The performance of Wagner's only comic opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, was broadcast live on 26 June to 19 Picturehouse cinemas throughout England, Scotland and across Europe, as well as on the Guardian newspaper's website.
ARC's Andy Rose and Steve Williams of Sound Moves originally worked together at Fleetwood Mobiles in 1988. Ever since they have collaborated on a wide range of projects, with the broadcast of the 1998 Glyndebourne operas (Rodelinda and Simon Boccanegra) using Williams' DPC-II, which was the first of its kind purchased by a UK user.
Those operas were broadcast in stereo, but 13 years of further audio innovation and DiGiCo's latest console meant that Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (and Britten's The Turn Of The Screw, to be broadcast live on 21 August) was broadcast in 5.1 surround sound.
"The SD10B was the ideal console for this application because we were doing a 5.1 mix," says Williams. "No other console, specifically within the budget, fits that particular application. It has the right footprint for these events - our mix position is right under the stage, so there isn't a lot of room - yet it gives us full control over the large number of input sources with ease. On top of that, the sound quality is fantastic.
"We specified the desk to be fitted with the new, faster, fully redundant Optocore system, which supports up to 14 192KHz racks. Specifying the SD10B also allowed us to continue to use some of our existing A-D converters from the DPC-II and our D Series racks - all of this meant that we didn't need to commit to a full blown, all-new 192KHz system from day one. We also see it as a big plus for being able to source audio from many stages at live events."
(Jim Evans)
