Digital mixing console manufacturer DiGiCo and Nexo UK distributor Fuzion plc recently pooled their resources to put on a highly successful demonstration of both DiGiCo consoles and the new Nexo GEO D10 array at London’s Hippodrome in Leicester Square.
The event ran continuously from 11am-5pm and provided a constant stream of visitors ranging from sound engineers, theatre technicians to rental companies, live hands-on experience and training on DiGiCo’s D5 and D1 digital consoles, sending multi-track mixes to Nexo’s new GEO D10 tangential array, which was flown in the venue.
Paul Ward of Fuzion, co-host of the event, was very encouraged by the reactions of the day’s visitors. “Our objective was to create interest in the new GEO D system among touring professionals. We wanted to communicate directly with Nexo’s potential end-users, hence the choice of an easy-to-get-to central London venue and a very relaxed format that allowed the system to be demonstrated as it would be used in a real situation.
“Nearly 40 front-of-house engineers came through the doors, and I think their experience of the system, plus the chance to talk directly with us and with Nexo people like Denis Baudier (MD) and François Deffarges (Head of R&D), will have positively enhanced their perception of the Nexo brand. From Fuzion’s point of view, it was a very encouraging event, and we will certainly repeat the formula in the future.”
One of the visitors was front-of-house engineer Liam Halpin, currently sitting with Snake at FOH for Snow Patrol. “I grew up using Nexo’s PS10 and PS15 cabinets, and I’ve had some experience of GEO T in festival situations,” he said. “The Hippodrome demo provided a good opportunity to listen to Nexo’s new gear in a controlled environment and my first impressions were really quite favourable. It’s well thought-out, and it looks as though it has a nicely designed rigging system. People always doubt whether you can really get the low-mids out of a small box like this one, but GEO D definitely seemed to hold its own in this regard. This system could bring a lot of new users to Nexo.”
Richard Rogers and Chris Jordan, operations director and head of theatre audio respectively at Blitz Communications took full advantage of the opportunity to take a closer look at DiGiCo’s consoles.
Talking to DiGiCo’s marketing director, David Webster, Chris commented: “We’ve found this very useful. Our compliments on your presentation of the D1. I sat in front of the D5T for the week we had it in our warehouse at the beginning of the year and poked at it, but there’s a whole layer of other things it does that I never got to, so this has been very useful. And the nice thing about the D1, that I hadn’t realised, is that it’s actually the same thing as the D5. There’s complete compatibility between the two, unlike the ‘crippling process’, as I call it, that some other manufacturers have as you move down a range.”
'The day went very well indeed,” concludes DiGiCo’s Tim Shaxson. “It was interesting watching some of the engineers who had never used a digital console before walk up to the D5 - there was that initial nervousness followed by beaming smiles when they realised how easy DiGiCo consoles are to use and how great they sound!”
Nexo GEO D10
Nexo's 3-way GEO D10 vertical array module contains two 8" side-firing active transducers, positioned on the left and right side of the cabinet, with a single 12" ahead of them at the front of the box, coupled to a proprietary Directivity Phase Device (DPD).
While GEO D10's vertical MF/HF pattern control is array-dependent, the horizontal MF/HF coverage is configurable at 80° or 120°, and the module achieves exceptional MF-LF output (105dB SPL nominal sensitivity-1W @ 1m). Nexo's digital, EtherSound-enabled NX242 TDcontroller integrates hi-performance MF/HF response with cardioid LF coverage via the two 8" loudspeakers.
A 16" driver/3" voice coil/1.4" throat HF assembly provides unrivalled coherence as mounted to the patented, third-generation, 5° GEO Hyperboloid Reflective Wavesource (HRW).
An important development in the GEO Series is the new compression-mode rigging system developed for GEO D, with logarithmic angles from 0.2° to 10°. The versatile (Over/Under) GEODBUMPER allows up to 24x GEO D10s to be flown together, and also offers a stage-stackable option, giving users maximum rigging flexibility in venues large and small, old and new. This elegant, integral flying system optimises venue-specific array design via precise, logarithmic inter-cabinet angle adjustments as configured by GEOSoft2 array software.
DiGiCo D1 AND D5
The D5 Live, available in 56 or 112 input version, provides superb sonic purity and powerful, instantly accessible control with software that gives you unparalleled flexibility in configuring your console precisely to suit your show.
The D1 Live has all the extensive features of the D5 Live, and provides the high quality audio solutions synonymous with the DiGiCo name, but in a smaller, lighter package and is the perfect addition to an installation or rental system.
Its MADI card gives a dramatic price reduction by providing a fully digital link from stage to FOH for up to 100m of coax cable, where previously 50m was the maximum run, and so dispensing with the need for expensive optical fibre. The console is supplied in four main feature configurations creating a direct replacement for an analogue console.
The flexibility to share stage racks using Gain Tracking, allows the console operator to change any input gain without affecting the sound balance on either consoles. All DiGiCo products are cross compatible with session files and I/O racks and are fully upgradeable.