Today’s Tech Tip isn’t really a tech tip, but I thought it was an interesting question.
“Although the new digital consoles coming out are rather impressive, I still prefer the look, feel, and ease of use of a traditional analog console. Especially for many of us who are not doing a lot of work for hire, and don’t need total recall, programmable gates, etc., being able to save everything with a digital console is not a burning requirement. Tascam does not even sell analog consoles anymore (except for one small one) and I don’t see Mackie updating their 8 Bus, Yamaha making an analog recording console, etc. The Allen & Heath GS-3000 and Soundcraft Ghost are two really nice examples of mid-priced, state of the art analog consoles, but I fear by the time I could afford one of these they will be out of production. Any thoughts on whether there will be analog consoles in the future, or will I arrive to the party too late?”
You are observing a phenomenon that is the result of the fact that sales on analog mixing boards have really started to decline in the last year or two. Manufacturers aren’t coming out with new models except at the low end and VERY high end. We still sell a fair amount of Mackie, Soundcraft, A&H, and others you didn’t mention, but nothing like we were a year ago. There are two major contributors to this phenomenon. You mention that digital mixers are replacing them, and that’s true to some extent, but from what we’ve observed it’s all the DAW oriented products that are really having the most profound effect. Many new studios just aren’t using large format mixers (analog or digital). I think it’s safe to say that analog in general is headed out of the mainstream towards the esoteric. I don’t know how much longer massive analog technology like you find in medium to large size mixers will be affordable. Saying that, I think it will take a while (years) for all of this to really shake out so there’s no immediate danger of products disappearing. And while most Mackie 8-bus owners aren’t selling yet, there are thousands out there and we expect to begin to see a lot of them on the used market in the next year or two as both digital mixers and DAW’s become more cost effective and powerful.