Preparing in a programme of upgrades for 229 – a multi-purpose venue near London’s Regents Park – Technical Manager Alessandro Bonifacio alighted on DiGiCo’s Quantum 225 as offering a wealth of future-proofing features.
‘We had been using our previous desk for about ten years,’ he recounts. ‘I’ve been using DiGiCo consoles on my freelance jobs for years, so I got in contact through Andy Huffer at HD Pro Audio. We were invited to DiGiCo HQ in Chessington to take a look round… it was very easy to fall in love with it all.’
Housing two performance spaces – the 700-capacity Venue One and 200-capacity Venue Two – 229 is busy every night, and also often hosts events during the day. There is residential housing above, and the whole complex is managed under the umbrella of the International Student House charity, which provides a home and community for young people studying internationally. All 229’s profits are used to support the charity’s mission.
Upgrading sound and lighting equipment represents a major investment to any venue, and value is not just about cost. Purchasing a DiGiCo console meant that 229 was able to benefit from DiGiCo’s support package – Bonifacio was pleased to learn that in-situ training session was available with the purchase, and assembled 229’s engineers and regular freelancers to benefit from a training day, provided by DiGiCo’s Molly Autherson.
‘Meeting Molly was amazing, we all knew her from DiGiCo’s YouTube content,’ he says. ‘The team are all pretty big, opinionated guys, and there were 10-to-15 of us firing questions, but Molly literally obliterated us all with her knowledge. In terms of support, the DiGiCo team have been amazing, it’s a massive perk to buying DiGiCo hardware.’
The International Students House exists for international students, guiding them as they study at partnered universities across London and providing scholarships for students to stay in their accommodation directly above the venue. By reinvesting profits from 229, the charity is able to create a sustainable model for supporting young people. The DiGiCo Quantum 225 aligns with this ethos of community and support.
‘The 96kHz operation represents sonically, a step toward the future for the venue, and we use features like the UB Madi, Nodal Processing and True Solo much more than we thought we would,’ Bonifacio says. ‘They’re also completely rider friendly. Recently we had an engineer politely refuse to use their usual touring set up, just so he could mix six channels on the Quantum…
‘The amazing thing is that everyone notices the difference in sound – it’s mind blowing. Since we got the Quantum 225s, returning promotors are coming up and asking what we’ve changed because it sounds so good.’
The new Quantum 225 in Venue One has been such a success that, once he had seen it in action, Bonifacio wanted a second to serve as a monitor console, providing each with a separate stage rack.
‘The control you have with these desks is beyond ridiculous. You can do whatever you want and the support you get if you are trying something new is astounding,’ he concludes. ‘That’s why the DiGiCo fits in so well. It responds to all our needs and, with our recent lighting rig upgrade with Claypaky and Chauvet fixtures and a new moving truss on stage, we’ve really made a significant investment in the future of 229 that will last for years to come.’
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