Ancienne Belgique stays versatile with DiGiCo
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Over the last 18 months, the venue has invested in two DiGiCo consoles in a bid to stay as flexible as possible: first, an SD5, which sits at monitor position and most recently, an SD12 which is now the venue's go-to FOH board.
“All of our crew are capable of doing everything, and what's nice is that we are also interchangeable between the main hall and the club,” opens Ancienne Belgique's technical manager Mark Vrebos. “For example, a rock and roll show might be all-standing and full to the brim, but if we have jazz music we might choose to make it all seated, or half and half. We can also bring the capacity of the main hall down from 2,000 to 800 if needed. It's basically a very versatile space. Then we have the club, which is a fantastic place for local acts to showcase their talents.
“We knew we wouldn't be able to use our good old analogue boards forever; we keep them alive, and we still use them because it's good to have both options. But it was getting more and more difficult, and we didn't want to wait until it was too late to make a digital investment,” explains Vrebos. “Today, we absolutely need digital.”
The SD12 was chosen for its high power, functionality, and small footprint. “All DiGiCo desks have that reliability, but the fact that the SD12 is more recent, with newer technology, was very appealing. That was the idea behind investing in it,” Vrebos continues. “Also, the new 32-bit preamps are built into the SD12, which are incredible sounding; the noise floor is now so low, and you get a cleaner, better overall sonic, and a way cleaner signal to noise ratio, which is very important. And, of course, the small footprint makes them ideal.”
(Jim Evans)
