Avid have announced the new VENUE | S6L control surface described by them as:
a modular system designed to take on the world’s most demanding tours and events with ease.
The current Avid Venue console is hugely popular in the live mixing market and is indeed a hard act to follow. Avid hope this will be something to build on that success.
Key highlights:
- Meet the most demanding live sound challenges with the industry's most powerful processing engine
- Deliver the best sound quality possible with high-performance preamps running at high sample rates
- Experience unmatched sound processing and tactile control through fully integrated, on-board plug-ins from Avid and our development partners
- Get unprecedented Pro Tools capabilities, including Virtual Soundcheck, over Ethernet AVB and Thunderbolt*—no interface required
- Share I/O across multiple networked systems with advanced gain tracking
- Gain unmatched visual feedback and instant access to your most important functions through high-resolution touchscreens and OLED displays
- Freely configure the modular system components and I/O to meet the demands of any live production
- Interface with a range of network and I/O formats—including Ethernet AVB, Dante, MADI, Thunderbolt, and more*—for total connectivity freedom
- Enjoy the familiar VENUE workflows and interface you know and love, with total show file compatibility
There's an excellent video including some top mix professionals and of course Robert Scovill, a hugely respected live mixer for bands like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Rush.
Robert also works as a specialist for Avid and it shows. Their live products in particular seemed to be informed by the expertise of practitioners like Robert... now if Avid could just clone him a few times!
Anyway, there's no official date for shipping, but more information can be found on here.