Upgrading to 5.1

[sweck]

Hey,

Im currently on 3.0 OS on the d8b. Im a very big fan of its not broke then dont fix it. Is 5.1 really worth it and can you mess up your d8b by attempting to install it?

Also how do i check what service pack my plugins are?

Cheers,

[Crash]

Version 5.1 has gotten pretty cheap so it is way worth it in my opinion. I suppose anything is possible with an install for something to go awry but I have done it on numerous consoles without incident. I am not sure how you would check out what service pack you have after it is already installed... though I have never looked as I knew what I put on when I did it.

[High C Double G]

Hi sweck,

I will chime in here with a yes it is worth it. I bought it when it was pretty pricey and still thought it was worth it, As to the install I would save your all your files and get them to a safer place than just a floppy.

There is a provision in v5.1 to backward the EQ so you can "save" those sessions and if ever they need to be recalled you can recall them and they will sound the same. I am not completely sure how to do this but I think it is quite simple.

Then I would hassle the "they call it easy" installation of both v5.1 and Service Pack 3. I think it is a good idea to fresh install with a drive format this is why to save the files. You will not mess up the d8b by installing the upgrade. You could just install the OS but a safer bet is to do the whole thing fresh beginning to end.

Also you most likely have SP3 if in your set up now but there is no way that I know of to check this.

The best information available for installing the OS is here...

http://my.mackie.com/store2/p.asp?p=d8bos&t=2

There is a set of instructions for whatever computer system you are using to download and save the images to floppy so you can load them into the d8b. What I do know is that what you save to the floppy is a image that is represented by a green icon, this is the correct file to get onto the floppy. Most modern computer systems automatically unzip files. A lot of it is common sense to be able to get this done. But if you do not see the green file you have missed a step.

Also on that page if you click "description"... at the bottom of that page, it says click here..., this gives you a tour of v5.1 another click away at the bottom of that page, that is entertaining and informative.

Hope this helps.
Michael

[sweck]

cheers guys, would def want to upgrade but dam, really bricking it incase the mixer decides to pack in or something that might affect the already 2 broken digital inputs.

[High C Double G]

What is going on with the digi ins... more details please... Thanks!

Michael

PS: My mixer is working great and don't expect a "pack in" many others here might agree... mixer works every time. ???

Confused on this comment... please give us more details. :confused:

[Crash]

What is going on with the digi ins... more details please... Thanks!

Michael

PS: My mixer is working great and don't expect a "pack in" many others here might agree... mixer works every time. ???

Confused on this comment... please give us more details. :confused:

Hey Michael, not to speak for Sweck, here is the thread on that.

viewtopic.php?t=367

[High C Double G]

Thanks Crash ... I am pretty dense sometimes --- Have not looked at the thread as of yet.

Michael

[sweck]

Yeah the 2 digi inputs 1+2 just dont work, sometimes when i boot and everything is loaded these 2 chans show maxed out on the bridge, im not really worried about it tbh.

Im still on 3.0 and loving the desk, finally got my head around it and my client base has went up about 50% since i got it, theres just something about the sound of it! other ppl have said they are not great but compared to my old yamaha mg desk everything now sounds rounder and fuller when threw into it, if that makes sense.

Im still considering moving to 5.0 and i have a service guy that is going to do it for me, but what im scared of is, will it affect the sound quality or will the compressor / eq be different for the worse or better? As you may know im not a sucker for change esp when the current state is making the green. Thanks C

[Crash]

Well, the cool thing is if you don't find V. 5.1 to be more to your liking, you can always go backwards and go back to V. 3.0.

[FrankH]

will it affect the sound quality or will the compressor / eq be different for the worse or better?

It will change the way the compressors behave in a good way. In the software versions preceding 5.0, the attack and release time coefficients for the dynamics section were pretty much bullshit. The engineer who did the low level programming couldn't figure out how to get things to work in anything else but an miserable exponential-like fashion.

OK...what does that mean? Example: in v3.0, if you set a gate release time to 2.5 seconds, you'll find that the gate actually has reached -60db on release in about 1.2 seconds. Same thing with the attack. In v5.0....those timings are what's printed on the tin. You also get the advantage of an expander to replace the gate as well as the ability to key the dynamics. The metering is also much smoother reading. And there's a choice of VU and LED emulation views. It's a huge improvement. The Compressor is pretty much modeled to behave like a DBX-160. It's pretty sweet now.

The EQ, is pretty much the same sonically.

There were dozens upon dozens of bug fixes. There are a lot of feature improvements and additions as well. It is a major improvement over v3.0. If you have it, install it.