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Title: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Mark Scrivener on August 18, 2019, 03:26:50 AM
I was just looking at the Ui24R facebook page. A sound engineer at the Frequency Festival in Austria posted photos and videos of the Ui24R being used at the main stage for FOH! Well, actually he has 2 Ui24R's cascaded to get more inputs, both located on stage, Ethernet cable to FOH for mixing on a touch screen, small box for talkback and headphone monitoring via the same Ethernet cable.

There were a few comments about being brave using a sub $1k box vs a high end industry standard, and his response was basically "hey, the high end console can fail just as easy as the inexpensive box, and I like this better".

I own and love the Ui24R, but not sure I'd use it for a large big dollar festival (web says ~140K attendance). But I have to admit, the delta between high end and mainstream budget gear is getting less and less. I know there is much more to a live console than audio quality, but I've recorded gigs using the Ui24R and was seriously blown away how close it came to what I could do in my recording studio with MUCH more expensive gear. You could by several Ui24r's for just what my A/D converters cost. Heck I have more money in patchbays than the cost of the Ui24R. Now I'm not replacing six figures of recording equipment with a little $1k blue box anytime soon, but just think what tape machines used to cost back in the day....and now we use a computer and some A/D converters. In live sound, racks of outboard have already disappeared. Could high dollar digital live consoles be on the endangered list?

As someone once said, "The times they are a changin'"
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: John Halliburton on August 18, 2019, 10:18:09 AM
I was just looking at the Ui24R facebook page. A sound engineer at the Frequency Festival in Austria posted photos and videos of the Ui24R being used at the main stage for FOH! Well, actually he has 2 Ui24R's cascaded to get more inputs, both located on stage, Ethernet cable to FOH for mixing on a touch screen, small box for talkback and headphone monitoring via the same Ethernet cable.

There were a few comments about being brave using a sub $1k box vs a high end industry standard, and his response was basically "hey, the high end console can fail just as easy as the inexpensive box, and I like this better".

I own and love the Ui24R, but not sure I'd use it for a large big dollar festival (web says ~140K attendance). But I have to admit, the delta between high end and mainstream budget gear is getting less and less. I know there is much more to a live console than audio quality, but I've recorded gigs using the Ui24R and was seriously blown away how close it came to what I could do in my recording studio with MUCH more expensive gear. You could by several Ui24r's for just what my A/D converters cost. Heck I have more money in patchbays than the cost of the Ui24R. Now I'm not replacing six figures of recording equipment with a little $1k blue box anytime soon, but just think what tape machines used to cost back in the day....and now we use a computer and some A/D converters. In live sound, racks of outboard have already disappeared. Could high dollar digital live consoles be on the endangered list?

As someone once said, "The times they are a changin'"

A fellow engineer and friend from Ireland has been traveling with his A&H SQ5 for over a year now, currently in Milwaukee at the largest Irish music festival in the world taking feeds from DLives, SD7, among others.  Clearwing have a bunch of DLive there as well as SQ on the smaller stages this year.  Pretty cool.

Best regards,

John
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Tim Weaver on August 18, 2019, 12:39:50 PM
I suspect that the reason the Ui was used at FOH was because it requires no footprint. Visiting desks have more real estate to set up without a house desk in the way. Holmes can wrangle the MC and BGM channels with an ipad. It makes the strike at the end very easy.

Festivals are a marathon not a sprint. Sometimes it's about managing your workload. These headless mixers do a great job of that.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Mal Brown on August 18, 2019, 12:55:32 PM
I’m a big fan of the UI-24r and use it almost exclusively now. Over the winter I’ll add another and learn the ntracies of cascading. 

The Australian Company SM was the original developer bought out by Harmon.  The old UI product manager Danny Olesh is an active FOH engineer down under.  That could be one reason you see it in use at big shows down there.

My UI rig is based on a good external router, a Dell All In One Touch screen PC - all held up by an APC 900 va UPS.  For me it has been bullet proof.

I am still running firmware v2.  Following the news on v3.  It is Harmon after all... I may do he upgrade after the busy season ends.  For sure not now!
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Keith Broughton on August 18, 2019, 02:35:49 PM
I still cannot come to terms with my show being at the mercy of a tablet on wireless.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: brian maddox on August 18, 2019, 02:58:04 PM
I still cannot come to terms with my show being at the mercy of a tablet on wireless.

