I know there’s a dollar difference between the various consoles, so I will not ask for crazy rewrites, but there are a few navigational, and usage items which have hit me a few times.
-
Macros… It would be cool if there could be a macro recorder, or a mode that we could flash everything to a specific set up on the console. Better said, I would love to have a soft key which would return all the layers to layer 1, select the mix as master, and set the the display to processing all in 1 shot. I am sure that other people would like their own set up hence the idea of a macro mode. I am the lighting director at work, and on that console, I can record a macro… it starts recording steps, and as I did stuff it would record those motions into an action list. This list is editable, or you can just rerecord the macro. I could see having the ability to run a few macros as a very useful thing. I would then have these attached to soft keys.
-
Ganging Button… Allow us to use this as the ganging button, but have the option to use this for other functions… ex. another softkey, or audio recording. I never use this button in it’s current form, and if I needed it, I could see ganging being a deeper menu thing, not something that needs to take up a valuable display button.
-
RTA mode… And I am not sure how to recomend this one… but something along the lines of slowing down the peaks to help with isolating feedback a little easier. This or put an RTA type image behind the PEQ graph so we could dial in on feedback a little easier.
-
As others have mentioned, distortion / overdrive effects. It’s the one real missing item from the effects list.
I like number 1. I’ll tend to have the desk on a certain layer in a certain mix as my “home” position, and press the same sequence of buttons to get back to that each time after going somewhere else to make a change. This could probably be done by allowing the current layer and mix selections to be included and recalled in the scene memories.
I wouldn’t want to make the ganging button do anything different. I agree that the button could have been used for something more commonly accessed, but it’s label is permanently written beside it, and it’s part of a series of other buttons that all have permanent functions. At least with the softkeys you know that they’re softkeys and may do a variety of different things.
Chris
Won’t address 1-3 at this time. I will say I disagree with 4. That’s an artist thing. Engineer/mixers don’t need to start adding those kinds of effects. Don’t need to waste valuable DSP. I have even challenged a few singers on some shows that want to run their microphone through their own processor. I tell them they can do that when they’re performing with their band with no engineer but not if I’m going to mix the show. But I don’t want to deal with that stuff on instruments.
#1?
Is that like Actions in Reaper software?
assigning a softkey to an action? even from an external keyboard?
Now there’s an idea… pluging a computer keyboard into a surface to get actions…
my case rest’s there. 
Allow me to add one vote for a distortion effect. I can see it used on a special passage on a vocal. Sort of like a telephone distortion or the like. Having a singer put his mic thru a stomp box and then sending it to the board is not what I would want to see. Also, I would like to distort an echo during a “call and answer” effect when using a longer delay time.
There would be little use for this in a festival situation but a band that uses one sound person it would be useful.
Since A&H doesn’t make their presence known on this board lately I think making feature suggestions is a study in frustration. We may be orphans.