure of some kind? And we've all been there. Our VOIP phones need regular rebooting. Do you remember a time when your POTS, pre-VOIP phone system failed or crashed? Or an analog television system? My PVR crashes and needs a reboot as a part of normal operation. My service provider indicates this is the fact for everyone.

That's just to say I wouldn't risk not being able to operate a mixer over a device that I can have a backup for $300. But to each there own.

 

[hollowbody]

Our experiences differ. I've never had an analog mixer fail in a show. It's hard to be more reliable than that.

I use a lot of computers at work. I can't think of any mission-critical application that doesn't have at least one level of redundancy - and often two. Between hardware failures and software stalls/crashes, redundancy is just a given in that environment. Unlike, say, the telephone industry, which grew from a basic premise of 'work at all costs' and reliability, the computer operating model is 'yea, it will quit, just reboot it'. What's the first question your IT department asks you to do when you have a failure of some kind? And we've all been there. Our VOIP phones need regular rebooting. Do you remember a time when your POTS, pre-VOIP phone system failed or crashed? Or an analog television system? My PVR crashes and needs a reboot as a part of normal operation. My service provider indicates this is the fact for everyone.

That's just to say I wouldn't risk not being able to operate a mixer over a device that I can have a backup for $300. But to each there own.

I haven't had a failure with my digital mixer, either. In fact, not even a hiccup. Is it more likely than an analog mixer to break-down? Perhaps. Maybe even probably. But I haven't seen it.

For me, I was able to get rid of my mixer and rack full of power conditioners, compressors, reverbs, EQs, etc. and now I can haul a mixer that's about the size of a typewriter (I couldn't think of a better comparison!) that not only does ALL my mixing and effects, but I can also use it remotely from anywhere in the room. For me, that outweighs the small chance that it might fail.

 

[High/Deaf]

I haven't had a failure with my digital mixer, either. In fact, not even a hiccup. Is it more likely than an analog mixer to break-down? Perhaps. Maybe even probably. But I haven't seen it.

For me, I was able to get rid of my mixer and rack full of power conditioners, compressors, reverbs, EQs, etc. and now I can haul a mixer that's about the size of a typewriter (I couldn't think of a better comparison!) that not only does ALL my mixing and effects, but I can also use it remotely from anywhere in the room. For me, that outweighs the small chance that it might fail.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I love the direction new digital mixers are going. In fact, most digital equipment brings huge advantages over it's analog counterparts - but at the sacrifice of reliability/dependability, IMO.

I wouldn't necessarily carry a back up mixer. But pads as a mixing device are cheap and can get abused. I wouldn't think twice about having a backup of that. In fact, one of the other band members probably has a pad of some sort that only needs the correct app installed.

 

[hollowbody]

Oh, don't get me wrong. I love the direction new digital mixers are going. In fact, most digital equipment brings huge advantages over it's analog counterparts - but at the sacrifice of reliability/dependability, IMO.

I know a sound tech that has the same mixer as I do and they've experience some of the pots going wonky and some channels no longer working. Not sure what he's carrying it around in, but he's mobile quite a bit. I figure his has way more wear and tear on it than mine, but I was really leery of something going wrong with mine after hearing about how his is holding-up, but so far, so good!