Considering Replacing iLive t112 with dLive: Opinions?

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  • #98415
    Profile photo of sandmansandman
    Participant

    Our church installed an iLive t112 seven years ago. We were disappointed that Allen and Heath stopped producing these boards and supplying updates for them soon afterward when the dLive came out. But the board has performed very well and we have no complaints. Recently we experienced some issues with the touchscreen that is an early warning that the battery needs to be replaced.
    After seven years, and with A & H no longer making these boards, we are considering updating to a dLive. Our vendor says it will almost plug right in, using the stage rack and expander rack that the iLive uses.
    Has anyone else upgraded from an iLive to a dLive? Thoughts?

    #98417
    Profile photo of MJCElectronicsMJCElectronics
    Participant

    iLive and dLive work in the same way, the mixrack is the console, your T112 surface and any dLive equivalent is just a remote control and does no processing.
    The mixracks are not interchangeable between the iLive and dLive ranges so if you wish to replace the T112 with a dLive surface you’ll need to buy a replacement mixrack to suit.
    Your existing cabling will be fine but if you go S class you may want an extra CAT cable between surface and mixrack to utilise the GigaACE redundancy.

    #98421
    Profile photo of Mike CMike C
    Participant

    I would replace the battery sooner than later or morning at the worst possible time
    it will not boot up.
    That’s a cheap fix that will get you through till a dLive upgrade.

    #98425
    Profile photo of BrianBrian
    Participant

    I wouldn’t read too much into the battery dying. It’s an expendable part that isn’t designed to last forever. That being said, if this is catalyst to get the “powers that be” to approve an upgrade to DLive, then by all means jump on it!

    I agree with MJCElectronics however in the fact that this isn’t exactly plug and play. It is rip out, replace, plug in, reprogram, and play.

    A couple of notes…..
    – You will need to purchase both a DLive surface and DLive Mixrack to make the new setup work. I’m not sure if it would be possible to connect to some of the old gear using Dante, Waves, or perhaps even ACE connections, but this seems like a really backward way of doing it even if it is possible.
    – If you have any iLive I/O cards, you can get an adapter to use them with DLive, but they aren’t going to work in the DLive without the adapter.
    – The show files will not be compatible between the two mixers. This means someone is going to have to program the DLive to match the iLive. The good news is that both consoles have offline editors, so someone could do this on a computer in the comfort of their own home as long as they have a copy of the iLive show file to start with.

    #98918
    Profile photo of AluAlu
    Participant

    Demo as many consoles as you can. They all act and sound unique.
    Don’t just play music through it on the demo.
    Mix a whole band. I made that mistake before I got my dlive.
    Dlive is very warm soft sounding console. Lots of mids, rolled off on the top imo.
    Better for high volume gig, not church levels.

    #98921
    Profile photo of volounteervolounteer
    Participant

    @sandman

    why not just replace the battery and keep using it?

    #98929
    Profile photo of SteffenRSteffenR
    Participant

    Dlive is very warm soft sounding console. Lots of mids, rolled off on the top imo.
    Better for high volume gig, not church levels.

    go to a doctor
    the overall frequency response of the console is linear… measured and heard by many other people

    #98930
    Profile photo of sandmansandman
    Participant

    Thanks everyone. You have played a part in our decision. We WILL replace the battery in our iLive. Our concerns were:
    1. finding an experienced electronics technician who had worked on these mixers before and would do the work on-site.
    2. confirming that we would be saving all of the memory before pulling the battery and being sure we could restore it.
    3. the iLive is going on 7 years old. Is it worth putting $1000+ into it?
    Well, our vendor, a professional audio installer, has agreed to replace the battery on-site and will ensure that our memory is backed-up and restored.
    And they have assured us that it would be cost-effective to repair the iLive and that we could expect many more years of service out of it. I am happy that I will continue to mix on the iLive T112. It does everything I need.
    Thanks again,

    #98937
    Profile photo of Mike CMike C
    Participant

    Maybe it’s just me but a $1000 for an iLive battery change seems a little high.

    I have never opened up an iLive but I don’t think it would be much different
    than a GLD to get into.

    #98939
    Profile photo of sandmansandman
    Participant

    Mike C.,
    Yes, it does seem high. It’s just an estimate; hopefully it won’t be that much. Another tech that I spoke with said that he has mainly worked on Yamaha desks, but has replaced an iLive battery once. It took him 1 1/2 hours to get to it. I’ve read on other forums that it is so hard to access that some owners have asked the repair tech to run wires from the mounting point to another location within the case to “remote locate” the battery for easier access next time.
    When they come to do the job, I will take some photos and post them here, and let everyone know what it cost and how hard it was to change out the battery.
    Thanks

    #98940
    Profile photo of volounteervolounteer
    Participant

    @sandman

    I had to junk an old win95 pc when the battery died because it was so buried inside that it was not feasible to replace it.

    One has to wonder why any device has replaceable parts located so deep iside where they are so hard to replace at all.
    Is it to encourage people to junk the device and buy something new?

    I wonder if he has to do so much to replace your battery could there anything that needs cleaning lubing or adjusting while he is already in there? Might be worth doing that too and maximize the remaining useful life.

    #99636
    Profile photo of AluAlu
    Participant

    Measured frequency response and tone are not the same thing.
    I agree, The dlive measures well.
    But something is off with the tone.

    #99809
    Profile photo of SteffenRSteffenR
    Participant

    But something is off with the tone.

    again and again,
    there must be something broken in your signal chain
    maybe the desk but I doubt that…
    dLive is flat and very neutral sounding

    if you can’t use it in a church then you do something wrong

    #99814
    Profile photo of AluAlu
    Participant

    Yes, I’m considering getting my mixrack serviced and tested. I think it just might be me who doesn’t like the tone, probably nothing wrong with the mixrack. Gonna try a bla external clock to see if that improves things.

    I recorded a vocal with a ulxd to computer via Dante.
    One track was recorded with the dlive internal clock as the master, the other track I used the ulxd as the master clock.
    The ulxd track had more presence and less mudd.
    I feel that the dlive clock subdues high transients. It’s like a smoothening effect.
    Try this, Play some playback music into the dlive,
    And experiment with different clocks as the master. Listen to how the transients change.

    #99816
    Profile photo of volounteervolounteer
    Participant

    @Alu

    how can the clock change anything that could be heard?
    how can the clock change anything at all ?????

    how can the dlive change the tone at all unless your EQ is messed up?

    your speakers, power amp, room, yada yada can affect tone, as will anything you put into the dlive.
    But the dlive itself ????? it should be flat except for the EQ you use.

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