DiGiCo recently announced a new digital console, the SD7. This is not “just another digital console.” To understand why the introduction of the SD7 is significant, we have to first recognize that DiGiCo’s previous desks — the D5 Live, D1 Live, DS-00 and CS D5 — are already extremely advanced digital mixing systems. The D5 Live 56 boasts a 96-channel work surface split into sections of eight channels, each with an LCD touch screen. A companion DiGiRack stage interface includes 56 A/D and eight D/A converters, while a second DiGiRack resides next to the console and provides 56 external I/Os for inserts, effect returns, etc. Snapshot recall, MADI I/O and Opticore I/O are also furnished, making it easy for the D5 Live to support live multitrack recording.
The D1 Live starting package was designed more as a replacement for existing analog desks, using the existing copper audio wiring that might be either installed in venues or warehoused by sound companies. The D1 Live 40 features 40 inputs and 24 outs with the ability to expanded to 160 channels with access to 224 inputs and outputs. All of the DiGiCo D Series consoles have the ability to interface with up to four racks, each with 56 I/Os, providing a total of 224 audio I/Os.
This is not intended to be an advertisement for DiGiCo; it serves as a jump-off point for the SD7. Twelve years have passed since the introduction of the Soundtracs Virtua, and, of course, computer technology has made great leaps. This is reflected in the design of the SD7. DiGiCo powers the SD7 using two of its proprietary Stealth mixing and routing engines, which are based upon Super FPGA (Fully Programmable Gate Array) technology and are fully redundant for increased reliability. What that means to a user is that the SD7 features eight times the processing muscle of a D5 Live,
What’s staggering is that the SD7 employs four processing chips versus the D Series’ 39. Obviously, the processing efficiency has been greatly increased and the reduction in the amount of ICs also reduces the amount of physical space required for the audio engine. Now what to do with that available space? Put a second Stealth engine into the desk for redundancy! When this DSP muscle is flexed, it results in 128 simultaneous audio paths at 192 kHz or 256 at 48 kHz or 96 kHz. For the bean counters, the SD7 also features 448 optical I/Os, 224 MADI I/Os plus 24 analogue and AES/EBU digital connections, 128 busses, 32 matrices and 32 graphic EQs. DiGiCo also incorporated three of Analog Devices’ latest Tiger SHARC chips to provide high-quality reverbs and effects (and by the way, each of those Tiger SHARC ICs represents almost as much processing power as an entire D5).
Aside from the raw increase in processing ability, the SD7 employs other technological developments not necessarily designed for audio. DiGiCo observed that the marine industry has increased their use of polycarbonates for boat construction due to the combination of durability, reduced weight, temperature and impact resistance, and optical transparency. These materials form the basis for the SD7’s backlit work surface with HTL (Hidden Till Lit) indicators for clarity in any type of ambient lighting and built-in video monitoring for engineers who are mixing to picture, whether it be live or recorded. A look at the SD7’s work surface indicates that we are leaving behind the “minimalist” days of the digital console.
I think that the SD7 will mark the beginning of a new trend in digital console design for live applications. In the infancy of digital consoles, processing power was expensive and barely adequate for 12-bit resolution. We all know that processing power is now cheap and will continue to advance as costs drop. We are now starting to see work surface technology go through the same (r)evolution. During the initial years of the digital audio era, we put up with small awkward human interfaces that were slow and uncomfortable. It’s impossible to mix a show where you don’t have quick access to the controls on a channel. Having a fader, mute and cue or solo switches per channel was a great start, but engineers need more. Consoles like the SD7 and the Studer Vista Series are demonstrating that it is possible to increase the number of physical controls on a work surface, giving engineers the ability to quickly acclimatize to a digital desk. What I see down the line is that we’ll have digital consoles that look just like our analog desks looked 10 years ago. We’ll have faders, mute and solo switches on every channel and we’ll also have separate knobs for EQ, and perhaps most importantly, dedicated knobs for control over the aux sends. Less often used features such as bus and matrix assignment, fader grouping and mute grouping can remain under the radar — i.e. not necessarily in the top level of control.
In the waning years of my audio life when I’m old(er) and gray(er), I envision mixing a show on something that looks like a Yamaha PM4000. All those knobs for EQ, aux sends and pan are under my fingertips. Using this imaginary desk reminds me of the days of my youth when an engineer could walk up to any mixing console, grab the faders and go. But it’s just a control surface. Behind the curtain is a CPU, the power of which we can’t even fathom right now, and it’s converting all my desk moves into digital info for manipulation of the data stream in real time. There are no pages or menus to go through, and when I need to throw a pitch shift on four vocal mics simultaneously for a gag effect, I grab four knobs and turn them! At that point, digital audio technology will truly serve the engineer and get out of his or her way. Now, if only someone could really develop a plug-in that sounds like my PCM70…
Steve “Woody” La Cerra is the front-of-house engineer and tour manager for Blue Öyster Cult. He can be reached via email at Woody@fohonline.com
