Dunno whether this should be in the Road Test or in regular Product Reviews, but seeing as how there's a thread here already, I'll chime in.
I was on a Profile for the first time last night. I spent part of my flight RTFM, so I was familiar with the layout. I also downloaded the offline software and played with it and set up my show on it. Of course, I left my USB flash drive at home, so I couldn't save the setting to flash and bring it up on the console.
Which leads to complaint #1: Where's the Mac version of the software? Yeah, I know there's Windows Embedded down there somewhere but phooey.
The dry run on the offline software was very useful. After the headline act's soundcheck, their settings were stored and I created my own set-up from (what I thought was a) zero configuration. It's pretty easy, point and click and type in input names, then go through and select each channel and enable phantom where necessary, dial in high-pass, enable dynamics and so forth. I then set up VCA grouping.
So some basic comments: call me old fashioned, say I'm over the hill, but ya know, I like the vertical channel-strip orientation of analog console EQs. Similarly, having the input level meters near the faders might be more user friendly (and add some more meter resolution around 0 dB). Yes, a high-res input meter appears on the display when the channel is selected.
And having the effects returns on faders 1 through 8 on a separate layer isn't all that user friendly. I would've cared more if I actually used any reverb but I'm sure our set is still rattling around the room a day after the show. Perhaps flipping the center masters to returns would be fine, or make room for four more faders.
I know there are several presets one can select for dynamics, but it might be nice if the gate's default attenuation was "as much as possible," and not 20 dB. Perhaps there's already a default preset like that? I dunno.
The LCD scribble strip should really be right above the faders and not as high up by the encoders. I understand why it's where it is, but those of us with bifocals might have a hard time looking at both the stage and the scribble strip. (I left my computer glasses at home.)
As for how it sounded: ya know, with the acoustics of the venue (an ornately-refurbed historic theatre with no acoustic treatments), I couldn't tell whether it was good, bad or indifferent. I know that I was slower on it than on a console I've actually used before, but you've gotta start somewhere.
I understand there's a Profile at the 9:30 in DC, and I'll be there in March, so I'll get another crack at this. And as we all know, the 9:30 Club is like the best club in the country with the best install, so I'll be able to tell whether the default compressors actually do anything.
-a