Front of house engineer Ken Freeman worked with a Quantum852 and monitor engineer Steve Kallos, a Quantum338, for their recent dates in Australia.
Starting with an SD10, then the Quantum338, Freeman recently upgraded to a Quantum852 for the 2024 Dogz of Oz tour and has never looked back. When Kallos’ trusted SD10 console wasn’t available, a Quantum338 was “thrust upon” him, and he states that he’s glad it was.
“With my previous console,” Freeman recalls, “I always had to run a Waves server for EQ and compression, but when I switched to DiGiCo, I found it was such an open, beautiful sounding desk, I was able to lose the server. I use MainStage as my host software with Universal Audio and LiquidSonics for delays and reverbs. I have a scene for each song in MainStage, which I change via MIDI from the console. I also carry a 500 Series rack of Empirical Labs outboard compressors for their color and tone!”
For the latest tour, Bernd Wittenberg of Go Audio, the band’s European supplier, suggested the upgrade to the Quantum852. “I was so happy with my setup I didn’t believe it could get any better,” he says. “But the transfer was really easy; you simply convert and import the session file. There was a little bit of re-patching to do because of the different sized card slots, but the speed of this new console is unbelievable.”
The larger surface has been another bonus to Freeman, having all his faders where he needs them has improved his workflow considerably, and the Mustard processing has sold him on the Quantum Series.
“Having the extra bank means I’ve always got track of my groups, or effects, or aux sends right in front of me on the small faders!” he explains. “I like to mix centrally from the DCAs, so the inputs can sit either side of my main mixing fader bank. It gives me a visual representation, which I like. I use the Mustard processing and the Chilli [six-band, dynamic, multi-band compressor/expander] all the time. I love the compression and gate, the Mustard strips are across everything. If I had to go back to pre-Quantum, I’d be sad because I would have to lose all my Mustard processing!
“I guess I could say that, at this point, I can’t really picture going to a desk other than DiGiCo,” Freeman says. “I’m locked into it. It’s always fun to try new stuff, but I love the tone of this desk. It’s open, it’s clear, and everything I need is easily accessible. I’m extremely happy in every way.”
For Kallos, the Nodal aux processing has been a welcome addition, alongside benefits such as the increased brightness and ergonomic layout of the screens on his Quantum338. “The display screens are really clear, and I like that the meters are on the screen, as well as the faders,” he continues. “One useful feature with the new v20 update is the addition of Mustard processing on each channel strip, the Mustard Source Expander (MSE) is particularly useful to me as it keeps stage noise on selected mics down to the very minimum.
“I feel more comfortable mixing on the Q338 than any other console. I can honestly say that, overall, the Quantum338 is the best digital console I’ve mixed on.”
