#SoundEngineering

So I just finished mixing a 3-hour indie rock show using my Yamaha CL3 console... and the sound was a disaster. The mains sounded muddy below 200Hz, the monitors had zero definition, and the vocal snare bleed was out of control. I A/B tested the same setup on a DiGiCo SD12 at a friend’s venue last week, and the clarity difference was night/day?? How is this even possible? Both systems used the same L-Acoustics K2 line arrays and d&b audiotechnik V-Shape subs...

Here’s what I’ve checked:

• SPL meters read 110dB at the mix position (per AES60-2017 standards)
• EQ curves matched the venue’s Smaart measurements
• Latency was 2.3ms on the CL3 vs 1.8ms on the SD12
• Preamp gain staging was identical (-18dBu nominal)

But the CL3’s midrange just feels... compressed? Like there’s a 2kHz shelf I can’t dial out. I’ve tried 5 different firmware versions (2.30, 2.41, 2.52) and the issue persists. Is this a hardware limitation with the CL3’s analog front-end?? Or am I missing some secret trick in the V-Net 3 software??

I’m booking bigger venues now, but if I can’t solve this... I’ll be stuck using a rental SD12 for every show. Any FOH engineers here with CL3/DigiCo war stories? What’s your go-to fix for midrange muddiness in live PA systems?