And for those of you who are jumping into the deep end of the digital entry level pool, have you ever worked a Ghost, Midas, Toft, APB, or anything capable of reproducing sound at that level. No? Thought as much, because if you had you wouldn't be running out to spend good hard earned money on entry level digital boards.
I agree for your needs the APB was the best choice given your criteria.
However to answer your hypothetical I have mixed on high end analog consoles like the H3K with appropriate outboard. And while it certainly is lovely and I have nothing to complain about with those setups, there's still no way in hell I'd ever spend any of my money on any analog console, period.
I don't own a sound company, but I do own an 01v96. I'm reminded of how glad I am that I bought it every time spares me from being stuck with some mackie sr with no outboard or some other bs setup. And compared to that the sound I get is infinitely better given the amount of control I now have.
I believe you when you say the APB sounds better. But I'm much more concerned with the transducers in the chain than the apparent sound of any console. And with that in mind I will always go with the option of mixer that offers me the most control and flexibilty for what I do.
And when you say the APB was 3k, and compare it to a presonus or 01v, I'd say it'd be fair to factor in the outboard that you'd need to accompany the APB. An average decent setup would be 4-6 channels of GEQ, minimum 4 comps(preferably more), minimum 4 gates, 1-3 FX units etc...Buying new respectable outboard gear that puts you well into the 5-6k range. Now that's more comparable to an LS9-16/SI Compact 24 (with the analog setup still actually having WAY less EQ, FX and dynamics). You (and I'm sure lots of others) would still purchase the analog + outboard. That's totally fine and I have nothing to argue against that if that's what fits your needs.
I just wanted to level up the playing field when comparing a really nice small format analog to low end digital, to at least have a comparable feature set.
Different strokes for different folks, all that good stuff.
