Broadcaster AVS switches analogue desk for a Digico SD8
AVS, a local television station in East Flanders, has bought a Digico SD8 to manage all their audio signals. Pascal Vermaut, technical director of AVS, tells us why they have chosen a digital desk of Digico."I was very scared to make the switch to the digital domain", said Pascal Vermaut. "After the demo of Igor Dockx I realized the Digico SD8 surface was actually very easy to use. The way Digico build up the software, the ease to change a function without going into many menu levels... We were really stunned with the SD8. One of the reasons to change our analogue audio console for a digital one was our number of inputs. The only fixed setting is the news where we use about 8 channels. For the other shows it depends, is it a show with a live band or is it just a presentation with one guest? Furthermore we do the technical facilities of "S Televisie" which takes also 3 settings (3 different shows). So you can already notice that we were limited with our 32 input console. If we did extra shows, we had to change the patches which took a lot of time. Now with the SD8 his 60 mono or stereo channels we can handle almost everything."
Pascal Vermaut continuous: "The first time I saw the SD8 I could almost directly begin to work with it. It was just like I was already familiar with this work flow. The other 4 technicians their opinions were also very positive. Even though they never have worked with a Digico, the switch did not change their user workflow but it just made everything easier. We have compared a few competing brands, but they could not reach to the possibilities of the SD8. The preamp quality and the user-friendly workflow is just unique."
"The SD8 has a few functions that I really love", told Vermaut. "I can begin with the 12x12 matrix with which we can send different input signals to different outputs in a few clicks. That is marvellous when we have a few connections with for example the VRT. Every newsreader has his own equalizer preset so that he sounds every day the same, even when it is another technician. And as you can see we do not have a lot of space in our technical audio room, so we were glad to remove the outboard effects. Now we only use the internal effects of the SD8."
The console was installed by 4E technology.
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