Nine Lives - DiGiCo’s Red Revolution Embraces The UK

12 October 2010 13:45 BST

Since its launch in March, DiGiCo’s SD9 console has brought its red revolution to a wide range of users, keen to make the most of the SD9’s remarkable combination of functionality, audio quality and small size - all at a remarkably budget-friendly price.

Two audio companies that have taken advantage of these remarkable qualities are Technical Knowhow and Paul Sparrow Sound, who are already enjoying the considerable benefits that the SD9 brings.

The DiGiCo SD7 and SD8 consoles have made a huge impact in the mid and upper reaches of the live music and theatre industries, but, with a vast amount of the global production industry occurring in pubs, clubs, corporate venues, public buildings and smaller theatres, the SD9 has tapped into a vast potential market where clients still demand the highest production values, but at a price suited to the venues capacity .

Proving that the SD9 has already captured the imagination of rental businesses the length and breadth of the UK, Andy Magee of Tyneside-based Technical Knowhow Ltd and Paul Sparrow of Southampton based Paul Sparrow Sound, both invested in the SD9 almost immediately.

Having worked for Newcastle-based technical production company NiteLites for many years before setting up his own company, Technical Knowhow director Andy was already familiar with DiGiCo’s D series consoles. He purchased his SD9 from Stage Electrics, following conversations with the company’s Ed Gamble.

“I used the D series for about four years. They were my desk of preference,” he says. “When I heard about the SD9, I decided to get one straight away. To be honest, when I found out the price I would have been happy to buy one without even seeing it. I knew it would be really good.”

In contrast, Paul was not a previous DiGiCo user, but he knew from the specifications of the SD9 that it would deliver exactly what he needed.

“I was looking for a digital console that used a Cat5 multicore. I needed 32 inputs and plenty of outputs for monitors, Front of House and sound distribution, so the SD9 ticked all the boxes,” he says.

Both companies have already used their SD9s on a wide variety of events, the consoles coping with an array of demanding situations. In Andy’s case, the annual six day Methodist Conference at Portsmouth Guildhall in late June provided plenty of challenges.

“There was a lot going on. We were providing feeds for internal and external broadcast. There was a lot of monitoring - we were using every bus, every physical in and out, every graphic EQ and every effects engine on the console,” he says. “Being able to mix mono and stereo channels in with Groups, Auxes, Matrix and Control Groups made things so much easier, and being able to get everything I needed to control, from 44 inputs + internal sources on to 24 faders was great.”

He continues, “The MADI port is also brilliant, being able to take MADI straight off the main stage box to monitors and recording direct to Mac via an RME MADIface is so straightforward.”

Paul, meanwhile, has done an array of music events with his SD9, including events at Norwich cathedral, Southampton Mela, Bath International Music Festival, City of London Festival with the Grand Union Orchestra and Petworth Festival, West Sussex

“The Norwich cathedral event was a big production, with a local 100 piece choir and guests Arve Henrikson and Jan Bang. At Petworth Festival the venue is a church with side chapels and rear seating. The various seating areas are run off matrix outputs with separate delay times and EQ,” he says.

“The SD9 has everything you want, there are enough outputs, enough graphics, compressors, gates and effects. The first event I did with it, I was able to leave three multicores and three racks at home. I also really like the touchscreen as well, plus DiGiCo’s technical backup is excellent. I feel I’ve only just started exploring all the available facilities: snapshots, macros and networking are all to come!”

Paul and Andy don’t just reserve their praise for the SD9’s facilities, however. The all-important question of sound quality also gets an unreserved thumbs up.

“It sounds exceptional,” says Andy. “Comparing it to digital consoles by other manufacturers at a similar price point, the DiGiCo’s sound and hardware quality is miles ahead. Having clean preamps is great. Everyone who has seen and used it loves it.”

Paul agrees, saying, “It sounds great. We do a lot of events in churches which, because of their construction and acoustics, need a lot of outputs, delays and EQ to get the audio to every part of the building and for it all to sound great. Having a delay on every output is really useful.”

Andy concludes by saying something which gets right to the heart of the SD9’s ethic and the type of audio company it was designed for, a sentiment which Paul wholeheartedly agrees with.

“We’re a small company that does things properly,” he says. “The SD9 is exactly the same.”