Holger has been carrying two Optocore DD4ME MADI converters in his compact FOH side rack for some time, with a third DD4ME at the monitor desk. Providing production on this tour is Capital Sound Hire - who themselves invested in an Optocore system for last year's Take That stadium shows.
Both Holger and Seamus have chosen the compact DiGiCo SD10-24 consoles, along with a DiGiCo SD-Rack at the monitor desk. While these consoles come equipped with an optical loop interface, they decided instead to run Optocore as an entirely independent network, giving them greater flexibility to patch signals between their 'playback world', the SD-Rack, the two mixing desks, a MADI-equipped Mac Mini at FOH, FX units at FOH, and finally an independent additional MADI output for occasional multichannel recording - keeping everything in the digital domain.
The process began on a previous tour in 2009, when their DiGiCo SD8 consoles did not have optical connections. "Since we use MADI-enabled multichannel playback equipment on stage, I did not want to rely on copper connections so I was looking for a reliable, redundant fibre system that would also guarantee that the digital clocks on stage and FOH stayed in perfect sync at all times," said Holger. "Once we started using Optocore DD4ME's, it quickly became obvious how much extra flexibility it gave us in patching communication mics across, or sending FOH special effects back to monitors, without needing an XLR return core," he said.
Meanwhile, down in monitor world, Seamus Fenton has been running two fibres out of his Optocore linked to FOH, which is effectively merging two MADI streams. The Digico SD-Rack, that provides inputs for mics (as well as live keyboards) is connected to the monitor console via BNC MADI cables, with full control over gains etc. from the monitor desk. A second MADI output on the SD-Rack feeds one of the DD4ME inputs, to be picked up by FOH and the recording output. "We decided early on that gain control from FOH is not required, as we only have a few mics anyway and rarely change their gains."
The multitrack playback, that contains an essential part of Pet Shop Boys' music, originates in a redundant pair of MADI-equipped computers near the monitor desk, combined using a DirectOut EXBOX.BLDS switchover unit, which feeds the other DD4ME input on stage.
"Optocore is our entire backbone," says Schwark. "It allows me to patch everything anywhere. I have been connecting both of the consoles' ports to the network, as well as my peripherals, and patched everything through the network, because I can now use the desk's built-in tricks for virtual soundchecks for, say, 40 recorded channels, while still connecting to my reverb engines and analyser software on the higher-numbered channels. It works beautifully well and makes best use of the existing I/O on the back of the desk, without adding a bulky local I/O rack."
Playing through the new Nexo STM PA, which Capital Sound Hire recently invested in, at London's O2 Arena the sound engineers (and experienced system tech Al Woods) ensured a dynamic set delivery from this synth-driven '80's band, leading up the finale that included old hits such as Always On My Mind and West End Girls.
(Jim Evans)
