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Title: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Ryan Tolzmann on January 07, 2014, 02:48:48 PM
Hi there guys,

I'm mixing on a Digico D1 Live in a couple weeks, i've only mixed on a digico once before, and it was an in house console as well, so I didnt have to set it up start to finish.

I know all desks have their short cuts and tricks and niches of pros and cons.  So I'm trying to go into this gig as well prepared as I can be.

Does any one have any tips or tricks to using the Digico desk?
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Tim McCulloch on January 07, 2014, 03:31:03 PM

Does any one have any tips or tricks to using the Digico desk?

Have a spare on the dock.  I'm not joking.
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: brian maddox on January 07, 2014, 03:56:23 PM
Have a spare on the dock.  I'm not joking.

NO, really.  He's not joking.

The D1 and D5 were not Digico's finest hour from a reliability standpoint.  Their product rep managed to crash the D5 several times in our shop while he was trying to sell it to us.  We bought a Yamaha.
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Ryan Tolzmann on January 07, 2014, 04:19:17 PM
NO, really.  He's not joking.

The D1 and D5 were not Digico's finest hour from a reliability standpoint.  Their product rep managed to crash the D5 several times in our shop while he was trying to sell it to us.  We bought a Yamaha.

i've heard this.  unfortunately i dont think i will have that option..  do they crash under heavy workloads? or even under light workloads?

I wont be driving it very hard. its a corporate show.. LAVS, and a L/R send to the galileo..
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: brian maddox on January 07, 2014, 04:54:28 PM
i've heard this.  unfortunately i dont think i will have that option..  do they crash under heavy workloads? or even under light workloads?

I wont be driving it very hard. its a corporate show.. LAVS, and a L/R send to the galileo..

The one thing it didn't seem to like was too much control input too quickly.  So slamming together a really fast FOH mix on a band where you're moving a lot of things all at once seemed to be a real sore spot.  For a typical corporate gig it might be fine.

unfortunately i never learned any tips or tricks for operating it since my first sighting was pretty much my last.  :)
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Tim McCulloch on January 07, 2014, 04:56:33 PM
i've heard this.  unfortunately i dont think i will have that option..  do they crash under heavy workloads? or even under light workloads?

I wont be driving it very hard. its a corporate show.. LAVS, and a L/R send to the galileo..

They go down for no apparent reason, without being touched.  We provided stacks and racks for a show last month, international artist with well regarded UK-based FOH guy.  Their D5 locked up while we stood there having coffee.

Also in December I was working as a stage hand... arena show... headline act on Digico D?, they had spare desk ready to go for either Mon or FOH.  We had a Broadway musical through the PAC last fall that carried Digico D7T; they had a trunk of spare parts (kind of like Cadac) but I didn't see a full spare console.

I don't have a user opinion of Digico other than to say it's not 'walk-up' friendly, at least not among US mixerpersons (lack of familiarity).  My experience is like Brian's... one time, so I hesitate to express a generalized opinion of the D series.

I do wonder, though, how many of the reliability problems for ALL brands and models are related to vibration and impact from transportation and handling.
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Riley Casey on January 07, 2014, 05:35:03 PM
Something like a Jaguar.  A sweet ride … when it runs.  ::)
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Jim Turner on January 07, 2014, 06:07:16 PM
Have a spare on the dock.  I'm not joking.

I hear this all the time. I own a tiny little SD11 with a D-rack that has been rock solid for about two years now...
Indoors & out, -40 to +35, sun & shade... not a blip or glitch that wasn't user error. Knock on wood LOL.

Edit: Ok... outdoor giggin @ -25
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Mac Kerr on January 07, 2014, 06:25:18 PM
I hear this all the time. I own a tiny little SD11 with a D-rack that has been rock solid for about two years now...
Indoors & out, -40 to +35, sun & shade... not a blip or glitch that wasn't user error. Knock on wood LOL.

Edit: Ok... outdoor giggin @ -25

What applies to the D series does not necessarily apply to the SD series. The D5 was one of the first Digico consoles.

Mac
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Nitin Sidhu on January 08, 2014, 03:02:29 AM
What applies to the D series does not necessarily apply to the SD series. The D5 was one of the first Digico consoles.

