Digidesign VENUE

D-Show System Components, Options, and Requirements

D-Show System Components

Included Components

The following components are included in a standard D-Show system:

Main Unit

  • D-Show Main Unit
  • AC power cord

Sidecar

  • D-Show Sidecar unit
  • AC power cord
  • Console Link cable for connection to Main Unit or other Sidecars

FOH Rack

  • FOH Rack unit with 2 Mix Engine cards
  • AC power cord
  • FOH Link cable for connection to Main Unit
  • iLok USB Smart Key (for storing plug-in authorizations)

Stage Rack

  • Stage Rack unit with 6 SRI Analog Input Cards and 1 SRO Analog Output Card
  • AC power cord

Additional Required Components

The following components must be purchased separately:

  • VGA Video Display (15-inch or greater flat-panel TFT display recommended; 1024x768 minimum resolution)
  • USB keyboard (Windows compatible)

Optional Components

The following components are optional, and must be purchased separately:

  • USB flash disk (or other portable USB storage device for transfer of Show data; 512 MB or larger recommended)
  • Near-Field Monitor Speakers (for FOH monitoring)
  • Headphones with 1/4-inch jack (for FOH monitoring)
  • 3-pin XLR Gooseneck Lamps (2 for Main Unit, 1 per Sidecar)
  • Dynamic microphone and XLR mic cable (for Talkback)
  • Footswitches (up to 2)
  • MIDI cables (for connecting external MIDI devices to the MIDI ports on D-Show)

D-Show Expansion Options

The following options may be added to a D-Show system.

FOH Rack

Mix Engine Cards

Additional Mix Engine cards can be added to the FOH Rack (up to a maximum of 5 Mix Engine cards) for increased mixer and plug-in processing capacity.

FOH IOx Card

An FOH Input/Output (IOx) card can be added to the FOH Rack, providing an additional 8 channels of analog I/O and 8 channels of AES/EBU Digital I/O for connecting outboard equipment.

ECx Ethernet Option

The ECx Ethernet Option card allows you to control the D-Show console remotely from a laptop or tablet PC — even wirelessly — with exact mirroring of console functions.

Control Surface

Sidecars

Up to 3 Sidecars (each with 16 input channel strips) can be connected to the Main Unit for a total of 56 bankable input channel strips.

Stage Rack

Expanded Stage Rack I/O

The Stage Rack can be expanded with up to a total of 6 input cards and 6 output cards, for a total of up to 48 inputs or up to 48 outputs.

  • 
SRI Analog Input Card
    • Provides 8 balanced, analog mic or line level XLR inputs with remote controlled, full recallable pre amps
  • SRO Analog Output Card
    • Provides 8 balanced, analog line level XLR outputs
  • DSI Digital Input Card
    • Provides 8 digital inputs as either four AES/EBU pairs or one ADAT optical connection, with software source selection
  • DSO Digital Output Card
    • Provides 8 digital outputs as four AES/EBU pairs and one ADAT optical connection. AES outputs are mirrored at the ADAT output.
  • See table below for D-Show version requirements for each option

Additional Stage Rack

A second Stage Rack can be added, for a total of up to 96 inputs or up to 96 outputs. (A second Stage Rack requires an additional Digital Snake card be installed in the FOH Rack.)

Redundant Digital Snake

An optional redundant Digital Snake cable can be run between the FOH Rack and the Stage Rack. This redundant Snake automatically takes over communication if the first Snake fails. The redundant snake cable must be the same length as the primary snake cable. It is not possible to mix snake cables of greatly varying lengths (100' primary and 200' redundant, for example).

More Information

Digidesign VENUE Product Information

Digidesign VENUE — D-Show Documents

D-Show 2.0 & Other Current Documents

Previous Documents for D-Show 1.x

Additional Optional Hardware

Personal Q Monitoring Option

The Personal Q (PQ) monitoring system lets performers adjust their monitor mix being sent from D-Show, using a PQ controller unit. D-Show can accommodate one PQ Rack and up to 8 PQ controllers.

Record Options for FOH Rack

HDx TDM Record/Playback Option

This TDM-based option lets you record or play back up to 128 channels (using the maximum two HDx cards) of audio directly from D-Show with a Pro Tools TDM system for Windows XP or Mac OS 10.4 (see HDx System Requirements below).

FWx Record/Playback Option

This FireWire-based option lets you record or play back up to 18 channels of audio directly from D-Show with a Pro Tools LE system for Windows XP or Mac OS 10.4 (see FWx System Requirements below).

HDx cards and an FWx card cannot be installed simultaneously.

Optional Plug-Ins

For a complete list of compatible Digidesign and third party plug-ins please visit the VENUE product information area.

