With all the requests for this and that feature and a long list shortfalls to the DL I thought perhaps an external solution would supplement and alleviate some of the issues. The software fix is not one of them that's up to Mackie. Additional features may take another year from Mackie. So lets look at a 1U box that could add some features to the DL and not cost a fortune. As a mater of fact the last 6 I picked up cost me $49.99 that's $8.33 a piece and $29.99 of that was shipping. It will cost me another $8 a piece for a new fan (a knee jerk reaction to replace the Ball bearing fan whether it needs it or not). Now I don't expect you to get one for my price but over the past couple of years they have been available for $15-50. This is still well within most peoples range that have a DL. I'm talking about the XAP800 from ClearOne/Gentner.
What kind of features will this add to the DL? Let start with setup. The DL has no signal generator to help with initial setup and sound check. For those of you that have a Pink noise generator of sorts that you can just plug in you probably paid around $80-90 for it. These however don't even come close to the features of this generator which has pink ,white, tone and scanning tone at a controlled rate with precision level output that can be put in a loop within a specific frequency range. Yes up to 12 of these not that you would need that many. Enough about setup let move on to some better usage of the 12 inputs and outputs that this kit brings to the table.
Input for those that need extra mic or line ins well you have them. That DL2408 you always wanted. You can create a group or two to feed to the DL such as the drum kit and control the drums with one input channel on the DL or more. Now you have some group capability. So you have a singer that's all over the place and you can't move the fader fast enough to keep them under control, let AGC handle that for you. That's Automatic Gain Control in case you forgot, it's not available on the DL. Let's understand that what I'm suggesting here by adding this unit that you treat it as a initial setup and forget it piece of gear. Yes it can be controlled like the DL from a PC but I like to keep things simple. The control remains with the DL/iPad control surface. Let's also put to rest that digital delay concern by adding another piece of gear. The DL from input to output has a 1500 usec delay adding another 150 usec (or 300 usec total for additional processing in the XAP800) won't affect anything. The mic inputs are individually controllable for both gain and phantom power (24V). Yes some condenser won't like that but you'd be surprised how many do run on 12-24V. One word of caution don't use the DL's phantom power since the outputs of the XAP800 won't take kindly to that. Tape it in off position to be safe. Most of you use dynamics or wireless anyway so it's not really a concern. The first pass in the input channel allows up to 4 filters from a choice of all pass, high pass, low pass, notch and parametric. A gate is available as is AGC and all this cost you 150 usec. If that's not enough then a second processing pass will add 15 more filters, a delay and a compressor for an additional 150 usec plus the delay time. Possible uses have certainly increased with this setup. Let's move on.
The outputs for those clamoring for HPF, high shelving, low shelving, notch, Parametric instead of graphic eq's, crossovers for speakers ( Butterworth, Bessel, CD Horn, Linkwitz-Riley) and delays for fills up to 500ft. they're all available. Split your DL's L&R's into 6 outputs 2 tops 2 subs and 2 fills. Surround sound anyone? By now you're probably over-controlled. For those that want to use IEM's the 50 ohm outputs are far more headphone/ear-bud friendly than the DL aux's. What running out of inputs and outputs just add another XAP800 for up to a total of eight. There is of course another direction that you can take called the X32 or other high end mixer but I doubt that's in your budget. For those looking for more than 2 channel recording your better off with a Focusrite 18i20 or something similar.
Let me list the cons while I'm at it. You need to drag around more gear. If you don't have a PC you might try your Mac's Windows emulator to see if the program runs on it (before spending any money). The only I/O it needs is a USB to serial cable (~$10) for setup. I don't have a Mac to try it on. Yes you can control it thru the front panel but it's painful. You need to add Phoenix connectors to your tool kit. You need to learn another mixer. I'm sure you can come up with more but for some of you this may be just the ticket.
I've been using these mixers for some 7 yrs. now and in various applications. I have a single unit that's a wireless mixer and mics and speakers on a 10 yr. old Tablet PC and it works just fine. I've yet to have a failure other than fans and look on that as PM. These mixers had an original MSRP of $5200. Some are only 3-4 yrs old.
For those who want more info see:
http://cacophony.aspinock.com/index.php?topic=355.0
