QSC TouchMix

[yigba]

I don't know - that touch screen looks mighty small. And if the IPad breaks you get a new one. If that touch screen breaks the unit goes bye bye for a while to be fixed. I'll take the detachable IPad.

[Wynnd]

In many bands, there are at least one other musician who has either an ipad or iphone that can act as a back up.  I've got an ipad 2 and an iphone 4S.  The trombone player has an ipad too.  (He loaded up Master Fader, but My Fader will work on it fine too.) 

[musicman7722]

Nice looking video and yes it is feature rich.  My whole system is QSC K series so I do trust the brand.  But then over the years I've owned a lot of Mackie stuff too and never really had any series complaints.

What I'm thinking is what will the PA world look like in just 2 years, wow things are exploding.  How about the new EV powered tops with a built in computer for settings for $399.  It is a great time to still be playing.  I too am 60 years old and coming off a major broken right arm  Three breaks in the upper arm but guess what I can play again.  First partial gig is Saturday.  Will mix half the night on my DL and play the other half.

Sorry to babble but in the end I feel we are all friends here

CP

[soundman]

Features, which make it very interesting:
- channel selective phantom power
- DCA-Groups with PARAMETRIC EQ
- Multitrack recording
- more I/O

[robbocurry]

The price is going to be key.
I would really like to add the 16 channel recording option to every gig.
I used to be able to do that with my previous mixers but it involved bringing a laptop and a lot of extra hassle plus firewire sync issues that randomly killed the FOH output
Now I don't have that option anymore, I think I need it again
How this compares in price to a QU-16 is going to be the killer for me.
I have no plans to part with the DL, it's too handy and versatile & having two small "virtual fader" equipped mixers might be foolish.
Recently there has been a large gulf in the prices between UK and US musical equipment, if this is $1299 in the US, it will probably end up £1299 here in the UK

[musicman7722]

I watched a video on youtube today from NAMM and they claimed a spring ship with a retail of $1299.

[Jerrylee]

Personally I think they are pricing themselves too high. Too much competition at that level. It only has a couple of features that make it stick out. Some include 16 track recording straight to disk, wifi dongle included, comes with a nice case, light weight and a few more. But I'm not sure these features can make it stick out enough to warrant the higher price over the competition. It will sell but not well. The line 6 m20 was an absolute flop for line 6. It was way overpriced and still is.

[nottooloud]

Personally I think they are pricing themselves too high. Too much competition at that level. It only has a couple of features that make it stick out. Some include 16 track recording straight to disk, wifi dongle included, comes with a nice case, light weight and a few more. But I'm not sure these features can make it stick out enough to warrant the higher price over the competition. It will sell but not well.

It has a display.

[sam.spoons]

+1 The line 6 was inferior to the DL1608 in many ways IMHO, the cost and only 12 mic inputs were significant but the "M. Mouse Esq" operating paradigm was the biggest turn off to me.

[Jerrylee]

Nottooloud, I was comparing it to competition. What it has that others don't. A TOUCH screen display would have been a feature it has others don't. Not including the m20 because some reason it is in a different price level. But the x32 rack does have have a display and is less $.

[Wynnd]

The one thing that I'm noticing is that software updates to Master Fader and My Fader are actually upgrades in flexibility and functionality.  Not seeing that in every other digital mixer.  Consider the StudioLive 24.4.2.   Can't think of anything that's different on the mixer itself after being out for more than 2 years.  The DL, is a much improved mixer with the Master Fader updates.  That's something that I never thought about when I considered buying one.  It surely has to be a significant thing to consider for anyone considering a digital mixer.  Are you stuck with what you bought or do you have an evolving product.  (Admittedly, being stuck with a MixWiz is a pretty good place to be stuck.) 

[nottooloud]

But the x32 rack does have have a display and is less $.

You think it would be feasible to mix a show off that display, do you? Crouched down in front of a rack? The TouchMix is a complete standalone fully functional device. That's a thing that  makes it different from the entire crop of iPad dependent mixers, while still having iPad capability.

[RoadRanger]

Consider the StudioLive 24.4.2.   Can't think of anything that's different on the mixer itself after being out for more than 2 years.

And they've been promising to fix those cheap-arse 6dB/octave HPFs on the channels for those two years too and no joy so far . They're promising switchable 6/12/18/26 dB/octave just like the new ones on the DL's outputs - whci his one reason why I'm surprised Mackie didn't put that on the inputs too in V2.1 to "scoop" them .

Plus now that they have new models that don't need a Mac connected via firewire to record and connect to an iPad who knows if they will ever upgrade the firmware on them obsolete ones? That's what happened to my  Phonic S16 when they came out with the iS16 - no more upgrades .

[Jerrylee]

The dl1608 was missing a ton of features that other mixers already have. They are playing catch up. You cannot down another product for the lack of updates when they are not needed. You should rather praise them for the quality they began with. And yes that includes the dl. They made a great mixer for a lot of people. We all have are wish lists but most of those features will probably never come to fruition. Behringer is soon to release full 2.0. But their current firmware is far ahead of where the dl will ever be. If they never had an update most people with them would still be happy. And it would still be ahead of the dl. We may all still want something, but if they never happen we still have a great product. The new x32 features are great additions but not necessary for the x32 to be a phenomenal mixer.

I'll be impressed when the dl1608 gets an update to pack my gear up at the end of the night. Then I might have to buy it again.

Maybe we should all go back the the days of the analogue mixers, and racks, and racks, of outboard gear. This way if we want to add something we just add another piece to our set up. Instant update! And if you really don't want to do that then just be happy with what you have or upgrade to another digital mixer that gives you what you want/need/wish for.

[Wynnd]

The aspect of no further software updates isn't something I'm looking forward to.  I've been thinking that whenever a company abandons software, that the software should become public domain.  I can see a difference in software support happening if that were to become law.  (Supported software is never abandoned.)  Will be interesting to see what happens over the years and how soon will Mackie stop working on the DL's software.  MicroSoft generally supports their OS for about 8 years.  (Even with new products taking over.)