One of the country’s highest profile institutions and among the largest and most modern libraries in the world, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF) holds copies of virtually everything published in France.
With 14m books and printed documents, manuscripts, prints, photographs, maps, plans, scores and other artefacts in its care, the library also conducts a programme of cultural events. As well as acting as a hub for researchers, it hosts exhibitions and events in various spaces. For the audio consideration of such events, the BnF has recently installed a Yamaha QL5 digital mixing console.
Installed by Coulommiers-based MDS Audio, the QL5 was chosen in part for its size and portability, and also its combination of Dante and local I/O, which means it is not only extremely flexible, but 64-channel multitrack recording over Dante is very straightforward.
‘Thanks to its compact size, the QL5 can be very easily integrated into the different areas of the BnF where events are held,’ explains MDS Audio Sales Manager, Philippe Girard. ‘Having both Dante and local I/O allows the BnF technicians to quickly and easily set up high-specification sound reinforcement and recording for any kind of event.’
With events taking place in spaces not always designed for reinforced sound, the QL5’s Premium Rack effects and remote control via the StageMix iPad app also mean that any acoustic issues can be quickly overcome: ‘Another of the strengths of the console was the presence of the Custom Bank for customised user configurations, while the reputation and reliability of Yamaha digital consoles was another determining factor,’ Girard says.
‘The excellent combination of value, capacity and flexibility meant that the QL5 was the only serious option. After our technicians had delivered a day’s training to BnF technicians, they gave the console a unanimous vote of approval.’
