German band PUR, well-known for their live performances, rely on Showequipment AG for their tour planning and production. For the Wünsche tour, PA and system engineers Frank Müller, Patrick Eckerlin and Dirk Happel chose DiGiCo SD7 consoles to provide the perfect mix for both front of house and monitors.
Müller developed the audio design for the tour alongside Happel and Eckerlin, the latter having worked with the SD7 since the console’s launch.
“The SD7 was the linchpin for everything and was an essential component for PUR’s system,” says Eckerlin. ”Dirk and I used two stage racks with 56 inputs each, with all relevant inputs for the band patched on the first stage rack. We recorded every show with Concert Online, which was the reason I sent a MADI stream of all the important ‘hand-made’ stage signals and all dry and effect sum signals from my SD7 to an outside broadcast vehicle. The live recording that was made was immediately available for sale to PUR’s fans on a USB stick at the end of the show.
“Additional channels such as clicks, talkback, remote replay to the pyro technics, etc, were patched on the second stage rack. I connected further remote re-players like my Mac, cd player or AV by cable directly to the internal inputs and outputs of the SD7. In total, I could handle approximately 80 input channels.”
Dirk Happel adds: “DiGiCo´s decision to use MADI is brilliant. There is a lot of hardware, which works as standard, and intercom systems can be included easily.“
“Internally,” said Eckerlin, “I use 12 of the SD7’s internal effects, which I augmented with four Lexicon 960Ls. I digitally integrated the last one with an AES/EBU interface into the console.“
From a monitoring perspective, Happel finds mixing on the SD7 easy because of the intuitive program operation: “You can place all channels on the user interface exactly where you need them for the work-flow, it does not matter which ones – inputs, outputs, effects, DCA. Once installed, channels stay the same, even if they are removed from the worksurface, which is simply fantastic.”
“For me, the multiband compressors are an important characteristic of the SD7, as are the dynamic EQs and the tube simulation in every channel, IN and OUT. Together with 31 bands of EQ, they obviate the need for external equipment.”
Frank Müller, SIRIUS project manager, is already planning the PUR’s next project. “We are already working on the technical details of the rigging, lighting and sound equipment for the open air events that are scheduled and we will once again be relying on the all round excellence of the DiGiCo SD7.”