Mac

Same same. I have Had the luck of the SD's crashin on me more than a few times. And other random glitches..

None the less, it is not a friendly board to walk up to, in my opinion, and if you can play with an offline editor, even of the sd, it would be of great help. That would be trick no.1. I don't find the board difficult, just tedious.

Sidhu
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Roland Clarke on January 08, 2014, 06:08:25 AM
Outside of the comments above, I'm taking it that you don't have an option and so will be using a D1.  One of the most annoying things I found with it was the fact that to change a send from post to pre or vice versa you need to wind off all the gain make the change then wind the gain back on.  Whilst not being the easiest console to use, access to eq, compressors and gates is fairly straight forward and quite quick.  I think this is one of the reasons they have been so popular over the years.  Of course they are quite an old design now and I'm guessing that problems are becoming more prevalent due to the age of many of them around.  Personally I'm an Avid Venue user which is my "weapon" of choice, however, I'm now seeing a lot of different consoles for smaller shows, the likes of the Soundcraft Si's, Behringer X32, obligatory Yamaha LS9's...........
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Phill Chapman on January 08, 2014, 12:11:09 PM
The D1 and D5 were not Digico's finest hour from a reliability standpoint.  Their product rep managed to crash the D5 several times in our shop while he was trying to sell it to us.  We bought a Yamaha.

Not to argue with other peoples experiences, but my personal time with the D1 was very good.  We had more than one and whilst they weren't toured hard, they were in and out of the shop on a daily basis and were more often than not pushed to their limits in terms of processing power.  They were no less reliable than most other digital boards we've owned, past or present.
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Adam Robinson on January 09, 2014, 06:56:48 PM
I toured for years with D1s and D5s and NEVER had one end a show on me.  No, I'm not lying, and no I'm not saying I didn't experience a glitch or two, but nothing took down a show.  They're phenomenal sounding consoles, even by today's standards, so much so that when given the option of taking a D5 vs some newer popular offerings for a one off, I chose the D5. 

I respectfully disagree with you Tim that it's not walk-up friendly, I just think like any other different console, you have start from the beginning and learn another company's way of doing this (for example, the first time I had a Midas digital console, I found several things absolutely maddening, but once I got my head around how they do things I became quite proficient on the desk).  If you can visualize the signal flow of an analog console, you can use a Digico.  Touch the top to configure the input, gain follows, then channel processing, then aux sends, then pan, then an area to touch for output patching, then you've got a mute button and a fader.  I have trained many users to operate SD series consoles and after a short amount of time on the desk, it became the chosen desk for all of their tours. 
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Jim McKeveny on January 10, 2014, 11:21:12 AM
+1 Adam.

Slim Judd of Allman Brothers fame gave up his looong-used Gamble EX56 and outboard for a D1 and continues to use it. Hundreds of gigs w/o issue.

Could not ask for better endorsement.
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Tim McCulloch on January 10, 2014, 11:47:27 AM
I toured for years with D1s and D5s and NEVER had one end a show on me.  No, I'm not lying, and no I'm not saying I didn't experience a glitch or two, but nothing took down a show.  They're phenomenal sounding consoles, even by today's standards, so much so that when given the option of taking a D5 vs some newer popular offerings for a one off, I chose the D5. 

I respectfully disagree with you Tim that it's not walk-up friendly, I just think like any other different console, you have start from the beginning and learn another company's way of doing this (for example, the first time I had a Midas digital console, I found several things absolutely maddening, but once I got my head around how they do things I became quite proficient on the desk).  If you can visualize the signal flow of an analog console, you can use a Digico.  Touch the top to configure the input, gain follows, then channel processing, then aux sends, then pan, then an area to touch for output patching, then you've got a mute button and a fader.  I have trained many users to operate SD series consoles and after a short amount of time on the desk, it became the chosen desk for all of their tours.

And I've worked with you, Adam, and know that you're a better steward of touring gear than most technicians.  I don't think you do anything extra-special, but your day to day care in handling gear and the minor maintenance you perform gives you the results you enjoy.

