"I think it is imperative to keep your eye on the ball with what is new coming onto the market," he says. "Being back out on a smaller scale tour - something I have not done for a few years - was a great opportunity to see where the more budget end of the market was with mixing desks."
James, a long-term SD7 user, has also worked with a variety of entry level / semi pro consoles, so when he was given the opportunity to use an S21, it seemed a logical step.
"I had only had a basic demo on the desk at DiGiCo HQ, but I was so impressed I pretty much placed an order for myself there and then," he reports.
"I expect a lot from DiGiCo consoles and I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed," continues James. "But when I started using it on Circa Waves, our monitor guy, Terry Smith, was so impressed he also took it out with British singer-songwriter Dan Croll, who he does FOH for."
For Circa Waves, James kept things on the console fairly simple, running 22 channels from stage, along with a couple of ambient mics. "Thrown in with that were DiGiCo's in-built effects," he says. "Outputs were mainly left / right, but where possible left / right / sub, and on occasion multi zone outputs."
(Jim Evans)
