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OK, it's been a couple of years since I had to deal with a Yamaha mixing desk, but this latest one I had to use at church takes the cake for the most irritating missing feature on a board. Model # MC-32 http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetail/0,6373,CNTID%253D2216%2526CTID%253D228100,00.html Issue: There is no light for the 'on' button for the channels. No visible indication except the small 1/8" difference of whether or not the button is pushed in. I don't like that Yamaha call the mute button the 'on' button. But the fact that I'm supposed to manage about 20 of the 32 channels on this board without a light and have to do it by 'braille', is just ridiculous. At least other Yammie desks will actually light the entire button. It still should be the reverse, lit red when off, but I can deal with it being 'on' instead of mute. I found myself unmuting the 'pfl' buttons a couple times last weekend, which are just below the 'on' button on each channel strip! Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!! The person who spec'ed this board for our church doesn't attend there any longer. We hold church in a nice high school auditorium and the lights are kept pretty low, so helper idiot lights are appreciated. I trade mix duties with about 3 other folks, so I haven't gotten used to this lack of a basic feature, and I'm not sure that I ever will. I'm a visual person. Also, the surface of the board is printed in a rather glossy metallic gray, with white text on them. Try reading that in those lighting conditions. Gimme an old Peavey or Mackie, or Allen & Heath (except they make the mistake of only labelling channel # at the fader end of the strip). End of rant. -Scott
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Joined: Aug 2008
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I agree completely! This stuff drives me nuts.
On a related rant: I have several devices which use rather small LCD menus, and a number of these things don't have a backlight for said menu. This is also remarkably irritating. Makes using them in any low-light situation very difficult.
Ahhhhhh....I feel better now.
Fire, the wheel, and the I IV V -- foundations of civilization.
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You guys just ain't got the bucks to get the good stuff. Some of the lower cost stuff is indeed not so great.
The Yamaha PM 3000 VCA FOH console was/is one of the most requested units by pros on riders for small to medium sizes shows.
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Scott, I can understand your frustration. I wasn't quite sure that I understood the issue, because I have a Yamaha MG16/4 and both my 'ON' buttons and 'PFL' buttons all light up when pressed. By the way, I like having the ON button for a channel, instead of the mute. That way, if I don't want an input active, all I need do is make sure there's no light on for that channel, and I don't have any issues. I do wish I had an AFL for this, though, so I could send stuff to the C-R/Headphone output without going to the main mix. Oh well, such is life. All I can do is suggest you get your church to spring for a couple of these: http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Littlite-BNC-Lamp-with-Base-and-Dimmer?sku=638008Attach them to the mixer, plug them in, and your problem is solved...or at least lessened. John, if I recall, Scott has just relocated from the Detroit area to Colorado, so the mixer was there before he got there, and he probably had no say or even input in the purchase. Plus, it may very well have not been in the Church's budget to get something 'pro.' Even a used one on ebay is listing at $2,500US, is massive, has some noise coming out of one group, and is missing a knob. Plus, of course, the PM3000 is no longer available, the replacement PM5000...USED...on ebay, in a 40 channel setup, was asking 21,000 POUNDS, and a no sale at that. Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Gary is right - Nobody attending our church currently is responsible for the spec. and purchase of this board - and it isn't just the board, if we decided to buy a different board, then the custom made case that converts into the table for the board wouldn't work, etc.
The littlelites may or may not help. Because the paint finish on the desk is shiny and makes the white text on the board surface very difficult to read.
I've used littlelites on many boards - but those boards had a more flat appearance.
The church operates on a very tight budget. Until more channels drop on this board (there's already one gone and it isn't really serviceable so I'm told) we will continue to use it. My next day behind the console is on the 14th.
-Scott
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Quote:
Until more channels drop on this board (there's already one gone and it isn't really serviceable so I'm told) ...
I find that assessment hard to believe.
However, due to labor costs for disassembly, troubleshoot and reassembly time, what they might have been told is that it is not "cost effective" to go after the one bad channel at the time.
One trick I've seen done to boards with no LEDs on the Solo button might work for you -- the fellow very carefully darkened the side edges of the Solo buttons such that he could tell whether they were in the Up or Down position a bit easier. He used a permanent felt tip marker and something to mask the tob of the board such that only the sides of each button ended up being colored darker.
Might work for your particular board, might not, just something to consider...
--Mac
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You know, I might just try that. I'll talk to the other tech folks to make sure they agree before plowing ahead.
One problem with using slightly older gear like this - it's discontinued, so in order to do a thorough job, whomever would probably have to send us something different for a week - which means learning a different board and setup and soundcheck, all by 8:00 AM on a Sunday. A slightly tall order - not insurmountable, but tall nonetheless.
-Scott
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