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[Jack keaton]

um.. digital isn't going to be obsolete, the software will always be up gradable in a mixer. Your friend is living in a different world or smoking the good stuff. Regardless of the type of mixer the ultimate goal is to fit your needs, if analog does that for you, then you have no need to go digital. My back loves my digital. 

[Samuel Rees]

Agreed, there's plenty of digital vs analog debates on the forum. Search, you'll find any and all opinions from all sides. There was one very recently I believe.

[Randy Pence]

oddly enough, all of the shows I have gone to in the past year as an audience member were mixed on analog desks, ranging from mid-level series to heritage stuff.  however, just about everything else in the past few years has been digital, whether I'm working or merely present.

i couldnt fathom speccing out an analog for any job besides anything which did not need anything besides setting a few faders and would much rather use digital.

[John Roberts {JR}]

um.. digital isn't going to be obsolete, the software will always be up gradable in a mixer. Your friend is living in a different world or smoking the good stuff. Regardless of the type of mixer the ultimate goal is to fit your needs, if analog does that for you, then you have no need to go digital. My back loves my digital.

Just a minor point, new software allows for minor operational changes but does not change basic performance. If software upgrades were that powerful we'd all still be using our first computer only with new 2012 software.

JR
 

[Mark McFarlane]

Just a minor point, new software allows for minor operational changes but does not change basic performance. If software upgrades were that powerful we'd all still be using our first computer only with new 2012 software.

JR

And if you still had your Apple I you too could have actioned it at Sotheby's last week for $374,500.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-1-auction-buy-sell-worth,16027.html

Back on topic, in addition to the HW changes (improved DSP, improved AD/DA) in digital console generations, vendors won't keep updating old consoles software, so although a well maintained digital console may work 'up to spec' 20 years later, the features wars make it obsolete in the digital market.

I had a Nikon F camera that was state of the art for 20 years.  My Nikon F3 was state of the art for 10 or 15 more years (maybe sold for 20 years, even long after the F4 was introduced).  My Nikon D300 was surpassed in about a year.  All of them still take great pictures but there is no resale value.

[James A. Griffin]

However, if you think a StudioLive is going to last like a GL-2400, I think I'll have to disagree with you.  Not that the SL is a bad desk, but those faders are not going to last for 20 years. 

The faders will last an awfully long time if you mix with an iPad and never move them  ;-)

[Scott Wagner]

The faders will last an awfully long time if you mix with an iPad and never move them  ;-)

Or if you simply replace them with something better (which is not too difficult to do).

[John Roberts {JR}]

The faders will last an awfully long time if you mix with an iPad and never move them  ;-)

Or they will become completely obsolete when IPADs don't have to talk to a mixer per se, but can talk directly to a virtual mixer embedded into the rest of the system processing.   

JR

[James A. Griffin]

Or they will become completely obsolete when IPADs don't have to talk to a mixer per se, but can talk directly to a virtual mixer embedded into the rest of the system processing.   

JR

Which brings us to the real point...   You can already run a pretty good size show with nothing but a few rack spaces on stage (IDR48) and a laptop or iPad.     How many 100's of pounds of gear does that replace?   As these devices get smaller and less expensive, it will make less and less sense to travel with a 48 input analog console and 3 racks of power supplies and outboard gear.   

It's much like the analog/digital recording debate.   There are a handful of old timers and/or those who  like to call themselves "purists" who favor 2" analog tape over digital...  but c'mon man, 24 trk analog recorders are the size and weight of coke machines and cost 50x more than an Alesis HD24..   Not to mention the maintenance/repair costs/hassles..   Just to align a machine before each session takes an hour and a $750 test tape (1985 price).

[Scott Wagner]

Which brings us to the real point...   You can already run a pretty good size show with nothing but a few rack spaces on stage (IDR48) and a laptop or iPad.     How many 100's of pounds of gear does that replace?   As these devices get smaller and less expensive, it will make less and less sense to travel with a 48 input analog console and 3 racks of power supplies and outboard gear.

AND, with the cost of fuel steadily rising, smaller and lighter will become much more critical to the profitability of any enterprise (especially ours).

[ProSoundWeb Community]