It does sound like this situation was hardwired ethernet to FOH.  Yeah, using WiFi for a large show wouldn't just be a bad idea, it likely just wouldn't work...
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Mark Scrivener on August 18, 2019, 03:03:52 PM
It does sound like this situation was hardwired ethernet to FOH.  Yeah, using WiFi for a large show wouldn't just be a bad idea, it likely just wouldn't work...

Yes, from what I can tell this show used a hard wired Ethernet connection. That said, I have seen other posts in the group where people used commercial WiFi routers to insure solid coverage and indeed mixed wireless....and they were very big shows. Even with a high end WiFi router, that seems brave.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Alec Spence on August 18, 2019, 04:00:41 PM
Nothing wrong with using a mixer like the UI24 for a show like that with a wired connection to the control device.

What amazed me recently was realising that Elton John's monitor mix uses SAC.  I'd written that off as cheap Heath Robinson technology from a previous era.  But you don't get much bigger than Elton...
http://fohonline.com/articles/production-profile/elton-john-farewell-yellow-brick-road-tour/ (http://fohonline.com/articles/production-profile/elton-john-farewell-yellow-brick-road-tour/)

Also, while Digico is hardly low end, I remember Ed Sheeran being mixed on an SD11 for a few years...
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Mal Brown on August 18, 2019, 04:23:01 PM
I still cannot come to terms with my show being at the mercy of a tablet on wireless.
Hard wired LAN always.  The tablet is for wandering, ringing out monitors, rough monitor mixes, etc.  The PC on the LAN is FOH.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Dan Mortensen on August 18, 2019, 04:31:28 PM
Well, actually he has 2 Ui24R's cascaded to get more inputs

Do the Ui24R's allow all busses to be cascaded as well as the PFL's and headphone outputs?

Pretty cool if so.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Mark Scrivener on August 18, 2019, 05:32:00 PM
Do the Ui24R's allow all busses to be cascaded as well as the PFL's and headphone outputs?

Pretty cool if so.

Not sure I understand your question, but there are 10 aux busses and any of them can be turned into matrix outputs. The patching allows any bus, main, or PFL to be routed to any output, including DAW sends. Sending the same signal to multiple destinations is also allowed. Inputs (or DAW returns) can likewise be routed to any channel. Two Ui24r's can be cascaded and up to 32 signals shared between them, which I believe includes busses. Soundcraft has an online demo that you can play with via a web browser, which should answer any routing or workflow questions you have. It really is an amazing little mixer.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Dave Pluke on August 19, 2019, 09:55:13 AM
It really is an amazing little mixer.

Agreed!  I have two Ui24R's.

To some extent, Soundcraft poisoned the well by introducing the Ui12 and Ui16 units before the Ui24.  The smaller units were built differently (don't ask me how), and they got a bit of a reputation for having a high noise floor and perilous WiFi.

The Ui24R still suffers on occasion from its passive cooling (there's a spot and connector for a fan, but it was omitted for $$$?) and underpowered USB ports.  Both are relatively easy to overcome and, as noted, I always run an ethernet connected PC and external WiFi router.

But, the clarity is excellent and the channel EQ section is as good, if not better, than the "conventional" digital consoles costing 4x as much.

I, personally, would love to see Soundcraft develop a control surface to drive the brains of the Ui24. Still like having physical faders, especially when riding several at once.  How many R&D resources Samsung is willing to stick into Soundcraft is uncertain.

Dave

Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Brian Jojade on August 19, 2019, 12:19:00 PM
It used to be that the sound quality difference between high end gear and MI gear was easy to hear, even for the moderately trained ear.  While there are still some potential differences, it's getting much much harder to hear them unless you put the gear side by side.

From a reliability standpoint, I'd guess that the MTBF ratings of the high end gear is pretty close to the midrage gear as well.  In fact, the midrange gear might be better, as failures at that pricepoint mean warranty claims that cost a significant percentage of the sale price. Therefore, they HAVE to be reliable or the company selling it won't be able to maintain a profit.

Depending on the gear, you can pay more for better road worthiness.  ie, better XLR connectors, etc. If you don't abuse the gear though, even the entry level stuff is pretty solid these days.

