Digidesign Venue vs. Yamaha M7CL.....

[rebuskyle]

Hello all,

I have a friend who is taking over a venue in town and "starting over" with the sound/light rig. The venue is roughly 500-700 person venue and will host mostly rock music and DJs. He's hired a consultant and I'm pretty sure the consultant is going to do him right, but have been asked to offer a second opinion on the proposal.

Looks like cables and stands are all covered in the proposal, so the variables left are the board and speakers....the consultant has thrown together two proposals:

Proposal 1:
Yamaha M7CL-48
Meyer M2D Line Array (6) & M2D subs (4)
Meyer UPA Monitors (plus extended range "drum" monitor)

Proposal 2:
Yamaha M7CL-48
JBL VRX Powered High Mid Speaker (6)
JBL Powered Sub-woofer (18") (4)

I'd imagine that the Meyer speakers are going to sound great and the proposal 1 includes the Meyere Galileo Loudspeaker Management System (never used this but it looks really cool!).

My friend also has an option of purchasing a used Digidesign Venue D-Show rig (he can probably get a STEAL on this as the venue that is currently housing it is dying to get rid of it and are really not tech-savvy). I haven't really had much experience with either the Yamaha or the Digi rigs, so I'm hoping you all might be able to suggest some other options or share some experience with either board/speaker rig.

BTW......he's pretty sure he wants a digital board (although he's been using analog for years...and hasn't spent much time if any on a digital board)....

ANY suggestions or experience with either of these boards or speakers would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!
Kyle

[MIKEHARRIS]

Have you priced both speaker systems?? The Meyer will be better/more expensive but within budget ?

The M7CL-48 is a great console...we just put in a pair...linked. The Venue is also a spectacular console...but..even used.. i doubt it will be about the same price...as its is 3x the price. If you can strech the Yamaha budget a bit further...and are leaning toward a Digidesign console...you may not be aware of the new MixRack...which effectively combines the StageRack & FOH rack...and carries a 48 ch limit. The Mixrack utilizes a copper snake ...as does the Yamaha.

We will be delivering our first MixRack system to ThirdRail Productions in Orlando this week...bundled with a HD2 system

[rebuskyle]

Both proposals are "within" budget and the Meyer quote is listed as the "more expensive" option....

Is it pretty easy to use the Yamaha alone and run monitors from FOH? I'm guessing it's not so difficult, and this is how the operator is used to running mixes so I'm guessing this is how he'd like to continue. How is the overall processing (eq's dynamics etc...) with the Yamaha. I've used the D-Show rig before so I know what to expect sound-wise, but haven't used the Yamaha rig before and don't really know what to expect sound-wise from the processing.

The MixRack looks really cool, although as I said he'd be picking up the venue rig from a local theater that had NO CLUE what they were purchasing when they got the D-Show rig....so I'm guessing the system is a complete package.

Thanks so much for your input!
-Kyle

[fifthcircle]

The Meyer M2D is a great sounding system. Just mixed on one a couple weeks back and was very impressed with the sound and imaging.

The M7CL is a fun board to mix on- very well laid out. I've done huge shows out of it with 20+ mixes leaving the console. That being said, it doesn't sound as good as or have the same type of routing flexibility as a PM5D.

You can use the M7CL as a front end for digital systems. I've used Aviom with it and I know you can also get Cobra and Ethersound cards for them. With those networks, you can also have control over the AD8HR mic pres which do sound *very* good.

--Ben