I only report what I've actually seen and witnessed.  I have no agenda.  Perhaps if you were the guy that put me on the D5 I'd have had a better show, because I was left to largely fend for myself.  My boss is FOH for an international touring classic rock act and despises Digico after a couple of negative experiences that the provider's technicians were unable to address.  My only personal complaint is that I found it frustrating to walk up and mix on... and why, oh why, is the local system tech expected to mix a touring support act on the tour's equipment?  At any rate, the act didn't get my best work (such as it may be) because I was given zero, zip, nada help with the desk and by the end of the set I was only about half way to making effective use of the mixer's features I needed to mix the show.

Hope to work with you again, Adam.  Travel safe.
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Christian Güssmer on January 12, 2014, 07:51:07 AM
Get the offline software from the Digico site, it's a little bit hidden under downloads / legacy... As with all Digico consoles the screens are the same as on the desk. But before you actually try to prepare a show make sure you use the correct software version AND get the so called socket file from the supplier. This is a large difference to the SD series, where that logic is built into the software. You might built a socket file from the rack configurator on the digico site but make sure that you know what's in the slots.

There are shortcuts here and there that make work much easier. Like others said, take the time to get to know the console, all the Digico's are superb tools!

I'm mixing on a Digico D1 Live in a couple weeks, i've only mixed on a digico once before, and it was an in house console as well, so I didnt have to set it up start to finish.

I know all desks have their short cuts and tricks and niches of pros and cons.  So I'm trying to go into this gig as well prepared as I can be.

Does any one have any tips or tricks to using the Digico desk?
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Daniel Ravald on January 12, 2014, 07:20:04 PM
I've mixed close to 900 shows on a D1 and I've never had it go down during a show. Great sounding console and very easy to use. Great tech support too.

As mentioned before, check your auxes for pre/post. There is a global selector in the master section.

Plan where you want to patch your channels, so you don't have to move around between banks too much. Label your inputs and outputs. You don't want to move channels during the show. The desk behaves a little different when doing this, depending on software version.

If you have time, set up some macro's for mutes or tap-delay.

Enjoy the show and let us know how it went  :)
Title: Re: Tips and Tricks to Mixing on a Digico D1 Live?
Post by: Nicholas J Burke on January 13, 2014, 08:02:57 PM
I toured for years with D1s and D5s and NEVER had one end a show on me.  No, I'm not lying, and no I'm not saying I didn't experience a glitch or two, but nothing took down a show.  They're phenomenal sounding consoles, even by today's standards, so much so that when given the option of taking a D5 vs some newer popular offerings for a one off, I chose the D5. 

I respectfully disagree with you Tim that it's not walk-up friendly, I just think like any other different console, you have start from the beginning and learn another company's way of doing this (for example, the first time I had a Midas digital console, I found several things absolutely maddening, but once I got my head around how they do things I became quite proficient on the desk).  If you can visualize the signal flow of an analog console, you can use a Digico.  Touch the top to configure the input, gain follows, then channel processing, then aux sends, then pan, then an area to touch for output patching, then you've got a mute button and a fader.  I have trained many users to operate SD series consoles and after a short amount of time on the desk, it became the chosen desk for all of their tours.

Agree with this.

Had a D1 for 8 years, 7 of those it was the primary FOH console in our venue, yes it only  moved once or twice a year but still. The console was quiet often pushed to max filling all inputs and outputs as well as processing units and FX patches, We had one or two issues with the board, but never failed during a show. The Console sounded great, the in built FX are not brilliant, but they do the job.

The biggest issue we ever had was the brain died (was a console problem), Digico support literally flew up on a plan with a new one and swapped it out the next day, tech support was fantastic.

There was an occasional problem with the board when it was turned off incorrectly that it would corrupt a start-up file, but that is user error (and easily fixed).

Getting a blank console up and running, from the default template, is slow, but if you sue the offline software, you can be up and running fast on the board.

The console will have an issue when you get over 100+ snapshots, it does not crash, but the surface lags behind noticeably, does not effect audio and changes happen immediately.

We only got rid of it in the end due to a deal on an SD8 that we could not refuse, and we needed more capabilities in the venue.

This console would have done well over a 1000 gigs and it kept going solid.