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[brian maddox]

Okay, so...

Can someone explain the Digico console lineup naming to me? Explain It Like I'm Five. In particular, a little idea of the history of these things would be helpful. Like which SDs came at which time/generation? And do they all use the same basic software? which ones are reaching EOL vs. which ones are "current"?

I know the S21/31 are the baby Digicos and don't use the same software as the SDs. And I know that the SD7 is the "big boy". But all the rest are just a fuzzy mess to me.

[I feel like there was a discussion of this sometime fairly recently, so a push in that direction would also be useful if this is a redundant question]

thanks!

[Andrew Broughton]

Lol. Good luck making any sense out it. But... I think the "Quantum" is now the big boy series now. Thought that the Q software could be popped into the SD line, but maybe not.
Be interesting to see a nice feature matrix of all the models throughout history to the present.

[Matthias McCready]

Lol. Good luck making any sense out it. But... I think the "Quantum" is now the big boy series now. Thought that the Q software could be popped into the SD line, but maybe not.
Be interesting to see a nice feature matrix of all the models throughout history to the present.

I use DiGiCo everyday... and yes their product lineup is confusing... 

Especially the I/O products

Quantum is the newest Desk, and S is the more budget tier. Keep in mind the SD series is getting older in the tooth, the SD7/SD8 came out in 2008.

Roughly Speaking I think lineup is as follows:

Quantum 7 - SD 7
Quantum 5 - SD 5
Quantum 338 - SD10?
N/A - SD8?
Quantum 225 - SD12? (SD12 came out in 2020 I believe, so confused where this lands)
N/A - SD9? (the SD9 came out in 2010)

SD series use the same basic software. I believe everything (except for the SD12) is running windows XP under the hood. Different SD consoles will have slightly different button layouts, but the software is the same.

Quantum offers a step up in processing capabilities, and uses a similar piece of software to SD. I have heard (I need to verify) that the Quantum series is running windows 11, which has... Windows XP going on virtually inside of that. I have touch a Quantum once and it seemed fairly similar to SD with some new bells and whistles.

My place of employment has started to purchase Quantums, and press releases withstanding, the actual reason is that the SD series is old, and we are uncertain of how many new features/updates there will be.
 
---

I know the SD console series was updated with the stealth core after release which I believe expanded the channel count and processing capabilities.

I have heard rumor from a DiGiCo rep that this could potentially happen with Quantum, which would be nice.


Hopefully this is somewhat helpful, and hopefully someone who knows more than I will shed some more light. 

[Andrew Broughton]

And...

Just when we thought it couldn't get MORE confusing... ;-)

[Tim Hite]

Okay, so...

Can someone explain the Digico console lineup naming to me? Explain It Like I'm Five. In particular, a little idea of the history of these things would be helpful. Like which SDs came at which time/generation? And do they all use the same basic software? which ones are reaching EOL vs. which ones are "current"?

I know the S21/31 are the baby Digicos and don't use the same software as the SDs. And I know that the SD7 is the "big boy". But all the rest are just a fuzzy mess to me.

[I feel like there was a discussion of this sometime fairly recently, so a push in that direction would also be useful if this is a redundant question]

thanks!

S21 and S31 are named after the number of SLIDERS they have. It's the most sensible thing DiGiCo has ever done in its product marketing.

Quantum 225 and 338 are numbered for the screens and faders they contain.

The SD series numbering represents √MSRP/(channel count-number of faders and knobs). This was done to simplify ordering.

[Nikhil Mulay]

AFAIK the SD12 came out in 2018 sometime. The original SD line-up runs windows xp embedded and I believe the new new quantums are running Windows 10 embedded.

The quantum consoles have a new fpga, and I did hear that there was talk about the ability to upgrade a regular sd to quantum by changing the processing motherboard (or whatever cool sounding term digico calls it.)

Originally the SD series was named in the order in which they were released. The sd7 was released first, so its: sd7, sd8, sd9, sd10, and so on.. Until the sd5 came out and messed it all up.

