We took delivery on our 24 channel ProDesk in mid March and have been putting it through the paces. I put our order in a year ago when Chuck and the guys first announced the ProDesk. I have to say it was worth the wait. We replaced a Crest HP-8. As soon as the money starts flowing in a bit this season I plan to order a second ProDesk and replace our Midas Venice. I don't have time to do a really in depth review, but would like to share some quick thoughts. #1 is, this is the little desk I have wanted someone to build for 20 years. It is built like a tank. Has every feature I could want and it sounds great. That's about it in a nutshell. Things I really like:
[] as with all of APB's previous products - the sweep high pass filter. I do not think it can be overstated how much more powerful and usable the rest of the consoles eq becomes when it is not crippled by a fixed freq HPF.
[] and speaking of eq (and mic pres!) they are responsive and a joy to use.
[] metering - everywhere. Really cool is the Master / PFL metering which can be switched to display: RMS/Peak/RMS+Peak (my favorite.) We can thank JR for this really cool contribution to the ProDesk!
[] USB in and out with high quality on board AD/DA converters. Really cool to simply plug your laptop into the USB port on the ProDesk and be able to playback Itunes libraries for walk in/fill music as well as make a 2 track archival recording into Garage Band, Peak, etc.... easy,easy,easy!
[] On board dual redundant PS (second PS optional, but I wouldn't have it any other way.)
Hot swappable. If required, they can be changed out in about 60 seconds with a phillips head screw driver. Complete PS status is displayed next to the Master Meters. No more lugging around external PS racks.
[] Headroom - forever.
[] The pro level features just go on and on. BIG lighted solo buttons. BIG lighted mute buttons. (in fact, indicator lights for most of the more important functions). 4 mute groups. A really cool Subs on an Aux routing scheme. On board 1k/pink noise generator. A ton of other really useful stuff without one "stupid" feature.
[] It is just plain FUN to mix on a console that sounds this good and is this easy to use.
As with all of the other APB products, if you're looking for the cheapest entry price, this won't be it. If you are looking for an absolutely amazing value in a full bore, no regrets pro tool....check it out.
Front of House duties for the Irish Festival -2 days, 20 bands, great fun.