Archive for Digidesign Venue
Digidesign Group Spill
One of the coolest new features Digidesign has implemented in the SC48 and will soon add to D-Show & Profile with the impending release of software 2.8.1 is Group Spill.
Here’s a short video tour of the feature.
VIDEOBLOG: Behind the Scenes at Hard Rock
Here’s a video I ran across on Mixonline.com that’s close to my heart. FOH mixer Nick Simons gives a tour of The Joint, the new 4,100-seat performance venue at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, which features an extensive d&b audiotechnik installation with remote monitoring of all functions, Digidesign D-Show Profile mixers and BSS London control of processing and zone control.
When we started out on the plan to revamp the audio system at Kensington Troy last summer, moving from the Yamaha PM1D to the Digidesign platform, a new PA, new microphones, etc. this is a profile of a similarly designed system. Worth the watch!
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Digidesign SC48 Video Tour
In exploring Youtube yesterday, I ran across a really informative console tour of the new SC48 console from Digidesign that I have written about previously and we are considering for use at our portable campuses. Check this out!
TL Space & Echoboy
Two plug-ins that are rocking my world these days.
Trillium Labs’ TL Space is the first TDM convolution reverb for Venue! This innovative convolution TDM reverb plug-in reproduces natural rooms and classic reverbs from the largest concert hall to the densest plate reverb. TL Space delivers the pristine sound of natural reverb spaces with the familiar controls used in high end hardware reverb units. By combining the sampled acoustics of real reverb spaces with advanced DSP algorithms, TL Space offers stunning realism with full control of reverb parameters in mono, stereo and surround formats.
TL Space includes a comprehensive library of high quality sampled reverb spaces and effects ideal for music and post applications. In addition, TL Space can easily import existing impulse responses in common convolution formats.
This delay came highly recommended from a few friends. Really good stuff here!
Find an echo tone that fits your mix by choosing one of the 30 built-in echo styles modeled after a personal collection of vintage echos. One of the favorites is the warm sound of “Studio Tape”, modeled after a ATR-102 half-inch two-track machine. You’ll also get instant access to a whole range of classics, including EchoPlex, Space Echo, Memory Man, DM-2, and the TelRay oilcan delay. EchoBoy’s chorus even emulates the CE-2 chorus, considered a holy-grail of guitar chorus pedals. And yes, turn it up! EchoBoy is designed to be abused, just like real analog gear
No math needed to figure out delay times! Just dial in a musical note value and lock it to your song’s tempo with the flip of a switch. Fine-tune the echo rhythm with the Groove, Accent, and Feel controls.
Even though EchoBoy is easy to use, it’s also incredibly versatile. Switch to Dual Echo or Ping-Pong modes for powerful stereo echo effects. Or use Rhythm mode’s remarkably easy-to-use 16-tap rhythmic delay. Under the Style Tweak button you’ll find a 3-band parametric EQ with separate control over echo decay and tone. Choose the amount and type of analog saturation, dial in the amount of tape wobble, and even reverb-style diffusion control. There’s nothing anywhere that gives you this sort of control.
D-Show 2.8.1 Thoughts
Along with the release of the SC48 this week from Digidesign, I’m also excited to see version 2.8.1 of the D-Show software shipping soon. There are some welcome new features that I’m looking forward to!
- VCA & Group Spill is something I think I will use all the time. I had a chance to play with this on the SC48 demo I saw a few weeks ago and since I like to layout my console fully utilizing the 4 fader banks, this is another very intuitive way to access things that might not be at immediate reach. This feature temporarily brings channels assigned to a VCA or group immediately to the top of the console. Double-tap the Select button for a given VCA or group and the contents “spill” across the console’s input faders from right to left. Super cool!
- Copy and Paste Plug-In Settings. This one should have been there from the start on the desk. You could always get around it using the plug-in library, but this is a welcome addition!
- Channel pan is now included in the snapshot crossfade. Previously the pans would snap which was less than ideal. I don’t scope pans very often but glad it will be a smoother transition.
- Cue on Mains Fader. I have a set of monitors at FOH that I use quite often to cue things up, see what a player is adding to the mix at any given time, etc. We also don’t use our main fader for anything – the PA is fed off the matrixes pre of that fader so it is pretty well useless. 2.8.1 lets you assign that fader to control the monitor level (leaving the mains level unaffected). Now when I want to supplement what I’m hearing with my monitors or cue something up, I can use that fader instead of having to reach to the top of the desk to twist the monitor knob. Not a big thing but still cool.
I know that not everyone is happy with Digidesign’s policy of charging for software updates. This upgrade is $149 list. My take on this is that a significant drawing point to Digidesign is the fact that, as an audio console company, they update their consoles frequently. If paying a modest fee means that I see updates at least once a year with good, usable feature improvements, I’m more than willing to contribute. The alternative is what I experienced with Y*!@#$%A where some updates were free, but they were largely bug fixes or it was years between major feature updates. For what its worth, those are my $0.02.
I can’t wait to get my hands on 2.8.1 once it is released!
