hi i was just wondering really what the difference is in digital or standard servos? setting up my first heli any suggestions as to what servos are best on the controls thanks

The major dif is that
Digitals- produce torque from 0 to full travel, they center continually,and are very precise

Standard -produce torque at all most full travel , they do don't hold center very well , not very precise

Take a look at http://www.futabarc.com/servos/digitalservos.pdf

The biggest difference is in "acceleration to speed", "holding power", and battery drain.

The better digital servos (with coreless motors) will accelerate to speed and develop full torque within 3 degrees or less of travel. An analoque servo will take up to 15 degrees to do so!

e.g. Let's consider two servos:
Digital:70 in.oz. torque and 0.11 sec speed for 60 degrees of movement
Alalogue:90 in.oz. / 0.06

Real life torque comparison.
If I load each with 70 in. oz. (more then one would ever require except in the most demanding load requirements of a big bird or the like) and require them to hold that setting. The digital will move 2 to 3 degrees before developing full torque and holding there. The stronger spec. analogue will move 10 to 12 degrees before developing the required 70 in.oz. As you can see, the holding power of the digital will mean far more accurate control. So though the spec is less on the digital, it is by far the better servo.

Real life speed requirement:
Let us assume the load on the gyro servo during a backward manoever is 30 in.oz. and your gyro is feeding a correction command to your servo to stop a yaw that is developing. If responded to with 30 in.oz. of torgue in a short time all will be fine. The digital will develop the required torque in the time it takes it to move 1 degree (1/60 of .11 seconds) 1/1800 of a second. The analoque will not develop the desired torque until it has moved about 5 degrees (5/60 of .06) 9/1800 of a second. As you can see the slower digital was actually the faster servo here. This will result in a much lower possible gain setting with the digital and the "faster" analoque will have a tail control that is not as crisp, at times even quite "vague" with some HH gyro software. Unless the gyro software is written with this slower acceleration in mind or with a means to adjust for it then it can not be optimized to be anywhere near that of the digital. Why do you think manufacturers want to supply you with one of their digital servos with their gyro? That same gyro on a fast analogue servo will be a far less impressive gyro.

All this does have a price....not just related to the dent in your wallet, but also in the drain on your battery pack.

There are a number of other issues in favor of the digitals, but these two are the biggest. Having said all that. Most any heli will fly fine with good standard servos. A control system is only as good as its weakest link. So the positive effect of a full digital system can be easily lost in a sloppy mechanical system and/or set-up. One with play in between the swashplate stars, in the washout hub, flybar carrier, blade holder bearing seats, (all are issues with many of the entry level helis and even some big name higher priced units) and worn ball links etc. (about the only items that need attention on the SE type of units.)

Food for thought: Money spent on high profile advertising and promotion does little to solve slop issues or any other design issues that may be present in a stock model. But it can certainly create an illusion for the less informed consumer that there are no such issues.

I learned some new things from reading that post, cyclic. Thank you.

EXCELLENT post, syclic; well said!

Steve