The GLD80, GLD has been
developed to offer the benefits of digital mixing to those prospective
users who don't require the full-blown feature set of a high-end system.
best way to regard the GLD80 is as the heart and
control surface of a complete digital mixing system, rather than a mixer
on its own. Unless you want to hook it up to an existing iLive console
(using the GLD80 as a monitor mixer, for example), you're almost
certainly going to be buying this mixer complete with one or more of
Allen & Heath's digital stage boxes, the AudioRack GLD AR2412 and
GLD AR84.
Having said that, the GLD80 will function as
a stand-alone piece of hardware, with eight physical inputs and 10
outputs on the rear panel, plus a networking card slot. But the
AudioRack units are really an important and integral part of the package
if you need higher channel counts, so for the purposes of this hands-on
account, I will consider them part of the deal.
In terms of basic functionality, the GLD80 can control up to 56
inputs to the mix, including the internal effects returns. There are no
fewer than 30 buses and 20 possible mix outputs, and of course all the
usual DSP is built in, rendering the use of external processor racks
largely unnecessary in many live applications. The 'digital snake' part
of the system (which is, by itself, a huge reason to consider going
digital, especially for portable live sound rigs — more in a moment on
this) is achieved with either of the two AudioRack stage boxes, which
handle the conversion from analogue stage sources to digital mix inputs
and digital returns to analogue line outputs, and provide all the
necessary connectivity in a single
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