Just when you thought you’d seen and heard of everything innovative, Digidesign decides to turn the live sound reinforcment industry (yes, that’s LIVE sound reinforcement industry) upside down with a solid, fresh approach to large format live mixers!
VENUE consists of the D-Show mixing console, FOH mix engine (a highly developed PC rack unit), a Stage Rack I/O unit with recallable, remote-controlled preamps and a multi-channel digital snake. The system is highly expandable, allowing up to 96 mic inputs to be mixed to 27 busses. The powerful mix engine provides EQ and Dynamics processing on every input channel, along with 24 assignable graphic EQs and full support for Pro Tools plug-ins. VENUE also features an integrated recording and playback option for industry-standard Digidesign Pro Tools systems.
VENUE’s D-Show features an extremely powerful, precise, and flexible digital live sound mixing engine, providing incredible sound quality, headroom, and fidelity. The D-Show mixing console is the result of years of design and ergonomic refinement, with input from leading mix engineers in touring sound, theater, and fixed installations. The console provides an intuitive and manageable interface to enable control of a large number of inputs from a smaller mixing surface, while allowing operators to expand the console to eliminate the need for layering or assignment.
D-Show combines a familiar central Assignable Channel Section (ACS) with two encoders per channel to allow instant adjustments where needed. The console is heavily populated with displays and indicators, enabling operators to confirm signal routing, the status of dynamics, EQ, and other insert processes, as well as signal activity or overload – even on layers not currently visible. D-Show’s control software further supplements this visual feedback, ensuring that mixers can always assess the behavior and performance of a large number of inputs at a glance.
At a private screening, we were able to see and hear the new VENUE system first hand. In person was an engineer who just got off the road with a VENUE system from a high-profile tour. As he lead us around the workings of the VENUE system, I couldn’t help but wonder if we weren’t seeing evolution before our eyes. The VENUE system works and sound engineers are going to adore the flexibility and reliability it will provide – the creativity is endless.