I guess the boffins at digico went aah fuck it, we've messed it up anyway so lets just come up with something else.


Sent from my RMX1931 using Tapatalk

[Brian Bolly]

The SD series numbering represents √MSRP/(channel count-number of faders and knobs). This was done to simplify ordering.

This is the first time I've heard this one.  AFAIK it was SD(year it came out) for all except the SD5 which was released on the anniversary of the D5, and then the SD12 which was its own thing prior to the Quantum line.

To Brian's original question:

All SD desks are "current". All run the same WinXP-based OS and software.*  There is a piece of Windows software to convert so you can take a show file from any desk and put it on any other desk.**  Updating a standard SD series desk to a B or T extension costs money, but can be done.  Upgrading from the original ("Core 1") software to Core 2 costs money but greatly expanded the capabilities of the desk.  With the exception of the SD7 and SD5, the rest of the SD desks are relatively done with the big updates as of the Core2 software release several years ago.  They may see additional minor updates as firmware/software revisions happen, but the limiting factor is the internal FPGA chip (as I was told)

* - There are 'B' and 'T' software extensions available for some desks - Broadcast and Theatre, respectively.  These enable different features/functions not available on the "standard" software

** - Obviously you can't take a 120 channel show and put it on an 80 channel desk.  But it allows you to convert/trim to create your show file with minimal headache.


Quantum desks are "Next Gen" - new FPGA chip, new baseline OS.  You can do a full engine swap on an SD7 or SD5 and get a Quantum 7 or Quantum 5, but those are the only desks able to do it as the engine is a removable chassis on the back - dual redundant engines in the case of the SD7/Q7. The Q338 and Q225 are fully new desks and derive their model nomenclature from Q(#of Screens)(# of Faders).  The Q225 is cheating a little on that as the 2nd screen is optional external, but it's what they did.  I don't *think* you would be able to upgrade the SD12 to a Quantum desk eventually (if they were to release a secret decoder ring), but I've never looked under the hood. 

[Russell Ault]

Function-wise, differentiating between SD-series consoles is almost as fun as trying to figure out the name scheme, particularly in the middle of the line-up. Things are relatively easy at the extremes: the SD11 is the only single-bank console (it's rack-mountable), and the SD7 and SD5 are the giants with three banks of faders and three screens (although telling them apart can be a bit tricky; both can have the B software, but only the SD7 can have the T software, and only the SD7 has a compatible "extender" that adds two more screens and banks of faders).

Everything else is in between these two extremes, representing a constellation of four similar-but-not-identical consoles. The SD12 is the only SD-series console with two screens (and, IIRC, the only one running Windows 7e under the hood); all the rest (except for the big ones) are single-screen-only. The SD9 is the only one with a screen that doesn't line up with any fader banks (and if that sounds confusing, that's because it is). The SD8 and SD10 both come in both 2-fader-bank and 3-fader-bank versions, but only SD10 can have the B or T software installed like the SD9 (the SD12 is T software but not B, which is the reverse of the SD11); the SD10 is also the only mid-level SD console that can have a fully-redundant mix engine added.

All clear now?

{...} The SD series numbering represents √MSRP/(channel count-number of faders and knobs). This was done to simplify ordering.

You really oughta warn people before you say stuff like this. I'm glad I wasn't taking a sip of anything when I read it!

-Russ

[Dave Bednarski]

Hey lettuce not forget the SD11 vs SD11i =)

[Russell Ault]

Hey lettuce not forget the SD11 vs SD11i =)

That's actually a good one (particularly since I believe it's actually the SD11i, not the base-model SD11, that has the B software available for it).

The other thing to note about the SD11 (and -i) is that it's the only SD-series console with more than 8x8 analogue IO onboard. I believe it's also the only SD-series console to come from the factory with only one PSU in it (although a second, external one can be added).

-Russ

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