"I switched to a DiGiCo D5 at the beginning of our last tour, two and a half years ago. I fell in love with the sound, the versatility and flexibility of it," says Brittain. "At the time I happened to catch a glimpse of the then-unlaunched SD7 under lock and key in a back room at DiGiCo. So when audio company Solotech suggested purchasing one for me to use on this tour, the decision was a no-brainer."
The show's monitor setup is complex, with 90 inputs and close to 60 outputs. "We have an intricate talkback system, click tracks and various other things, which pushes up the count," says Brittain. "With that number, there's no other console which can even come close.
"But it's not just the channel count, I think the SD7 sounds remarkable. Any console sounds great when you have one or two inputs and an in-ear mix, but once you start summing multiple channels and doing 16, 18 or 24 and upwards mixes, numbers are getting crunched and you start to hear the difference between desks. You can A/B any digital console with the SD7 and it's a clear-cut winner."
While Bublé's backing musicians have been using in-ear monitors for some time, the singer was previously resistant to the idea. But, having a change of heart in production rehearsals for this tour, he rapidly became a convert.
"Michael's using Sennheiser G2 in-ears now. It was quite a sudden decision, so I threw a rough ears mix together for him on the SD7 and it sounded so good straight off that he hasn't taken them out," says Brittain. "There is a growing period for anyone using IEMs for the first time, but the SD7 has really helped ease that because of the sound quality."
(Jim Evans)
