ARC’s Andy Rose and Steve Williams of Sound Moves originally worked together at Fleetwood Mobiles in 1988, and have collaborated on a wide range of projects since, including the broadcast of the 1998 Glyndebourne operas (Rodelinda and Simon Boccanegra) using Williams’ DPC-II.
The performance of Wagner’s only comic opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, was broadcast live on 26 June to 19 Picturehouse cinemas throughout England, Scotland and across Europe, as well as on the Guardian newspaper’s website.
While the first Glyndebourne broadcasts were in stereo, 13 years of audio innovation and DiGiCo’s latest console meant that Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (and Britten’s The Turn Of The Screw, to be broadcast live on 21 August) was broadcast in 5.1 surround sound.
‘The SD10B was the ideal console for this application because we were doing a 5.1 mix,’ says Williams. ‘No other console, specifically within the budget, fits that particular application. It has the right footprint for these events – our mix position is right under the stage, so there isn’t a lot of room – yet it gives us full control over the large number of input sources with ease. On top of that, the sound quality is fantastic.
‘We specified the desk to be fitted with the new, faster, fully redundant Optocore system, which supports up to 14 192kHz racks. Specifying the SD10B also allowed us to continue to use some of our existing AD converters from the DPC-II and our D Series racks – all of this meant that we didn’t need to commit to a full-blown, all-new 192kHz system from day one. We also see it as a big plus for being able to source audio from many stages at live events.’
The performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg required more than 100 inputs from the stage and orchestra pits to be mixed by Andy Rose on the SD10B. Despite never having used the console before, his experience of other DiGiCo mixers meant that he had no trouble: ‘I’m very familiar with DiGiCo’s older desks and a lot of their characteristics are carried forward into the SD10B, so I have found it easy to use, definitely so in the 5.1 environment,’ he says. ‘Sound quality has certainly never been an issue with DiGiCo desks – the mic preamps sound very nice. I’ve had no issues with sound quality at all.’
‘It is very easy to use,’ Williams confirms. ‘From our point of view, the less support that we have to give a client to make a job happen successfully, the better.’
One of the advantages that the SD10B brought to the project was that a Dolby Digital-calibrated speaker level system could be set up precisely where it was needed, meaning that a Dolby-approved level was achievable and allowed the 5.1 mix to be done in a highly controlled environment.
‘Another great thing about using a DiGiCo product is that we know who all the guys are, we’re able to give them a call and their back-up is second to none. We just don’t get that from any other manufacturer,’ says Williams.
‘I’m a fan of moving things forward,’ adds Rose. ‘It’s good to improve facilities and ease of working. I’m also a fan of reliability and sound quality, all of which apply to this desk.’
More: www.sound-moves.com
More: www.digico.org
More: www.optocore.com
