Since you already have the
console, I'll skip comments regarding
interfacing to other systems,
etc. I have not used a
Venue a lot, but I agree that it is not the most intuitive digital
console, but it is not bad and if you use it often it would be pretty easy to learn to get around it quickly.
The plug-ins can be both an advantage or disadvantage. It is great for studio and production people that can use processing with which they are already familiar. But when you
walk up to a
Venue you never know what you actually have for processing other than what ships with it, so it is not always the best idea to plan on having anything beyond that unless it is your board.
The ability to direct connect to ProTools is nice if you are a ProTools user, although is is an option so that others do not pay for it. I believe that the only I/O options available for the
Venue are analog,
AES3 and A-Net, so not necessarily friendly to many other recording and interface devices. I have to say that flexibility in connectivity is one place that the
Yamaha digital consoles seem to be ahead of anyone else.
Since the
Venue uses an external
monitor, that can have an
effect on the usability. A large, high resolution
monitor definitely makes operation easier, but also makes the
console much more of a potential visual issue.
Overall, a very nice
console and widely accepted, a real plus if dealing with riders or outside operators.