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[Josh Bessom]

So, got the SD8 and absolutely love it.  Tomorrow updating to Overdrive 2 -
Thanks again for all the good advice.

[Renato Carneiro]

So, got the SD8 and absolutely love it.  Tomorrow updating to Overdrive 2 -
Thanks again for all the good advice.

Hi Josh

I'm on Overdrive 2 for 2 weeks... what was great became insane !

[Samuel Rees]

I use an SD8 on monitors at a music club gig I have. I really like it, and it's occurred to me before that the automation/snapshot controls would be excellent for theatre.

[Renato Carneiro]

I use an SD8 on monitors at a music club gig I have. I really like it, and it's occurred to me before that the automation/snapshot controls would be excellent for theatre.

And also the Macros are great for theatre.

[Kristo Kotkas]

Looking at this thread it seems some kind words towards Venue's would be in order. After all, VENUE has been the #1 choice of Top Ten N. American tours for last 3 years.

I must admit I don't know Digico's, cause in my country balance between Venue and Digico desks is like 8 to 1. I had a SC48 and I own a Profile now, so I do know Venue's.

So about sound quality, it is strange to see people putting down Venue sound when most of the best-sounding gigs I have ever been to have been mixed on Venue desks! Venue pres and busses are clean and transparent but the beautiful thing is you can turn it into almost anything! Venue's do allow you to run a extremely wide range of DSP for warming it up or for top quality FX's and this comes from the best DSP developing companies like CraneSong, TC Electronic, SoundToys (Eventide, Wave Mechanics), McDSP, Massey and every other company who has produced a TDM plugin for Pro Tools HD on Windows. That makes one hell of a variety of sounds available for creative use in both music and theatre applications.

A big plus running TDM plugins live is the latency, or actually absence of it on a Venue desk. A typical plugin takes only 2-3 samples to process on a Venue, while using a native solution like laptop or external server can take hundred times more. While not a problem in every situation, can be a problem when feeding the signal back to performers monitoring. Stability and robustness of such a built in plugin hosting is also a very big plus.

Snapshot automation on Profiles is very very nice. On Venues you can choose very easily what to ignore and what to include in automation, snapshot-by-snapshot. Do Digico's allow you to do fader start of Sound FX? That is one of the very nice snapshot functionality on Venue's that could be daily used in a theatre environment. 

Venue systems can also include what is called a PQ system, originally developed as a Aviom-like 12 channel personal monitor mixing system but can be creatively used as remote audio-controllers by artists controlling sound from other locations than FOH. Up to 8 of these small controllers can be connected to the system. Beautiful thing is the control and functionality of these small mixers is also mirrored on the Profile surface so FOH engineer has ability to oversee what is happening.

It is also extremely easy to connect a Pro Tools system to any Venue desk for recording, playback or sound FX (with fader start functionality if you wish). With SC48 it's virtually FREE as all you need is a laptop with FireWire interface, Pro Tools software comes included with the desk and FireWire interface is built in to the desk giving you a 32 channel IO between the desk and Pro Tools on your computer.

When making a choice like the OP did I would defiantly test-drive the desks in question and with competent co-pilots

[Jens Palm Bacher]

Snapshot automation on Profiles is very very nice. On Venues you can choose very easily what to ignore and what to include in automation, snapshot-by-snapshot. Do Digico's allow you to do fader start of Sound FX? That is one of the very nice snapshot functionality on Venue's that could be daily used in a theatre environment. 

Of course ;-)

[Peter Morris]

Looking to acquire a new digital board for my theatre this year.  We do mostly theatre, with a fair number of concerts thrown in, and cultural variety shows (rentals), graduations, etc.

The competition has come down to Venue Profile vs. SD8 -

Observations:

Venue:
- More FX options and expandability
- More rider friendly
- Better offline editor, faster to patch and label, both on the board and offline.

SD8:
- Better sound?  Debatable I know.
- More flexible layout, more DCAs, or I guess "control groups"
- More encoders
- Better metering, at channel strip
- Touch screens are cool.

Your thoughts?  Any issues with reliability with either board?  Work flow issues that bug you or that you really like?

Thanks for your help -

FWIW Avid makes me a little nervous  …. they lost $39M last quarter, sold two consumer divisions and shed 350 staff.

http://scri.com/avid-q2-revenue-continues-declining-trend/

http://www.sonicscoop.com/2012/07/02/avid-sells-consumer-audio-and-video-lines-reduces-staff-another-20/

[Tim McCulloch]

FWIW Avid makes me a little nervous  …. they lost $39M last quarter, sold two consumer divisions and shed 350 staff.

http://scri.com/avid-q2-revenue-continues-declining-trend/

http://www.sonicscoop.com/2012/07/02/avid-sells-consumer-audio-and-video-lines-reduces-staff-another-20/

From their consumer and MI lines, sure.

The VENUE support continues to be top-notch.  We had an AI16 develop a noisy channel and they shipped a replacement overnight... out of warranty.  The only reason we'd not buy another VENUE mixer is to have more selection for clients.

[Randy Frierson]

I own both, if you were the primary engineer on the console, SD8, but the Profile out rents the SD8 10 to 1....

Looking to acquire a new digital board for my theatre this year.  We do mostly theatre, with a fair number of concerts thrown in, and cultural variety shows (rentals), graduations, etc.

The competition has come down to Venue Profile vs. SD8 -

Observations:

Venue:
- More FX options and expandability
- More rider friendly
- Better offline editor, faster to patch and label, both on the board and offline.

SD8:
- Better sound?  Debatable I know.
- More flexible layout, more DCAs, or I guess "control groups"
- More encoders
- Better metering, at channel strip
- Touch screens are cool.

Your thoughts?  Any issues with reliability with either board?  Work flow issues that bug you or that you really like?

Thanks for your help -

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