Reopening after a five-year hiatus and a £12m refurbishment, the 125-year-old Jersey Opera House (JOH) is ready to resume staging productions with a new DiGiCo Quantum 338T console and d&b audiotechnik PA system supplied by Stage Electrics, adding to their existing SD9 and securing the future purchase of a Quantum 112.
‘We were lucky enough to benefit from huge generosity, so we now have a fantastic Quantum 338T and are developing a d&b loudspeaker system,’ says Technical Manager, Chris Wink. ‘The Quantum 338T will position us perfectly as we begin to produce more work in-house and is a natural fit for the calibre of artists that visit the JOH. We are really investing in equipment and people since our building project finished. Many of our visiting shows already use DiGiCo, so the Q338T helps with our workflow, making setups much easier.’
In a five-year-long, Government-funded construction project, the structure of JOH has been upgraded and repaired. The final upgrades were to the theatrical equipment, including lighting and sound systems. ‘The Opera House started 1900 as a replacement for the Theatre Royal,’ Wink recounts. ‘Over the years it has had many refurbishments, but in 1997 it was taken back to its original form, and we have updated and safeguarded that work. It’s a beautiful, historical building, but we are looking to the future with modern works being commissioned, including a brand-new opera, pantomime and dance. The Quantum 338T is proving essential because of our varied workflow and the speed at which we change shows.’
The DiGiCo T software expands the standard Quantum 338 with a variety of features, including increasing the matrix from 24 to 36 with individual Nodal delays and aliases on each channel. When coupled with 32bit SD cards and an Optocore loop, Wink gains a level of agility that has enabled him and his team to deliver clear sound, regardless of the genre of the show.
‘The SD-Racks being able to be whatever you need, wherever you need it, via hot-swapping cards is essential,’ he continues. ‘We also use Orange Boxes within the system, once again adding more flexibility, certainly for Dante inputs and outputs, and personal monitoring requirements. Because of the unique nature of our venue, we often end up taking multitrack recordings, too. Software wise, we’ve really noticed the impact that Mustard and Chilli processing has, it felt like a big change from our SD9.’
More: www.digico.biz