You also typically can 'feel' the difference in higher end gear.  Rubber coated knobs, smoother faders, etc.  But, if it's my money, my fingers aren't delicate enough to justify a 20X price increase in a mixing console if all I'm getting is better felling knobs. :)
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Tim McCulloch on August 19, 2019, 12:50:00 PM
The dirty little secret is that on most festivals there is a "production mixer" which acts as a big routing matrix to accept inputs from the touring consoles.  For some time that was a Yamaha O1V or one of the earlier DME "engines" because they could be kitted out for AES 3 inputs & outputs as well as analog.

A certain west coast firm had a trick setup with front panel push buttons that switched inputs between sets of analog and digital inputs (2 of each, IIRC) and kept a VOG mic and BGM inputs available at all times (kind of like the APB Mix Switch, but with more features).
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: John P. Farrell on August 19, 2019, 10:06:30 PM
The dirty little secret is that on most festivals there is a "production mixer" which acts as a big routing matrix to accept inputs from the touring consoles.  For some time that was a Yamaha O1V or one of the earlier DME "engines" because they could be kitted out for AES 3 inputs & outputs as well as analog.

This.  I have put my touring CL or Digico (as did all the other acts) through many festival control desks, and they're usually 01V96 or Midas M32R controlling the entire show in addition to video feeds, VOG and an iPod. 
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Scott Holtzman on August 20, 2019, 12:01:04 AM
The dirty little secret is that on most festivals there is a "production mixer" which acts as a big routing matrix to accept inputs from the touring consoles.  For some time that was a Yamaha O1V or one of the earlier DME "engines" because they could be kitted out for AES 3 inputs & outputs as well as analog.

A certain west coast firm had a trick setup with front panel push buttons that switched inputs between sets of analog and digital inputs (2 of each, IIRC) and kept a VOG mic and BGM inputs available at all times (kind of like the APB Mix Switch, but with more features).

I could not believe it, a festival I was at a few weeks ago that had a Vertec rig from a local supplier used a Spirit for the matrix mixer.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Tim McCulloch on August 20, 2019, 01:49:06 AM
I could not believe it, a festival I was at a few weeks ago that had a Vertec rig from a local supplier used a Spirit for the matrix mixer.

All in the Harman family, Scott!
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: brian maddox on August 20, 2019, 04:15:36 PM
I could not believe it, a festival I was at a few weeks ago that had a Vertec rig from a local supplier used a Spirit for the matrix mixer.

my festival rig a couple years ago...

EDIT:  Posted the wrong pic.  This one makes more sense.  :)
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: dave briar on August 20, 2019, 04:54:04 PM
The dirty little secret is that on most festivals there is a "production mixer" which acts as a big routing matrix to accept inputs from the touring consoles.
A friend of mine has previously chaffed at having to run the outputs from his M32-core back into a regional festival’s Avid house mixer as it required padding the inputs on the Avid which he felt was a compromise.  He has since added a Lake processor to his rack on stage and at this year’s festival started with the sound company’s tuning and then bypassed it with his unit which allowed him an N-band parametric EQ on the mains for the evening’s headline act.  The house crew actually shut all their unused equipment down, showered, had a sit-down dinner, and then came back for the last twenty minutes of the show. I guess if you’ve been one of the national headliners for fifteen years you’ve earned enough cred to be given the keys to the kingdom. I on the other hand used their system as they intended and humbly accepted any and all help they could provide :).
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Chris Hindle on August 21, 2019, 08:29:16 AM
I on the other hand used their system as they intended and humbly accepted any and all help they could provide :).
You do that enough times, and show that you know your shit, you may get your own set of keys....
Cry and whine, and you get jack shit.
Reputation is EVERYTHING in this business.
Just sayin...
Chris.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Roland Clarke on August 21, 2019, 09:48:19 AM
Recently using an X32 with the S32 rack.  Thrown into a KV2 rig.  Proof enough there really isn’t anything wrong with the sound of the worlds favourite cheap mixer.  My problems with the gear at this end is flexibility, fx and operational workflow.  The best desks do give you that.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Mal Brown on August 21, 2019, 01:11:31 PM
Agreed!  I have two Ui24R's.

