DiGiCo Quantum852 centralizes interviews, music and sports at RodeoHouston

The console DiGiCo Quantum852 serves as the base of operations for the RodeoHouston Super Series, an event that lasts 20 nights and that, beyond offering the famous American sporting event, hosted concerts by artists such as Tim McGraw, Lainey Wilson, Kelly Clarkson, Lizzo, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Dwight Yoakam, Shaboozey, inter alia.

The technology team RodeoHouston It was proposed to improve the technological base of this show that, of the 2 al 22 March, managed to gather 2,7 millions of people. To achieve, he opted for the DiGiCo Quantum852 as a mixing console, which was accompanied by a couple of SD-Racks, a Orange Box in the connection room and four SD-Mini Racks distributed throughout the stadium.

Rafael Rosales, sound manager, defines his work at Rodeo House as a mix between the world of sport and of show. with his Quantum852, manage from audio of the speakers until interviews. It is not a simple task: “You work with a very large public address system, long projection distances and a high level of background noise from the audience and the venue itself, while having to deal with open microphones, especially those of the announcers located in front of the public address system. That's why, gain before feedback, Crosstalk control and intelligibility are constant priorities. You can go from an intense event directly to an interview, then to playback and back to competition in a matter of seconds. “Each of these elements behaves very differently at a sound level.”.

Con dozens of microphone channels coming to the table, Rosales claims that the DiGiCo table gives him the “depth of prosecution, visibility and reliability” that you need in such a production. “As for the tickets, I rely a lot on Mustard Processing —dynamic equalizer, multi-band compression and the Mustard Source Expander—to stabilize each channel before it even hits my mix”, explains, referring to the integrated processing of valves, equalization and dynamics by DiGiCo, based on analog units.

With more than 100 active inputs, Rosales uses the multiband compression of the 852 to smooth out the differences and make everything fit into a coherent sound space. The sound technician also makes use of information from measurement and data What does the console offer me?: “I have a lot of visual information in front of me at all times—levels, dynamic, processing activity—which helps me make quick decisions in a very dynamic environment”.

Thomas Ruffner, Director of Audio Operations at LD Systems and Systems Engineer on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo project, He also praised the elements of DiGiCo in the production of the show, although he also highlighted how “crucial” the company support: “It is worth highlighting the absolutely incredible support we received from DiGiCo and its distributor in the US. UU., Group One. Whether we adopt a new platform like the Q852, as if we simply work with existing DiGiCo equipment, The customer service they offer is truly second to none.”.