I paid $500 for SAC. I built a 32in/32out rack for under $4K. It replaces over $20K worth of gear (for me): mixer, snake, FOH rack, etc. It is easy to understand, if you already know how to mix and have worked with various analog or digital consoles. I have shown several other people how to use it in only about an hour. They had never experienced it before, but knew how to mix, use compression, EQ, FX, etc. I mix from a netbook, while walking around the venue. All controls are a few key clicks away. I have it setup that way, but you can configure it any number of ways. SAC, like the Axe-FX, replaces gear costing many more times the cost of SAC (or Axe-FX) and is more reliable, has less parts to break, etc. It is the wave of the future. The band I work with uses IEMs, Roland V-Drums and other direct input setups. There is no stage volume, other than the vocals or horns, when we use horn players. The sound is stunningly better than a comparable analog setup with Marshals (or some other loud amp on stage), real drums, loud bass rig, screaming wedge mixes, etc. The audience notices this immediately and we don't have to make any comparison for them. They have heard other bands in a variety of venues and they are startled (in a good way) at the difference.
Now, if I could just get their guitar player to buy an Axe-FX... I am letting him try mine at a few sound checks. We barely do sound checks, either, because I can just recall a similar setup and do a few tweaks to the room EQ. It's a great time to be alive!