To some extent, Soundcraft poisoned the well by introducing the Ui12 and Ui16 units before the Ui24.  The smaller units were built differently (don't ask me how), and they got a bit of a reputation for having a high noise floor and perilous WiFi.

The Ui24R still suffers on occasion from its passive cooling (there's a spot and connector for a fan, but it was omitted for $$$?) and underpowered USB ports.  Both are relatively easy to overcome and, as noted, I always run an ethernet connected PC and external WiFi router.

But, the clarity is excellent and the channel EQ section is as good, if not better, than the "conventional" digital consoles costing 4x as much.

I, personally, would love to see Soundcraft develop a control surface to drive the brains of the Ui24. Still like having physical faders, especially when riding several at once.  How many R&D resources Samsung is willing to stick into Soundcraft is uncertain.

Dave

Agreed.  Just added my second UI-24r.  About to list a pristine SI-1...
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: dave briar on August 21, 2019, 03:49:01 PM
You do that enough times, and show that you know your shit, you may get your own set of keys....
Cry and whine, and you get jack shit.
Reputation is EVERYTHING in this business.
Just sayin...
Agreed and in the vein of “what goes around comes around” I sent a very brief email to the owner of the sound co expressing my appreciation for his crew being so “friendly, accommodating, efficient, and professional” — the last adjective being essentially redundant.
[/end_thread_swerve]
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: jon mccumber on September 03, 2019, 06:50:10 AM
I just ran the B stage of a fest last week using my X18. I had the choice of that or the providers Mackie 16 channel analog board. It worked flawlessly all day. 12 acts (6 of whom sound checked the previous day) without a hiccup. I use a cheap Walmart router and never lost connection. Roughly 2k in attendance. A few more channels would have been great. Mixed the whole day on my tablet but had my hardwired laptop on the side of the stage.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Alec Spence on September 03, 2019, 08:07:10 AM
Interesting to realise that Metallica using Behringer P16-M personal monitoring mixers in their tuning room for pre-show rehearsal/warm-up.  No idea whether there's further Behringer kit in that setup, but there may well be.
https://youtu.be/CEHlDvbTrx0 (https://youtu.be/CEHlDvbTrx0)

And Metallica are a "way down the bill" act.  I'm sure it's all handy promotion for Music Group, but they wouldn't use if it they weren't happy with it...
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: John A Chiara on September 03, 2019, 09:27:20 AM
I was hired in June to mix an American Idol/The Voice contestant show at a 17,500 seat venue. I was given a choice of consoles..and our rehearsal/sound check day got bumped...so one day in/out with a bunch of inexperienced kids. I chose an M32 because of my familiarity with it. I got nothing but very positive reviews..confirmed by many videos.
As long as it met the routing requirements..I would do it again if time restrained.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Robert Lofgren on September 03, 2019, 10:09:33 AM
I’ve seen videos with Dream Theatre using the p16m in the studio. I think that I saw a m32 as well, but I’m not 100% sure.

Interesting to realise that Metallica using Behringer P16-M personal monitoring mixers in their tuning room for pre-show rehearsal/warm-up.  No idea whether there's further Behringer kit in that setup, but there may well be.
https://youtu.be/CEHlDvbTrx0 (https://youtu.be/CEHlDvbTrx0)

And Metallica are a "way down the bill" act.  I'm sure it's all handy promotion for Music Group, but they wouldn't use if it they weren't happy with it...
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Branimir Bozak on September 13, 2019, 06:36:23 PM
Now this is a topic I can relate to...

Fortunately or unfortunately. 😆

As the band I tour with got bigger I invested in everything, first the microphones, then the mixer, and last year, a "newer" mixer.

Frankly, for 90% of the time, the console I use is really enough, lugging anything of more fidelity would not yield noticable difference. Either smaller shows, crappier PA's, and also limited van space, foh space, and the fact that I'm doing it myself with 0 roadies or techs.

Two biggest shows were 80 000+ people.

First time with Si Expression 3 with a Compact stagebox.

Second time with Allen & Heath GLD80.

Yes, I wish I could afford and own a dLive, or any of the SD Digicos, but that kind of investventment would not pay off in the next 10 years.

Having said that, last week the crowd spilt beer through the vents of my GLD, the console is now at the repair, cannot conect to DSP card.

