UPDATE: This article appears in The Ultimate Guide to Creative Mixing on the Digico SD5.

Slip protection and the 0dB detent are my two favorite features of the Digico SD5’s faders. If I accidently bump the faders with my arm, they don’t move. That is because of the specials fader caps that disengage the fader motor until they are touched. How does it work?

On one side of the line in the finger slot on the fader is a very low voltage signal. When your finger is inserted into the slot, a curcuit is made which means that the low voltage signal flows through your finger from one side to the other. This allows the fader to go into a movement parameter. All faders on all consoles that have a moving fader snapshot capability are designed like this. If you put the tip of your nose or even your ?????, the fader will move. Haha. -Chris B.

The 0dB detent is a feature that you can turn on by fader type under the options menu. It allows me to keep my head up for more of the show because of the haptic feedback I get from the fader.