Sonnox - Audio Media
Sonnox - Audio Media
Sonnox - Audio Media
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HOT FROM<br />
PROLIGHT + SOUND<br />
PRODUCT PREVIEW<br />
A high-specced<br />
chameleon<br />
that can take to<br />
the stage as easily as<br />
the studio, says<br />
STEPHEN BENNETT of<br />
DiGiCo’s new SD<br />
console.<br />
DiGiCo’s successful range of SD consoles is<br />
based on the power and programmability of<br />
the company’s Stealth Digital Processing, via<br />
a Super FGPA engine. This has allowed DiGiCo to develop<br />
a series of smart solutions aimed at the various strata<br />
of the live, broadcast, and theatre marketplaces, the<br />
similarity of implementation of features across the range<br />
making it easy for the user to swap between the various<br />
consoles and to share peripheral resources. The latest<br />
additions to the family – which includes the SD7, SD8,<br />
SD9, and the also new SD11 – are the SD Ten live console<br />
and its broadcast specific counterpart, the SD Ten B.<br />
“The SD Ten sits between the SD8 and the flagship<br />
in our range, the SD7,” says James Gordon, Managing<br />
Director at DiGiCo. “This is both in terms of price and<br />
performance, with the SD Ten providing 96 channels of<br />
full processing – 12 of which are full Flexi Channels – and<br />
48 assignable busses – far more than you get with any<br />
other mid-market console currently available.”<br />
A common design from engine to surface interface<br />
provides easy access to the console’s audio control.<br />
The SD Ten works with DiGiCo’s second-generation I/O,<br />
the SD-Rack, which delivers up to 192kHz, and has the<br />
ability to connect up to 14 racks and five redundant-<br />
engined consoles to the system, with 448 audio channels<br />
on a single redundant loop. “As well as<br />
talk to output with dim control.<br />
DiGiCo has also partnered with Israeli Software<br />
Company Waves to bring its Sound Grid technology onto<br />
the SD platform. “If you think of quality plug-ins, they are<br />
the first brand that springs to mind,” says Gordon, “and<br />
the Sound Grid platform is a very low latency system,<br />
which was imperative for us.”<br />
The Waves plug-ins are provided in addition to the<br />
console’s own Stealth FX, and provide access to much<br />
of Wave’s renowned software including bundles such as<br />
Mercury, SSL 4000 Collection, GTR3, JJP Analog Legends,<br />
Studio Classics Collection, the API Collection, and Gold, as<br />
well as individual classics such as the L2 Ultramaximizer<br />
and C4 Multiband compressor.<br />
All of this makes the relatively diminutive SD<br />
Ten physically imposing as well as ergonomically<br />
well equipped.<br />
Especially For Broadcast<br />
The ‘B’, when added to the SD Ten moniker, denotes the<br />
Broadcast version of the console. The hardware remains<br />
the same, but the software repurposes the control to<br />
provide facilities specific to broadcasters – it gives the<br />
ability to be two desks in one. “When you buy the SD<br />
Ten you’re actually buying the potential for two consoles<br />
– the live sound version and the broadcast versions,<br />
DIGICO SD10 & SD10B<br />
Live & Broadcast SD-Series Consoles<br />
THE REVIEWER<br />
STEPHEN BENNETT has been<br />
involved in music production<br />
for over 25 years. Now based in<br />
Norwich he splits his time between<br />
writing books and articles on<br />
music technology, running his<br />
own Chaos studios and working in<br />
the Electroacoustic Studios in the<br />
School of Music at the University of<br />
East Anglia. He’s also a filmmaker<br />
with several music videos and<br />
short films to his credit. www.<br />
stephenjamesbennett.co.uk<br />
being<br />
a great<br />
live sound<br />
option, the SD Ten<br />
very much fits into the<br />
bigger infrastructure for<br />
our installation business, which<br />
is an area of growth,” adds Gordon.<br />
”Having a console that integrates with<br />
the SD7 and SD8 is important – as is the fact<br />
that DiGiCo consoles can all share racks, which is a<br />
significant advantage for installs. For example, on a house<br />
of worship system, you might be doing front of house,<br />
monitors, and broadcast, which requires three consoles.<br />
With almost any other digital console you would need to<br />
have active or passive splits, which means an awful lot<br />
more cabling infrastructure. With the DiGiCo system, you<br />
have just one rack, with all of the consoles able to see all<br />
of the inputs and able to allocate outputs in blocks of<br />
eight. This means you can share the resource as if it’s a<br />
big audio router.”<br />
Technical Dedication<br />
The SD Ten comes with a raft of new options that add<br />
to the general utility of the console, and the SD Ten B<br />
application specific extension adds a broadcast-specific<br />
feature set. “We have included 37 touch sensitive faders,<br />
plus four layers of 10 SmartKey Macros – that’s 40 user<br />
defined buttons,” says Gordon. “And multi-channel ‘folding’<br />
allows configuration of stereo, LCR, 5.1, or up to 11 mono<br />
channels under a single fader strip, which is a really neat<br />
solution and extremely useful in broadcast.”<br />
The SD Ten’s powerful processing includes<br />
channel delay, single and multi channel presets, HPF<br />
and LPF, four bands of parametric EQ, compressor<br />
and gate, dual insert points and access to all bussing.<br />
Output channel processing includes output delay, eight<br />
bands of parametric EQ (only available on the SD7 until<br />
now), compressor and gate, dual insert points, groups<br />
with buss to buss routing and Auxes which have direct<br />
depending on which software you’re running,” says<br />
Gordon. “This changes all of the terminology and much<br />
of the functionality of the desk and makes it specific for<br />
the intended market and significantly impacts on return<br />
on investment: the SD Ten B, for example, could be used<br />
for a sporting event for several months and could then be<br />
repurposed as a live console for the rest of the year, adding<br />
an additional revenue stream.”<br />
DiGiCo has already had great success with this<br />
approach via the SD7T, the theatre-specific version of the<br />
SD7, and the company is confident that the broadcast<br />
model of the SD Ten will prove just as popular.<br />
“We have a track record in the broadcast industry<br />
from our Soundtracs days and broadcasters have seen<br />
our touring products via their close links with live sound,<br />
whether that’s actual live events or during the audition<br />
stages of shows like The X-Factor or Britain’s Got Talent,”<br />
says Gordon. “They have commented on the ease of<br />
operation of our live desks, but wanted dedicated<br />
broadcast facilities. There are a lot of extremely good<br />
high-end broadcast consoles in the market already, but<br />
the SD Ten B fits a different tier of budget and still offers<br />
all the features and functionality of the bigger consoles,<br />
such as surround sound, channel folding, large scale 5:1<br />
monitor matrix, and so on. There’s currently no console<br />
at this price point that offers comparable features.<br />
The response we had at this year’s NAB launch, and the<br />
interest from serious names in the broadcast world, has<br />
been considerable. “ ∫<br />
...................................<br />
INFORMATION<br />
£ SD10 prices start from GB£35,000,<br />
SD10B from GB£40,000 (exc.VAT)<br />
A DiGiCo, Unit 10 SIlverglade Business Park,<br />
Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Surrey, KT9 2QL<br />
T +44 (0) 1372 845600<br />
W www.digico.biz<br />
E info@digiconsoles.com<br />
32<br />
AUDIO MEDIA MAY 2011