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8th Day Sound Adds 20 SD 192KHz Racks To Inventory And Lil Wayne Tour
Global audio service provider Eighth Day Sound have built a reputation over the last three decades for providing state-of-the-art, well maintained, and efficiently packaged audio equipment, seasoned crew and unparalleled service. Keeping at the forefront of the technology curve with all its manufacturers is a top priority. To that end, Eighth Day recently added 20 of the new DiGiCo SD racks with 192, 96 or 48KHz sampling rates to its touring inventory. Based around the Stealth Digital Processing ™ FPGA technology delivering the SD range’s acclaimed sonic quality, DiGiCo’s SD Rack is the first I/O rack for any mixing console that offers multiple format sample rate conversion and allows up to an amazing 448 I/O, in any combination at 96kHz, spread across 14 racks on one redundant optic loop.
“We wanted to upgrade all of our systems to have the most current technology available - so we can offer and deploy the best possible product and get the maximum sound fidelity with the newest software and hardware available on the market,” explained Jason Kirschnick, Eighth Day’s Chief Technology Officer. “The features that enhance the experience that we are excited to make use of are the 96kHz sample rate with the future potential to 192kHz and the built-in analog splitter with Gain Tracking ™ and down-sampling output streams. The flexibility of the Opticore upgrades with the new racks enables us to be very flexible and offer solutions in a pinch that weren’t available until now.”
Currently making use of several of these new racks include the Lil Wayne ‘I Am Music II’ spring trek across North America from March to May of 2011, featuring sets by supporting acts Travis Barker, Mix Master Mike and Rick Ross, plus Nicki Minaj, and members of his Yoney Money crew (Birdman, Lil Twist, Mack Maine and Shanell).
At FOH, Demetrius Moore is employing two SD racks loaded with 96 channels (8 AES out and 8 analog out) to feed Dolby Lake processors at 96KHz with analog backups, which then feed 40 d&b D12 amplifiers , keeping the sampling rates at 96kHz from the A-to-D converter to the speaker output of the amplifiers.
In addition, there are three more SD racks out with the group, one at FOH, loaded 40 inputs x 30 outputs with 16 AES S/R to drive all the FOH effects in the same fiber loop as the stage racks. The other two are at monitor world with engineer Sean Sturge, loaded with 96 input channels—40 analog and 8-16 digital outputs at 96kHz.
Both Moore and monitor engineer Sean Sturge have noticed a perceptible audio difference with the addition of the SD racks. “These racks are clearer and have more high end,” said Moore. “They sound more natural and warmer. We actually A/B’d them at Eighth Day, and everyone agreed there was definitely a noticeable difference.”
Kirschnick says 8th Day plans to send these racks out on upcoming tours with Juanes and Arcade Fire, “and, on pretty much every tour we deploy from this point on,” he said. “The racks have added an additional level of versatility and sonic clarity to the already flexible DiGiCo platform. “That, coupled with the small footprint, MADI stream multitrack recording, and 96KHz fidelity, makes the SD7 an all-around outstanding product.”
For Moore, it’s become his console of choice and he’s utilized it on previous outings with Drake and Kanye West, as well as a few of the largest female diva artists around today. “I’m very comfortable with it and love it for the sound, and for what I can do with it. I use the multiband compressors heavily, no matter what the tour is. I love that feature. I don’t have to EQ as much as I used to, plus you can clean up a lot of the artist’s Pro Tools files with the multiband compressor—vocals, keyboards, drums, etc.—across the board. They really save the day.”
Moore’s also taking advantage of the recording capabilities via the onboard RME MADIface cards, backing up to CD on a Nuendo HP Workstation, as well as on hard disc and multitask recorders from ADK for archival purposes. “The mix is recorded in three different places,” Moore explained, “and technically four if you count video world. I record every day and when they’re done I can play it back and brush up the mix, and I also use it for virtual soundchecking.”
For Sturge, who’d toured previously for several years with N.E. R. D., this wasn’t his first hands-on experience working with one of DiGiCo’s consoles. Back in 2003 he’d taken one of the newly launched D5s out with Eminem . He’d heard good things about the SD series systems and was interested in swapping out his Avid Profile for an SD7 for the new tour.
“I wanted to check it out based on a recommendation from a good friend, Tim Colvard, who said, ‘give it a try.’ The sound of the desk is one of the main things I like about DiGiCo; their consoles have the best sound out there. It’s clean, clear and very responsive. Once you touch a knob you can hear what’s its doing; you don’t have to dig into the desk to get an effect from it.”
With a revolving roster of artists performing nightly, Sturge’s juggling a multitude of in-ear monitors as well as wireless mics. His main concern was accommodating smooth transitions between all the artists. “There are about 57 songs in the set list and there’s more or less a different person coming out on every song,” he explained. “I’m able to program it all in rehearsals so I don’t have to worry about who’s coming out on what song. The console is doing it all for me… I set a snapshot and off I go. It’s all right in front of me.”
“Also, like Demetrius, the multiband compression comes in handy because you can go through all the song files on each set and fix everything in detail… If there’s too much high end on the song - no problem. We’re also using a lot of compression. And the macro section is one of the main features of the desk that I enjoy. I can assign a lot of stuff there, and get to it fast with a touch of a button. I put all my effects on macros without having to go into all the layers. It’s a great addition.”
For more on Eighth Day Sound, go to: www.8thdaysound.com
More info about Lil Wayne can be found at: www.lilwayne-online.com/bio.aspx
David Webster at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: webby@digiconsoles.com
Diane Gershuny • DGPR
Tel: 562-366-8869
Email: dgershuny123@gmail.com
Twitter: @DianeGershunyPR
IMAGE 1: Messina - Sean Sturge - Demetrius Moore
IMAGE 3: Demetrius Moore
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