Which is the best digital console out there?

One of the most common questions I get during the private lessons in my Guerrilla Mixing course is “which is the best console” or “which console should I buy”. Those conversations revealed that the term “best console” actually means different things to different people. I thought I might discuss the factors that determine why I would prefer to work with a particular console.

The best console is the right one for the job

Let’s start by making one thing clear - there is no one definite answer to this question. Different consoles are made with different applications in mind, each covering a rather specific segment of the audio industry. True, a single console might cover the majority of applications, but it certainly wouldn’t be the optimal choice for every event. Broadcast has completely different demands on audio than musical theatre, which is quite removed from a classical concert application. Even within one manufacturer’s product line one usually finds items that are more heavily promoted for one segment, due to specific functionalities, either on the software side or the actual hardware itself. However, there are some common questions and considerations to keep in mind when deciding which console you will use for a job at hand, provided you have more than one option available to you.

Reliability

Mixing consoles are machines (or to say more specifically: computers with dedicated interfaces) and as such they will eventually break down or show signs of developing their own personalities (usually those personalities are fickle and stubborn and they tend to rear their heads right before a show). If they are installed in a venue, they might be having issues with proper ventilation or various operators bringing their session files on suspicious drives. If used for touring, there is a number of adversities they must endure- load-ins, transportation, rapid changes in temperatures and humidity, dust, power surges, accidental liquid spills - in fact, sometimes it is a small miracle they can withstand all the cruel conditions we tend to expose them to. Not only that, but they have to interface with stagebox units, other consoles, various networks and remote access, which provides additional potential points of failure. I can’t even count the times I thought I was having issues with the console which turned out to be a bad cable run or a stagebox unit that went haywire. Some manufacturers design their systems with robustness in mind - it doesn’t matter in what order the devices are plugged in or turned on, they will just work. Others might be very demanding on the operator to adhere to a specific order of operations to get the system going. Some might design their gear to withstand higher differences in temperature, others are more conscientious about dust management. These factors must always be accounted for when doing our work. You can’t operate a summer festival show in the August heat if you know that your system components might not work in that environment. For me, the number one mark of a great console is its reliability during the most demanding conditions. It is more important than the sound, the user interface, the network protocol - I need to have a system that will give me the best chance of successfully finishing the show.

Photo by Marko Alpner

Sufficient I/O and compact footprint

You can have your favourite console at your disposal, but if it can’t meet all of your I/O demands, than it is not right for the job. Considering all of your input and output needs, you need to choose a console that can meet them AND leave a bit of wiggle room. Even for touring events, where you are working with the same artist for a longer period of time - somewhere down the line there might be a demand to have a special guest star appearance, or a recording session of a live show. If your console does not allow for that, well, you will either have to find a new console, reprogramme the entire show and burden the production with additional cost, or tell them it can’t be done - a sentence that could potentially mean you will be looking for a new employer. However, it also works in the opposite direction - overkill can be just as bad. If you are certain that you have a performer that has 24 inputs and you can do a show with 32 inputs, try not to bring a large format console with the ability to manage 192 channels. Considering your system’s footprint can score huge points with the production or management team, organisers, smaller venues, and so on. Remember, every sold seat in the house counts. If you can make a decision that will sell 2 more tickets every show because you reduced the real estate of FOH world, you should do that. After all, those sold seats pay for your fee as well.

User interface and speed of operation

The fastest digital console interface for any operator is a well-known one. If you have worked on a console for a while and feel confident in where things are laid out, then your speed and accuracy will increase. Remembering the way we used to operate the first digital consoles out there, we really have come a long way. However, some GUIs are more user friendly than others. I always say that a well versed operator should be able to operate any well designed console after 10 minutes of unsupervised tinkering with it. Some manufacturers approach the user interface with that mentality, while others rather offer a myriad of options that you might need, but they clutter the interface and make it harder to operate. If you can figure out the most common functions, like how to engage phantom power or a polarity switch without asking someone, that is a great starting point. If you can easily control send levels either with rotary knobs, faders or touch, you are golden. However, if you need to have a house operator present to do a simple one to one patch, then someone failed at making a well-designed console. You might argue that knowing the consoles is our job. That is true, but you can’t become intimately familiar with all functions, shortcuts, tips and tricks if you are switching consoles on a daily basis. So the majority of the work has to be done by clever user interface layout that enables me to be a sound engineer, not only a console operator, and that is definitely a major factor that determines which console I might use. Granted, if you are going on tour and you know you will be using the same gear every night, this is a non issue. But if you are a touring engineer that does not travel with their own equipment, the ability to be fast on an unknown console is a major contributor to the likeability factor of a specific console.

The Sound

And there it is, the topic sound engineers love to discuss the most - how a console sounds. I agree, different consoles sound differently. The preamp construction, the quality of conversion, the internal effect units, the EQ curves and shapes, types of compressors and analog gear emulation - all these factors will decide how a console sounds. However, like with all sound-related conversations, we don’t really have the vocabulary to express the differences. What is the sonic difference of an “aggressive” vs. “smooth” console? A “classical” vs. “rock’n’roll” preamp? Can they be quantified beyond standard technical specs that manufacturers provide and how does that affect our decision making? On this topic I am sporting a very unpopular opinion - to me it doesn’t really matter that much. Coming from concert sound, I truly believe that when you consider the sound of the venue, sound of the PA system, the microphones used and most importantly the act on stage, the console’s contribution to the overall sound is a very small percentage number, probably less than 10%. I agree, we should fight tooth and nail for every percent for our audiences, the acts we work for and, ultimately, for ourselves. But in the grand scheme of things, I would much rather be using a reliable console with the proper channel processing ability that does not have my favourite sound than the best sounding console that will make me anxious on every show, not knowing if I will have enough channels or if I will spend most of my prep time hunting down a show-threatening issue. That does not mean that we should abandon the conversation on how consoles sound, since I love participating in them myself. Let’s just do it with cool heads that prevents the owners/users of one manufacturer scream obscenities at the users of the competitor's products.

Ultimately, your personal choice for the best console out there will be influenced not only by these factors, but also rely heavily on how familiar you are with a certain brand, the post-sales support that you can get and the personal relationships you have built with dealers and representatives. But it should never keep you from exploring new products, new technologies and new approaches and discussing them with the manufacturers as well. Only by doing that can we shape the future of console development and get even better tools at our disposal.