Like the larger D5 Live, the D1 Live’s innovative control surface has been designed from the ground up for sound engineers by sound engineers.

Virtually every feature is either there to see at a glance, or at most a single, logical fingertip press away. The three interactive LCD touchscreens are laid out as you would expect to find the facilities on an advanced analogue console, with instant access to virtually every function. In the heat of the moment in live performance, the console can be as responsive as you are.

This intuitive approach also means that, despite providing powerful digital dynamics, effects, total recall, a 38x8 output matrix and 40 multi-configurable internal busses, the learning curve for an engineer new to the board is surprisingly short.

The 25-fader worksurface is divided into two input sections, each with its own touch screen and single-touch selection of each of the six fader banks, while the right-hand master section and screen, controls the master and matrix sections and console set-up.

The touchscreens are pressure sensitive to avoid accidental changes being made, requiring the screen to be pressed lightly to select a control or change a setting. This type of tactile feedback is consistent throughout the desk, and contributes to the feeling of security and predictability in mixing. Each screen shows the settings of eight input channels simultaneously, with interactive control over all functions per fader strip via a combination of LCD buttons and ‘real’ controls, while an input channel overview can be displayed on the master screen.

Each screen has an adjacent bank of rotary encoder controls, to allow instant, real-time adjustment of equaliser and dynamics settings with an accompanying frequency curve display. It’s all simple, direct and instantly displayed. An external overview screen (not supplied) can also be connected, providing a ‘big picture’ of the console at a glance. Using the Layout menu, each operator can decide what information is displayed on this screen.Each D1 Live input channel has its own remote mic pre amp analogue input gain and digital trim with Gain Tracking switch and presets for the whole channel, along with phase reverse, phantom power, six-band EQ and a delay function which allows you to add up to 240mS of delay per channel.

Each channel has four bands of fully parametric 20Hz-20kHz EQ, while the upper and lower bands can be switched between different curve types and shelving characteristics. On top of that are dedicated high and low pass filters, and a preset library which allows you to save an almost unlimited number of EQ presets for instant recall.The dynamics section for each input channel is called up with another press on the screen, displaying all the settings for the compressor / limiter and gate, and a powerful sidechain equaliser which allows frequency-conscious dynamics. The same press assigns that channel to the group of dedicated dynamics rotary controllers alongside the screen. The sidechain EQ can also be allocated to the compressor or the gate, providing a wide range of uses including highly effective de-essing. The section is accompanied by a dedicated user preset library.

Access is available to any of the 40 busses, each of which can be assigned as either auxiliary busses or group busses. Auxiliaries can also be assigned to faders, allowing a visual feedback of aux levels by channel at the master fader section. The console is capable of stereo, LCR (S) and 5.1 mixing, and two 5.1 joystick panners provide instant sound image control.

Two more features simplify multiple operations. The All button allows you to apply changes to all channels displayed on that screen, or to automatically route input channels sequentially – a very fast method of routing a complete block of inputs to the console surface.

Two more features simplify multiple operations. The All button allows you to apply changes to all channels displayed on that screen, or to automatically route input channels sequentially – a very fast method of routing a complete block of inputs to the console surface.

Below these is a row of large backlit liquid crystal buttons, one at the top of each physical fader. The buttons feed back information about what that individual fader is doing, using a combination of text and backlight colours which change automatically according to the button’s status. The button displays channel number, mono or stereo status, whether the button is currently acting as a solo, fader to aux, safe switch, fader gang, and a fader level readout accurate to 0.1dB, which appears the instant a fader is touched.Alongside these buttons is the LCD assign button, displaying the liquid crystal button’s various functions – Solo, Safe (which removes the fader from a snapshot and turns the button red as an alert), Aux Send to Master Faders, Fader Ganging, Name Only and Revert To Solo. The Gang function allows similar channels to be locked together in a gang so that level, EQ and dynamics settings can be applied to all of them simultaneously, confirmed by a coloured line in the touchscreen. If, for example, multiple channels require the same high pass filter settings, it’s simple to gang the channels and make a single EQ adjustment. Fader assign and solo assign are further ways of assigning the channels to the hardware controls.

The D1 provides powerful snapshot facilities, allowing you to store the console’s entire status in a snapshot memory, and with no limit to the number of snapshots that can be stored, you can effectively store and recall a complete show’s settings either on the console or on a tiny USB key. Snapshots can be self-timed, allowing automated sequencing; relative snapshots allow venue adjustments independently of scene changes; and current or master snapshots can be updated with one touch.