QL1 Alternatives

[Bryson]

Hey all,

I have a job with a Yamaha QL1 specified.  Yamaha are apparently having a hard time fulfilling orders for QL/CL series consoles, so I need to find an alternative.  Any suggestions for possible alternatives I should look at?

Already considering A&H SQ5, A&H Avantis.  I think the Avantis is too large to fit the physical location, and the SQ is nice, but maybe not as fully-featured?  I was also looking at Digico S21, which stretches the budget somewhat, and Soundcraft...something?  Not super familiar with Soundcraft offerings these days.  I'm replacing a Yamaha TF that they find too restrictive.

Requirements:  Digital Audio console. Compact: (needs to fit on top of a 19" rolling rack ideally). Have to integrate into a Dante network, Min 16 faders / 32 channels.

Have I forgotten any reasonable contender in this bit of the market?

[richard_cooper]

M32/M32R? I've an SQ6 which I like. What features that matter for this use are missing vs QL1, and what about the TF is restrictive? Might make it easier to think of an alternative.

I think most A&H are fairly heavily back ordered as well, as are most things Dante.

[Bryson]

A&H are moderately backordered, but I've been advised that the QL1 is going to be arriving June 2023, whereas A&H is more like April / May 2022.  Apparently A&H make (or have made) their own Dante chipset under licence instead of buying Audinate's hardware.

[J Pearce]

The S21 is a lot more desk in my opinion, but you won’t fit it into a 19” rack. The M32R isn’t a bad shout, with a dante card fitted (though I understand these are also in short supply).

[themadhippy]

Quote

but I've been advised that the QL1 is going to be arriving June 2023,

going by yamahas past history with dante you best add another 12+ months to that date

[richard_cooper]

1 hour ago, Bryson said:

A&H are moderately backordered, but I've been advised that the QL1 is going to be arriving June 2023, whereas A&H is more like April / May 2022.  Apparently A&H make (or have made) their own Dante chipset under licence instead of buying Audinate's hardware.

Wow! The last I heard for Yamaha was Dec22, bad, but 2023..? 

I think at this point it's going to be wait or make do with what you can get.

No idea of current pricing, but look into a DLive C1500 + smallest mixrack? Almost certainly out of budget but I know there are iLive dante cards in stock that can be used.

 

[Bryson]

Almost double the budget, unfortunately.  (I checked!) I like the dLives but I don’t think it’ll work for this one.

[Big Dave]

Knowing how the current supply chain is, you are probably going to have of compromise on one of your requirements as a lot of things either have long lead times or are not just not available.  Any thing involving Dante will be a Challenge right now and for the for see able future.

Make a list of what consoles might work for you and then see who can actually supply a product within your required time frame and then get your order in ASAP.

With my Digico Hat on, S21s are still shipping but with slight longer lead times than normal (ie, not our normal 2 weeks)

 

[Yorkie]

I'm told that one of the UK divisions of Solotech may have several QL1's in their sales stock. I'm not hugely familiar with different manufacturers' digital desks but have found the A&H SQ5 great to use

[Bryson]

Thanks all, I was really just sanity checking that I hadn't forgotten anyone' products for consideration.  M32 is probably also worth looking at, or even Midas Pro1.  Although I think I would also need something like a KT9650.

I kind of wish Digico made an S11:  ie: half an S21.  Maybe that's in the roadmap, given the naming conventions?

Has anyone ever touched a Roland M-300?  https://proav.roland.com/global/products/m-300/

 

I suspect the right answer is either:

1. A: SQ-5 and save some money 
2. B: dLive C1500 / CDM32 and blow the budget.

[richard_cooper]

I used a M300 once and it was OK, one weird thing was that there is no built in networking, but there is a USB Wi-Fi dongle. As there is only one USB port it meant you couldn't use the remote app and playback/recorder or save shows to disk at the same time. The venue said using a hub doesn't work, but no idea if that was true. I don't remember anything particular good or bad about the experience.

I don't think there is any way to get it on a Dante network however. 

[J Pearce]

3 hours ago, Bryson said:

Although I think I would also need something like a KT9650

You could do it that way, but unless you also need the USB card I'd swap that out for the DN32-Dante card. 32ch in and out on Dante, fully patchable on the desk. Much cheaper and more compact.

[david.elsbury]

@cedd would be the go-to person to ask about anything Roland audio related

[Simon Lewis]

18 hours ago, Bryson said:

Has anyone ever touched a Roland M-300?  https://proav.roland.com/global/products/m-300/

I didn't know they were still selling that.... Their later flagship desk, the M5000 somewhat ran aground, and although there doesn't appear to be any official information, I understand it's discontinued.
I don't think there's been any development on the M300 for many years? It didn't have the best UI in the world 10 years ago, and it'll look somewhat out of place compared to more modern offerings. It appears to be available only from one or two AV companies... 

Your suspicion of "SQ5 or small dLive rig being the best way to go" looks pretty sensible to me!

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by Simon Lewis

[cedd]

The M300 is a cracking little desk, given its size and age. I own an M300 and a pair of M480's, plus lots of stageboxes. If you don't need to fulfil riders and need plenty of spec in a small space then it's a great choice. 

But..... It's a 10 year old product. In many ways it still punches where it matters, but it lacks things like digital scribble strips and decent remote control (there's a dongle you can buy, but it's flakey - I use a usb anywhere network hub and just control via my windows laptop/tablet).

It's also very difficult to get anything in or out of it digitally. REAC is a rock solid protocol and in many ways I prefer it to others out there, especially behringer's offerings which sound to be a bit fussy and unreliable. You won't find any Dante cards for it though. There's a Madi box, but it's expensive and seems a bit faffy to use. There's a Windows driver for REAC, and I've often wondered if Dante Via could turn a pc in to a REAC-Dante converter. Never tried though. 

There's some flexibility there in that it has midi (hardware and usb) and a very comprehensive midi implementation, so remote controlling and control surface expansion is possible. It even has serial too!?

If you can pick up a used one for a good price then I'd bit say no, but if you're buying new then things have moved on.