14 DAY TRIAL // Now, this one is from the Frankfurt Musikmesse as well (it's been their weekend and also theirs will be some weeks from now on), but this is a rather funny one, at least optically.
First of all, you all know (or should know) Allen & Heath, otherwise saying you are into sound becomes a lie. Well, Allen & Heath is one of the well-respected names in the world as it comes to mixing consoles. A bit too respected, I am inclined to add, after seeing closely the latest in digital technology wearing their badge, the iLive-80 console.
Secondly, just look at it! Does it seem like a 2007 design? Does it not create the feeling of low-budget Star Trek wannabe movies? F*** man, we have multi-touchscreen LCDs now and all sorts of illumination (AND DESIGN) ways to go! Why go back some 30 or more years ago? In case Allen&Heath thought it was cool, well - it's not! It sucks and looks old and crappy, no matter what's behind the visuals!
The main idea behind the A&H iLive-80 is a compact digital mixing console. Now, "compact" is something but this thing looks rather big and quite heavy! Peter Kirn from Create Digital Music slightly laughs at it:"Not only can you not afford it, you can't lift it, either." Now, how compact (therefore easy to carry?) is a piece of gear you can't actually carry with you. Carry, not lorry. Or is it the compactness from "a compact planet"?
Now, it looks like attention is seriously drawn away from what the console can actually do and is rather pointed to what it looks and it's like, physically. The name has been "i-ed ", please don't ask me why. It sounds kinda silly, especially when coming from the sober UK. The price will have you laughing silly: 15,000 GBP, meaning somewhere just a bit under $30,000.
If you don't get the meaning of my small rant above then look for other similar digital mixing consoles from Euphonix or Mackie, even Sony and Soundcraft and you'll begin to understand. Captain Picard, I'm now logging off! See to those dancing lights that they're OK until I come back, please!
