MEXICO CITY – Speed Audio has been making good use of the DiGiCo SD8 digital mixing console it acquired in late 2009. The soundco has used it on major tours for Spanish artist Shaila Dúrcal, Israel's Shiri Maimon, Mexico's Kalimba, composer Carlos Cuevas, Pepe Aguilar, Susana Zavaleta, Pablo Montero, Argentine Queen tribute band and, for two consecutive years, with Mexican Christian community Mega Frater, along with a variety of corporate events.
Speed Audio's Juan Gabriel Fernandez and Miguel Guerra cited a number of benefits in addition to the SD8's sound quality. "It's really easy to use and has a lot of shortcuts that are a great help and give you the time to get the best out of the console," Guerra noted. "The ability to work offline is also very helpful."
Other SD8 benefits, Guerra said, included the ability to mix channels from a single fader; to be able to move banks of faders to exactly where they want them; to assign and un-assign functions as needed ("It's as if you've physically cleared them from the console"); snapshot processing; multitrack recording; and the ability to perform a virtual soundcheck instantly without the need for a reboot.
"Actually, these are just a few of the things we really like," he said. "In truth, it's a console that's easy to use and it has enormous advantages over other digital boards. We have spent time getting to really know the SD8 and how to operate it perfectly, so that we can offer the best service and the best sound quality."
The most recent outing for Speed Audio's SD8 was for Mexican artist Pepe Aguilar, in Mexico City's National Auditorium. There, Juan Gabriel Fernandez used it for monitor duties, handling a total of 56 inputs and making use of facilities such as snapshots, multiband compression and the SD8's onboard FX.
"We're anticipating that DiGiCo consoles will become known here on a national level," concluded Fernandez and Guerra. "We're very much looking forward to the day when we see them specified on riders as the engineers' first choice."
For more information, please visit www.digico.org.