The difference between top tier consoles and smaller ones is still there, but if the daily beater gets the job done, why not?

I also work at festivals and have seen many known bands coming with a couple of trucks of equipment, Digicos/Avids foh and mons, waves loaded, of course, no touring without waves, fancy mike setups, like Palmer pdi09 and two Heils per guitars, and with all that stuff going into nicely tuned Lacoustic PA, and still having crappy mixes, poorly eqed instrumemts, plugin overkills, and all sorts sub par things going on....

Here are two photos from the 80 000 show:
(https://i.postimg.cc/GBdz3tXf/FB-IMG-1568413019643.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/GBdz3tXf) (https://i.postimg.cc/FYjDQ3Vc/FB-IMG-1568413026915.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/FYjDQ3Vc)

Yeah, the festival console was Digidesign, and it has more headroom and better instrument separation, and is sure of the right purpose unlike my GLD, but for most of the time I feel it would all sound much better if the drummer hit the kick with same intesity all the time, and the bass player would not miss the beats of the kick doing like flams on the drum beat... No console can play instead of the players on stage.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Scott Bolt on September 14, 2019, 12:42:25 PM
Now this is a topic I can relate to...

Fortunately or unfortunately. 😆

As the band I tour with got bigger I invested in everything, first the microphones, then the mixer, and last year, a "newer" mixer.

Frankly, for 90% of the time, the console I use is really enough, lugging anything of more fidelity would not yield noticable difference. Either smaller shows, crappier PA's, and also limited van space, foh space, and the fact that I'm doing it myself with 0 roadies or techs.

Two biggest shows were 80 000+ people.

First time with Si Expression 3 with a Compact stagebox.

Second time with Allen & Heath GLD80.

Yes, I wish I could afford and own a dLive, or any of the SD Digicos, but that kind of investventment would not pay off in the next 10 years.

Having said that, last week the crowd spilt beer through the vents of my GLD, the console is now at the repair, cannot conect to DSP card.

The difference between top tier consoles and smaller ones is still there, but if the daily beater gets the job done, why not?

I also work at festivals and have seen many known bands coming with a couple of trucks of equipment, Digicos/Avids foh and mons, waves loaded, of course, no touring without waves, fancy mike setups, like Palmer pdi09 and two Heils per guitars, and with all that stuff going into nicely tuned Lacoustic PA, and still having crappy mixes, poorly eqed instrumemts, plugin overkills, and all sorts sub par things going on....

Here are two photos from the 80 000 show:
(https://i.postimg.cc/GBdz3tXf/FB-IMG-1568413019643.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/GBdz3tXf) (https://i.postimg.cc/FYjDQ3Vc/FB-IMG-1568413026915.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/FYjDQ3Vc)

Yeah, the festival console was Digidesign, and it has more headroom and better instrument separation, and is sure of the right purpose unlike my GLD, but for most of the time I feel it would all sound much better if the drummer hit the kick with same intesity all the time, and the bass player would not miss the beats of the kick doing like flams on the drum beat... No console can play instead of the players on stage.

Nice gigs!  Looks like a blast.  Wish I could watch from behind some night at a large gig and see what kinds of stuff goes on behind the curtain :)

I agree with your sediments though.  The Expression series lacking DCA's and LCD scribble strips would certainly not be my first choice of "cheap mixers" to use.  The GLD (of course) is quite a nice mixer that is quite feature filled. 

I have heard some remarkably great sounding mixes on pretty average rigs.  If anything, the trend has been that those with better speaker systems seem to sound significant better than those with really cheep ones.

Like you, I have heard some really nice mixers churn out some really bad sounding mixes.

Of course, I suspect it is like anything else.  While Rafael Nadal may be able to beat me at tennis with any racket he picked up at Walmart, he may find things a little more challenging with that same racket in a match with Roger Federer.

So yes, a better mixer will make it easier to get a better mix, but many many other factors appear to have more overall effect on the sound than the mixer ..... not the least of which is the person running it.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Scott Holtzman on September 14, 2019, 08:50:06 PM
Quote
I agree with your sediments though.

Are they falling in line?

