DirectOut Prodigy on tour with Coldplay
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In the process, four Prodigy.MP and one Prodigy.MC are once again playing their part in bringing the band's aspirations for a more sustainable tour production one step closer.
“We have enjoyed a close working relationship with Alex (Hadji) Hadjigeorgiou and his colleagues for many years now. Almost all our products have already been used on previous Coldplay tours,” says DirectOut managing director Jan Ehrlich. “For us as a manufacturer, it is always special to see the tour push the envelope together with their technical crew. There are only a few setups as complex and sophisticated as Coldplay's on tour to thrill their fans and music lovers in general, tour after tour and take it up a notch.”
Tony Smith, head of audio, FOH-tech and sound designer for Coldplay and Alex Hadji, digital audio specialist at Hadji Audio, were looking at an early stage for the next advancement in system EQ, distribution and control to make the production at the forefront of currently available technology available in the industry. In the end it was the whole package that made DirectOut become an essential part of this audio system.
At FOH, Dan Green, Coldplay’s FOH engineer, and Tony had outgrown their current system EQ and I/O AD gear and looked for an improvement. Prodigy.MP and Prodigy.MC were more than up to the task. “I´ve been using both for their basic functions, but both do what I need and do that very well. They have also reduced our footprint, weight and added functionality with great tech support, which is also key,” states Tony.
Three Prodigy.MP in the PA system drive rack, a main plus backup and a spare, are used by system technician Dom Thorne, where Tony and Dan were also looking for advancement and more flexibility for audio distribution and routing as the primary function. The signals are then distributed to the d&b SL Series sound system as a left, right, sub, fill and delay 1-4 output, utilising the extensive matrixing features of Prodigy.MP. Additional outputs for ring delays are also utilised. These outputs are via AES, which is then distributed via fibre through the Optocore backbone. An analogue backup of those same outputs is running concurrently.
Jan Ehrlich, DirectOut’s managing director concludes, “As a manufacturer, we receive valuable input and feedback from creative minds who want to retain the maximum flexibility and performance from our solutions. At the same time, our customers should always know that we are with them, take their suggestions seriously and always want to implement them within the scope of feasibility. This basis of trust drives everything we do - from designing new audio solutions to supporting our customers.”
