The Perfect Fly Pack doesnt exist

[SlipperParticipant]

I’m going to gripe for a minute.. First and foremost I love my dLive rig. Its been around the world and treated me well. As with any product line there are always going to be little things people feel can be done better. Here are my thoughts about the perfect fly pack with a dLive rig.

Redundant G-Ace – I can recognize the cost savings strategy in production the C series racks in lighter gauge metal casings ro save $$ – or having no redundant PSUs.. they’re expensive, and heavy.. so I’m good with that, but no redundant G-Ace port on a C-1500?? Is that really a massive cost or weight increase in production? Many folks are carting these desks all over the planet because they’re the only ones that can do it really well (in my opinion) – so where is the redundancy here? This leads me to my next point:

I want a CDM6 – hear me out… DM0 + 6 Analog I/O.. You do this? Then I don’t care about the lack of redundancy between my engine and surface. Having Analog I/O on my Engine rack allows me complete redundancy in most all situations. All my I/O cards (G-Ace, Waves3, and AES) Live in the engine – I can drive a PA AES + Analog out of my I/O rack so I have redundancy there. If my surface goes down? Out comes the iPad, or the laptop.. its game on. I can even route an FOH TB mic and shout out the rack, and there is a headphone jack.. its the perfect I/O rack.. And I call it “CDM6 because then its lighter then its DM series cousin. I dont care if the I/O adds 1 or even 2U rack spaces.. It just makes the most sense to me. Keeping a redundant, albeit not hot swappable PSU would be even more class!

I can’t be the only one thats thought about this?

[BrianParticipant]

Well they make a DX012 already, so by adding that to a DX0 and you’ll have everything that you asked for.

This is just my opinion (and everyone has their own), but I can’t imagine A&H making a CDM0 or any CDM level mixrack with less I/O than the CDM32 that they already make. This is because the 1 slot limitation combined with the low I/O count would make the mixrack extremely limited. (It’s basically an Avantis with more FX and Dyn8 slots at a much higher price). You’ll either need to use the slot to get more than 64 inputs, or you are forced to use Dante/Waves/Madi with appropriate stageboxes too match which would add so much additional cost that you might as well get a larger mixrack at that point. Plus, I can’t imagine the cost of a CDM0/6/8/12 would be so much lower than the DM0 that people would be drawn to it vs simply getting the DM0 or a DM0 + DX012.

[SlipperParticipant]

The DX12 is a great product – no question. However the point of the post is “the perfect fly pack” doesn’t exist. I could have been more clear – my idea of that is cases that weigh under 50lbs to avoid over weight charges with airlines, while also giving you higher level redundancy afforded to bigger, ‘normal’ touring systems. Clearly the C1500 + DMO + CDM48 market is heavily propped up by folks like myself flying around the world with this equipment. Otherwise – whats the point of owning a 12 fair surface if for only pennies more, you can get a 24 fader surface with more capability??

DX12 + DM0 in a pelican will tip the scales against you – under 70lbs sure. Beyond that – you’re options to actually ‘rack’ the devices together are limited – high probability that would put you over 70lbs – so now you have thousands of dollars in rack units just hanging out at FOH on a table.

I also should have been more clear – I’m speaking for an FOH perspective. The assumption being that monitors is A DLive with its own I/O rack – shunting you inputs via Giga-Ace.

I only say “C”DM6 because, as I mentioned, the C series is lighter due to the gauge of metal in the chassis – Basically I’m saying DMO + 6 Analog I/O – but in the lighter C series chassis. That would be well under 50lbs, in a pelican.

I will agree, the likelihood of this happening is slim, and you’re quite right the price point begin a DM0 and CDM6 (or DM6 what-have-you) would be negledgable. I still would wager that there is more demand for such product then you’d think.

[Ethan NParticipant]

May not be exactly what you are looking for, but an AES card may be a good option. https://www.allen-heath.com/ahproducts/aes3-cards/

[BrianParticipant]

Slipper – thanks for the clarification. Although the thread title clearly says “Perfect Flypack”, I simply wasn’t thinking about the total weight of a mixrack and I/O in my response. I can see a need for a product like you discuss and there probably would be a large demand for it if light enough in much the same way that the C1500ti seems to be a very popular option as well.

[DaveParticipant]

I do wish the DM0 had some analog I/O. I’m not sure what’s behind it, but there’s room on the front panel under the A&H logo for a few XLRs. An input for a talkback mic would’ve been nice, and maybe couple RCAs for hooking up iPods or something. Even if it doesn’t get used much during the show, it’d let you setup stand-alone test environment without needing cards or DX devices.

Oh well. I don’t think they’re likely to change it now… maybe we’ll get that when they release the sequel “dLive 2: The Livening” 😁

[DuesenbertParticipant]

They do make the AES3 cards that fit into the DM/CDM card slots. I know you said analog I/O, but that could do the same sort of thing. No TB mic input, but PA outputs.

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