Held in Aspen, Colorado, the 2014 Winter X Games required its audio engineers to mix the live aspect of the show and share feeds with television broadcast on ESPN. To achieve this, fibre-optics were used to integrate the TV network and the control tower, allowing all feeds and signals to be shared.

Handling the event was audio systems design and contracting company Ed Johnson Audio, a private company specialising in large events such as Red Bull Events, as well as the Summer and Winter X Games. ‘The X Games is unique, because from an audio standpoint, there are two shows streaming simultaneously,’ says owner Ed Johnson. ‘We needed detachment and integration on the fly, and so we chose the Soundcraft Vi1 to make the marriage between the two shows possible. We have used Soundcraft for the past couple of years, but by adding a single-mode fibre card, we were able to integrate and share all the signals on the Madi stream.’

The console allowed the feeds to be split between Venue A, the area containing the Super Pipe, Big Air and Slope Style, and Venue B, where the Motorsports (three events), Snowboarder X and Slope Style events were staged. Both the programme feeds and music feeds are assigned to 28 loudspeaker zones.

‘With the Vi1 and a fibre-optic cable that routes everything to both venues, I was able to interchange feeds without interruption,’ Johnson says. ‘The console is self-explanatory and intuitively designed, as everything I did, from sharing content on the Madi stream to interfacing with the TV segment, was easy and smooth. Thanks to Soundcraft I was able to cover this huge area within my budget.

‘With the Vi1, I’m always able to not only keep operations within a small footprint, but also control two different areas on the Vistonics touchscreen,’ he adds. ‘This console is superior in a lot of ways, as it only took me 20 to 30 minutes to familiarise myself with everything. Due to the successes of integrated Harman products, I’ve also requested Soundcraft consoles and JBL loudspeakers for upcoming large events such as the Summer X Games.’