Analog board and control surface?

[Chris F]

I love my Spirit M12, but would like the tactile sensation of mixing on a desk when using Digital Performer. Is there such a thing as an analog board that doubles as a DAW control surface? I was looking at the Yamaha digital boards, but don't know how the pres compare or whether I would miss the outboard options that an analog board offers. This might be a really stupid question, but if I could upgrade to something like this it would be nice.

[xstatic]

In geneeral, the yamaha preamps are certainly comparable to the Spirit's. A well designed digital board still offers analog "outboard options". Most digital boards still have inserts, but there are some that do have fewer than others. If you are looking at the yamaha DM range, the preamps in that would actually be a huge upgrade in my opinion. Not only that, but the inbuilt FX engines sound very good, and are based on the yamaha SPX series of processors that are kind of an industry standard as far as the live sound world goes.

[Chris F]

Wow! No, I'm afraid I can't spend that kind of bread...I was looking more at the 01V range, but I'd like to have a definite pre upgrade at between $1500-$2000, and 12 channels would be nice. It could be that I should just stick with the spirit and get a control surface to boot, but...

[xstatic]

I don't think that you are going to be able to see a "definitive" difference in that price range and at the same time still get the extra features that you want. Unless the new O1v's use the DM series preamps.