Another Miracle....we can get a new audio console :-) Now which one?

ChubRock

Member
I just got the call that our district office is willing to replace our old Yamaha 36-channel analog console in our theater. Budget somewhere from $10k to $14k. I have been looking into the Yamaha LS9-32, but would like a few more channels.

I need to have XLR inputs from legacy mics, compressors, etc. I would like at least 36-channels, but would be happier with 48. Cool digital memory setting with auto moving faders, channel EQ settings, etc.

Any suggestions?
 
Assuming you are doing regular theatre things.

Your not going to get to 48 with a digital console in your price range, at least cleanly. You could go with an 02R and get a rack of preamps and that would do it. You would only have 24 handles but it would be doable. You could also do it with the DM1000 and DM2000. Really, with the requirements you have, your in the M7 range but your price range is not even close.

That all said... with an LS9 or any other digital console you don't need outboard compressors/limiters/graphs. Unless you are mixing a large pit, I have yet to see a show I can't put into a 32 channel console. On that not as well, you could throw a MY16-AT card in, get the same rack of outboard preamps, and take the LS9-32 up to 48 channels. Once again though, you would have 16 channels in a different layer. This would probably be the best option for you.
 
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Nice additions. I thought 32 was my range since price is a consideration. We have comp/limit on each of 18 AT 3000 series Lavs. I considered the LS9 and whatever modules I would need to add 8-16 more XLR inputs.

Any chance Allen and Heath has anything nice?
 

I hate Mackie. I die a little everytime I see one of their boards.

Get an LS9. The budget is right, the board is great. If you absolutely need 36+ channels, there are some fairly reasonable ways to expand it.

How much outboard do you have? Does you current budget account for what you might be able to get after selling it off?

Edit:

The iLive from A&H is out of your budget, but a fantastic system. Disregarding rider-friendliness, it's probably my favorite all-around board.
 
I hate Mackie. I die a little everytime I see one of their boards.

Why?

I first learned on a Mackie, and it is STILL my favorite board. At least, my favorite analog board.

Just curious as to what you have against them?
 
Why?

I first learned on a Mackie, and it is STILL my favorite board. At least, my favorite analog board.

Just curious as to what you have against them?

Take it up in a PM guys. Lets stay on topic and not turn this thread into a "I hate ________" flame war.
 
Go with a LS9-32. You can't beat what it offers for the price. Purchase the I/O cards and you'll still be under your budget and add more channels. Layering is nothing difficult and layers are switched with the push of a single button. With the digital you wont need the comp/gates nor any of the outboard analog gear like effects processors or massive EQ racks. If you could convince your district or directors, you could possibly sell the old analog equipment to have more funding for the console. Of course selling off pieces of your house setup would be bad if you intend on having shows inbetween selling the old stuff and installing the new. My theatre runs a LS9-32 and I have yet to find a large concert or concert series we can't run with ease. You never have to leave the console/computer... And if you can't stand the console/computer you can always run it wireless with an iPhone or iPad from a different location.
 
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I take it used is out of the question? It wouldn't be too tough to get a used M7CL-48 within that budget, though closer to the high end. Otherwise, I would say that you really can't go wrong with an LS9-32 with a MY16AT and a couple of extra 8ch pres. On the higher end of your budget you could probably even get a LS9-32, MY16-ES64, and an SB168-ES which would be pretty nice setup since you would still have recallable HAs and pretty rock solid reliability compared to ADAT connections.
 
While Mackie still shows the TT24 and TT System 32 as current products on their web site, no one seems to be selling anything but refurbished products and the future of the TT24 has been unsure for quite some time now. Given all the uncertainty for its future and the availability issues, it's probably not a practical choice regardless of what one thinks about it.

If you stayed analog then you could probably get an APB Dynasonics ProDesk 4 or 8 with 32, 40 or 48 inputs (plus 4 stereo inputs) within or close to your budget. There's also several good A&H analog console choices in the $10-$14k price range. If you go digital then the options that would offer more than 32 inputs and be usable for theatre are limited.

Are there any specific capabilities or functionality that you need from the console such as number of aux sends and/or groups, whether you need it to support an LCR system or anything else?
 
TT24 is almost completely unsupported due to personnel changes in engineering at LOUD Technologies.
 
Thanks for the responses. FOr the most part, our high school theater does basic plays, a musical and big winter multi-arts. 18-24 wireless for plays with some CDs, ipods, MacBook inputs. Matrix, aux, sub and channels out for FX, feeds to various needs, recording, etc.

The big multi-arts uses all the wireless and about 30 mics on stage. I mix the bands mic separately on a couple of 16-ch mixers and feed them into our current 3-channel board.

the outs are used to feed monitors, both backstage and booth, feed live video, digital recordings etc. Nice to have hundreds of recall scenes, but still maintain some fader control for nuance.

Seems that if we get the replacement I should go digital so kids get the experience beyond our traditional Yamaha board.

It would be nice to be able to easily move the console out of the booth and put it in the house several feet. Maybe an I/O that is racked and some basic cable that allows us to move it in the house for a better feel for the room, but not always in that application.

I looked online at the Allen and Heath iLive T-80. Thoughts!
 
Food for thought. Where would a guy sell a used heavy, big console? Classified on Control Booth.

ControlBooth Classifieds, eBay, eBay local, Craigslist. All that I can think of off the top of my head. Maybe another school in your area might want to upgrade to what you have now. Or a local shop trying to increase inventory.
 
I looked online at the Allen and Heath iLive T-80. Thoughts!
The iLive T-80 is a work surface only, you need at least one of the MixRack boxes, which includes the main I/O and all of the processing, to have a usable iLive-T system. Just to give some idea, the list price for a basic iLive-T system is around $17k to $19k for 32 inputs/16 outputs and $20k to $22k for 48 inputs/24 outputs with the range noted reflecting the work surface used (I much prefer the T-112 work surface, but it is larger and more expensive than the T-80). You could go up to 64 inputs, split I/O across multiple stage boxes, add interface cards for recording, digital splits or redundant communication, etc. at additional cost. Those are full retail prices so you probably can get a system for a bit less but the markups on products like these are not as large as they are on many more mass market products so there may not be as much discount as you normally expect. For the number of inputs you want, unless you can significantly increase your budget the Yamaha LS9 and maybe the Roland M-400 V-Mixer system are probably your best bets.

Is used equipment even an option? I know many school districts that discourage or prohibit buying used, especially if it is something of sufficient value that they would want to consider it a capital expenditure. The same may also apply to trying to sell used equipment, since it is basically owned by the public there may be restrictions on selling it or a specific process that has to be followed. If you are not going to be using it then they may indeed want to do something like use it in another district venue.
 
I just got the call that our district office is willing to replace our old Yamaha 36-channel analog console in our theater. Budget somewhere from $10k to $14k. I have been looking into the Yamaha LS9-32, but would like a few more channels.

I need to have XLR inputs from legacy mics, compressors, etc. I would like at least 36-channels, but would be happier with 48. Cool digital memory setting with auto moving faders, channel EQ settings, etc.

Any suggestions?

The high school I work at has been pretty happy with the LS9-32 we purchased last spring. We are moving from a Crest X-8 (40 mic inputs plus 4 stereo pairs).

You should be able to get to 48 channels plus 16 digital ins/outs towards the top of your price range (SB168-ES, AVY16-ES100, MY16-AT).
 

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