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!

1. 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!
2. 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!
3. 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.
4. 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!