At the outset of the recent tour by the band Scouting For Girls, Paul Timmins of audio rental company Capital Sound presented Andy Williamson, the band’s house engineer, with the opportunity to use a DiGiCo SD7 digital console.
An early adopter of digital technology, Williamson has been, up until now, a regular user of consoles by other manufacturers. “As soon as digital came out I jumped on it,” he says. “I love analog, but the digital footprint is fantastic. However, you get used to certain characteristics of different consoles, with the result that I ended up using other manufacturers digital mixers.
“But then Paul offered me the chance to use an SD7. Having done a little research and read through the specs, I knew it was complete overkill for what I needed with regards to inputs and outputs, but the specs were so impressive on paper I decided I’d just jump in at the deep end and give it a go, see if it lived up to it’s reputation.
“I think DiGiCo has a definite idea of how it wants the machine and the surface to work,” he adds. “In operation it’s really tactile and it has a nice blend of the analog look, so you can see where everything’s happening – a common complaint about digital, as some consoles are more software driven and are like mixing on a computer. The SD7 surface seems designed to do the opposite; to take away the fiddly mouse and trackball and replace it with a good old analog look and feel.
“I’ve tried all the digital desks now and I really do like this one. It sounds great, having dynamic EQ and dynamic compression is fantastic and the valve drive on the input stage has been great for bass, guitars, Hammond, etc.”
