Digital trim coming to DL1608 and DL806

[Artaudio]

Apparently they are adding digital trims to the DL 1608 and 806's

This will be a great asset for the DL's. Fingers crossed!

[Keyboard Magic]

Apparently they are adding digital trims to the DL 1608 and 0808's

This will be a great asset for the DL's. Fingers crossed!

Digital trim for each channel including the iPad channel will be welcome for sure. I think that all the new features being added to the DL806 and 1608 will be a breath of fresh air and keep the platform going for a while longer. I'm eagerly awaiting some new stuff to play with.  And if it hasn't been said yet, welcome to the forum too. 

[Fluddman]

I assume this is only for new models. Be great if you could retrofit 

[Artaudio]

Thanks for the welcome.. I have posted here a number of months ago and lurk around when iOS updates happen. I should post more often but I see everyone is having the same successes and tribulations. So I hate beating the horse (so to speak).

Thanks again and patiently waiting for MF3.0

[Artaudio]

I assume this is only for new models. Be great if you could retrofit 

Apparently  this is part of the new Master Fader update and all DL's are getting this feature.

I'm guessing at the moment, but I presume you could set your input gains  and then be able to do some digital input trims if they start peaking. There are many times that I do a sound check and then when the show starts, the vocalist finds their stride and starts hitting the red line.. I don't think it will be perfect, but it will potentially prevent you from having to fight your way through the crowd and head to the Mixer for minor gain tweaks.

Also the digital trim is supposed to help with the input from the iPad.. As we all know that signal is too hot to do anything with and I have scared the hell out of audience members too many times when I forget to mute that damn channel..

[lightguy48]

I assume this is only for new models. Be great if you could retrofit 

Digital trim is different than remote pre-amp control. Basically with digital trim you still have to make sure you're not clipping the pre-amp because there is no way to turn the gain down if you're clipping (once it's distorted there is no undoing the distortion no matter how low you bring the trim down). But if your gain is a little on the low side you can boost the gain (sacrificing some of the noise floor) to get the level up to a more normal range.

[lightguy48]

Apparently  this is part of the new Master Fader update and all DL's are getting this feature.

I'm guessing at the moment, but I presume you could set your input gains  and then be able to do some digital input trims if they start peaking. There are many times that I do a sound check and then when the show starts, the vocalist finds their stride and starts hitting the red line.. I don't think it will be perfect, but it will potentially prevent you from having to fight your way through the crowd and head to the Mixer for minor gain tweaks.

With Digital Trim you have to stay out of clipping... once it's clipped in the analog preamp the 'damage' is done no amount of digital trim will un-distort the audio. 

[Keyboard Magic]

A newb question(s) if I may? Is digital trim really going to be an added bonus on the DL806/1608 with analog pre's? I can sort of see it helping to trim the very hot iPad playback channel though.

[Fluddman]

It will be interesting if it is a software update - though I wonder if that's even possible?

For me, and i'll bet a heap of others, the main incentive of buying a DL32 is to get control of the trim through master fader.

So if it can be added to my exsiting 1608 I wouldn't buy a new DL32. I can't imagine Mackie doing anything that could impact on sales of the DL32. 

Cheers

[lightguy48]

Well if you run your gains on the low side it can be a benefit because you can trim the level up,  I've had some shows where towards the end of the night I had some faders up at the top end and couldn't get any more gain, it's definitely better than nothing.

[Keyboard Magic]

Yes, an added benefit(s) is still pretty good in my books. Anything that will help a mix.  Thank you. 

[ijpengelly]

Technically it already exists to some degree within the compressor stage, where you can adjust the gain reduction / addition post compression.

[Kev tyler]

I don't think improving the 8 or 16 in any manner will impact on sales of the 32, if you need 32 ins, then you need 32 , I supose a 24 ch version is not feasible due to economics, but I bet there would be a few who don't need 32 but find 18 limiting?

This is why I thought these units would be expandable with  additional 1u racks with additional banks of 8, similar but not exactly like the b s16.

Seems crazy to me that you can buy a 1 u rack of midas preamps for 200 dollars, but can't plug it in to anything other than a Mac or PC in a bedroom studio.

Imagine if you could just plug the Usb or optical out of a  pre amp rack in to one of these new fangled  mixers?

That makes far too much sense I guess

Kev

[sam.spoons]

The X32 doesn't have adat as standard, it's a fairly expensive add on. If it did you could use ADA8002 racks of 8 preamps to extend the mic channel count on the Compact/Producer/Rack. The DL32R has as nearly many mic inputs as the software will handle (36 channels I believe) so half of the additional channels in a typical 8 way unit would be redundant.

[Wynnd]

One thing that came out of the DL32 is that they are expanding Master Fader to cover that unit too.  That means much more software development for the DL1608.  I never expected it, but it makes some sense to not fully reinvent the controls.  That also helps people moving from the DL1608 to the DL32.  Solid familiarity. 

There is one other thing that the DL series needs.  That's the physical faders.   I really don't care if they are actually virtual, but the fader on glass is only good if you're looking at the screen.  It doesn't work as well for theater productions where you want your eyes on the stage.  Having the tactile feel of a physical slider allows your eyes to be elsewhere while your fingers don't wander off the control.  It could be an additional ios device or some kind of USB attachment to the ipad.  If someone finds one that meets that description, please let me know.