D-Show Standalone software

System Requirements

The following are the minimum system requirements for using the D-Show Standalone software:

  • Computer running Windows XP Pro or XP Home Edition operating system (there is no Mac version of the standalone software)
  • Minimum 1024 x 768 screen resolution
  • Minimum 16-bit color graphics, 32-bit recommended
  • Minimum 256 MB RAM, 512 MB recommended
  • Minimum 200 MB of available hard disk space
  • CD-ROM drive for installation (unless installing from web-download)
  • Available USB 1.1 or 2.0 port and compatible USB storage device (such as a flash disk, key disk or other external hard drive) for file transfer
  • Installation requires Windows XP Administrator permissions. Once installed, the software can be run under Admin or User accounts.
  • Download D-Show Standalone Software for Windows XP
  • D-Show Standalone Software (522 k, chapter 23 excerpt from full D-Show Guide v1.1)

HDx System Requirements

The following are required to use the HDx Recording/Playback Option:

  • A D-Show system that has already been installed and configured.
  • A Pro Tools|HD or Pro Tools|HD Accel system running Pro Tools TDM version 6.9 or higher (an HD Audio Interface is not required). Two Pro Tools HD cards per HDx card are required for full channel count.
  • Two DigiLink cables per HDx card (purchased separately). All DigiLink cables in the system must be the same length.
  • To use two HDx cards, a second D-Show Snake card is required (to provide system clock), even if a second Stage Rack is not being used.

HDx cards and an FWx card cannot be installed simultaneously. For D-Show/Pro Tools compatibility, see the grid at the bottom of this page.

FWx System Requirements

The following are required to use the FWx Recording/Playback Option:

  • A D-Show system with an FWx card that has already been installed and connected correctly.
  • A laptop or other computer running Windows XP or Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger), with an available FireWire port.
  • A compatible version of Pro Tools LE version 6.7 or higher for Windows XP, or Pro Tools LE version 6.9.2 or higher for Mac OS 10.4.

Digidesign Pro Tools LE hardware (Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, Mbox 2, or Mbox) is not required.

HDx cards and an FWx card cannot be installed simultaneously. For D-Show/Pro Tools compatibility, see the grid at the bottom of this page.

Additional System Requirements

For detailed computer system requirements, visit the following section of the Digidesign Compatibility Documents under Pro Tools Systems:

VENUE, D-Show, & HDx TDM Option

VENUE, D-Show, & FWx FireWire Option

Cables

Digital Snake Cable Assemblies

Customers wishing to build their own digital snake assemblies using copper coaxial cable should adhere to the following cable type and length recommendations:

  • SNAKE Connector (x4) BNC Male, 75 ohm
  • Cable Type coaxial, 75 ohm
  • Max Length 250 ft (76 m)
    • Belden 1855A - single conductor
    • Belden 7787A - three conductor
    • Belden 7788A - four conductor
  • Max Length 500 ft (152 m)
    • Belden 1694A - single conductor
    • Belden 7710A - three conductor
    • Belden 7711A - four conductor
    • Van damme Cable (VDC) 278-175-00 - single conductor

Console Link cables

  • 110 ohm AES/EBU Digital cable must be used to connect the Main unit to the Sidecar and should be no longer than 25 feet.
  • One Console Link cable is included with each Sidecar.
  • Additional cables can be purchased from Digidesign or most professional audio dealers.

Digidesign VENUE — D-Show Downloads


D-Show Expansion Options

D-Show Version
1.0
1.1
2.0
2.0.1
FOH Rack Options FOH IOx
x
x
x
x
FOH Snake Card
x
x
x
x
DSP Mix Engine
x
x
x
x
FWx FireWire Card (Pro Tools LE)
x
x
x
x
HDx TDM Card (Pro Tools HD)
x
x
x
ECx Ethernet Control
x
x
x
Stage Rack Options SRI Analog Input Card
x
x
x
x
SRO Analog Output Card
x
x
x
x
2nd Stage Rack support (for 96-ch)
x
x
x
DSI Digital Input Card
x
x
DSO Digital Output Card
x
x
Personal Q PQ Rack
x
x
x
x
PQ Controller
x
x
x
x
Legend: x = supported, blank = not supported

FWx and HDx Recording/Playback Options — D-Show/Pro Tools Compatibility Grid

FWx and HDx Recording/Playback Options
FWx
HDx
Operating System
Pro Tools LE Version
D-Show Version
Pro Tools HD Version
D-Show Version
Windows XP
Pro Tools LE 6.7 or higher
D-Show 1.0 or higher
Pro Tools HD 6.9.1 or higher
D-Show 1.1 or higher
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Pro Tools LE 6.9.2 or higher
D-Show 1.0 or higher
Pro Tools HD 6.9.2 or higher
D-Show 1.1 or higher