Future Upgrades

My studio contains a Digidesign Control 24 work surface. That is the large console in the control room of my studio pictured below. The one with all the faders and lights. I was in session over the week-end and I noticed that the scribble strips were flickering. The scribble strips are alphanumeric labels that display on top of each channel on the work surface. They are used to identify track contents. Things like guitars, kick drum, snare, etc. I was worried about whether the unit was starting to fail. Flickering lights generally indicate a potential malfunction is at hand.

The session was not impacted by the flickering lights. But it sure troubled me. After the session I went to the Digidesign User Conference to see if anyone else had encountered the problem. Someone had. Digidesign tech support told them to reseat the TB4 connector off the power supply.

The TB4 connecter is a small three conductor molex connector on the daughterboard of the power supply inside the Control 24. I had to disassemble the entire console, unplug hundreds of cables and connectors, remove the console from the furniture housing, remove the access plate to the power supply and reseat the little connector. I tested the unit. Amazing. No more flickering lights.

Then I had to re-install the console back into the studio. Thank goodness I had every cable coded and labelled. The process took about four hours. Cheaper than transporting the unit to California.

So it got me thinking about the next upgrade for the studio. I suspect that I will move from the Control 24 to either the Digidesign Icon or D-Command. The Icon is pictured below.

My wife would prefer that I upgrade my studio to the state-of-the-art console of the recording studio pictured below. Clearly I have to do more work to help her understand the difference in recording consoles.