Seriously I worked a for AARP presents of all things,  imag, ligjting and sound.  The support act was Bruce Hornsby,  he got an x32 and sounded great through the db T8's

Our very own Bill Schmaky mixes Head East on an M32 and his mix sounded just as good as the dueling Digco's Styx and REO were out with.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Scott Bolt on September 14, 2019, 09:58:05 PM
Are they falling in line?
Ok, not sure how to explain that one away.  Hard to say it was just a typo :)

Quote
Seriously I worked a for AARP presents of all things,  imag, ligjting and sound.  The support act was Bruce Hornsby,  he got an x32 and sounded great through the db T8's

Our very own Bill Schmaky mixes Head East on an M32 and his mix sounded just as good as the dueling Digco's Styx and REO were out with.
Yea, my favorite is guys that mix for bands that have a guitar with a full stack dimed out with a line of wedges on stage (also maxed out GBF level) who swear a better mixer makes the band sound better.

So much sound bleed on stage that every slider simply raises the volume on everything else on stage (except vocals).

I almost had the chance to go to one of Bill's gigs in Illinois a couple of years ago (my family is from there so I visit from time to time).  Still might see if I can catch up to him some time to see a good mix on an M32.  I hear tell he does a fine job..... even on a "Cheap" mixer ...... go figure.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Scott Holtzman on September 15, 2019, 03:01:45 AM
Quote
Still might see if I can catch up to him some time to see a good mix on an M32.  I hear tell he does a fine job..... even on a "Cheap" mixer ...... go figure.

Cool should have clarified Bill's artist was the opener for Styx and REO so had a direct comparison on same rig one act mixed on m32 the other acts were on Digico SD7's
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Jon Brunskill on September 23, 2019, 05:57:46 PM
I’m a big fan of the UI-24r and use it almost exclusively now. Over the winter I’ll add another and learn the ntracies of cascading. 

The Australian Company SM was the original developer bought out by Harmon.  The old UI product manager Danny Olesh is an active FOH engineer down under.  That could be one reason you see it in use at big shows down there.

My UI rig is based on a good external router, a Dell All In One Touch screen PC - all held up by an APC 900 va UPS.  For me it has been bullet proof.

I am still running firmware v2.  Following the news on v3.  It is Harmon after all... I may do he upgrade after the busy season ends.  For sure not now!
[/quote

V3 works great, go for it.
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Peter Morris on September 24, 2019, 09:49:03 AM
Nothing wrong with using a mixer like the UI24 for a show like that with a wired connection to the control device.

What amazed me recently was realising that Elton John's monitor mix uses SAC.  I'd written that off as cheap Heath Robinson technology from a previous era.  But you don't get much bigger than Elton...
http://fohonline.com/articles/production-profile/elton-john-farewell-yellow-brick-road-tour/ (http://fohonline.com/articles/production-profile/elton-john-farewell-yellow-brick-road-tour/)

Also, while Digico is hardly low end, I remember Ed Sheeran being mixed on an SD11 for a few years...

The other little one I keep seeing everywhere is A&H's dLive 1500 – its small enough to fly and extremely power with excellent sound quality.

https://snapshot11.com/allen-heath-dlive-c1500-compact-consoles-cover-coachella/

https://fohonline.com/archives/may-2019/mixing-billie-eilish/

https://en.soundlightup.com/news/flying-high-with-dlive-wings-beartooth-takes-off-with-allen-heath.html
 
Title: Re: "Cheap" digital mixers running FOH at big festivals!!! Wow!
Post by: Steve Garris on September 24, 2019, 01:22:33 PM
I’m a big fan of the UI-24r and use it almost exclusively now. Over the winter I’ll add another and learn the ntracies of cascading. 

The Australian Company SM was the original developer bought out by Harmon.  The old UI product manager Danny Olesh is an active FOH engineer down under.  That could be one reason you see it in use at big shows down there.

My UI rig is based on a good external router, a Dell All In One Touch screen PC - all held up by an APC 900 va UPS.  For me it has been bullet proof.

I am still running firmware v2.  Following the news on v3.  It is Harmon after all... I may do he upgrade after the busy season ends.  For sure not now!

V3 works great, go for it.

Jon, which All in One PC are you using? I'm leaning towards one of those, but alarmed by bad reviews stating how slow they are. I want fast responding faders for my Ui24 rig.