As one of Melbourne’s primary cultural institutions for over 25 years, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) has often been a first adopter of new technologies in the audio sector. With an extended history of investing in DiGiCo solutions for live audio, MCEC recently made the choice to add two new Quantum 338s to its digital mixing repertoire.
Soundcorp – a Diversified company (SADC) are a leading supplier and integrator of professional AV systems nationwide. As one of MCEC’s approved suppliers, they were on hand to coordinate delivery of the consoles and provide local support.
“The Quantum 338 offers a fairly dramatic step up in connectivity and processing within the DiGiCo workflow, and so was the logical choice when MCEC enquired about the acquisition of new workhorse systems,” notes SADC’s Scott Jamieson. “As its team are already very familiar with the DiGiCo eco-system, we were excited to provide them with the latest Quantum iteration as the upgraded capabilities here are really impressive.”
Hosting an immense number of conventions, events, and live music each year, MCEC already owns an impressive fleet of DiGiCo consoles and equipment, with its iconic Plenary Theatre including a permanently installed DiGiCo SD-Rack and Optocore infrastructure.
“Currently MCEC has three SD11is, two SD9s, two SD8s, two SD10s, two Quantum 338s, and an S21, as well as several SD-Racks, SD-MiNiracks, and a D-Rack in one of our theatres. We also utilise DiGiCo Little Red Boxes for flexible routing arrangements in a number of spaces,” explains Michael Pfundt, MCEC’s Audio Specialist. “We deliver hundreds of events every year and have a large technical staff, so ease of use is really important to us. DiGiCo consoles provide a highly intuitive user interface, along with powerful processing and flexible routing capabilities, meaning that it’s easy for our crew to deliver what’s required by our clients. On top of this, the reliability of SD-Racks and Optocore are important to us when we are doing back-to-back shows and there is limited time for troubleshooting.”
When MCEC was looking to expand on its large format console offerings, the 338s were chosen following careful research and after demoing them at a local event. Pfundt expands on the logic behind their choice: “Stand out reasons for me were the enhanced screen space and Nodal Processing. The Mustard Processing and the Spice Rack are also pretty great, and we’re looking forward to the addition of more effects modules being added to the Spice Rack soon.. Also, having spent some quality time with them, I’m impressed by how quiet they are. I think I’ve only heard the fans spin up twice and they were barely audible.”
Pfundt concludes with his feeling of the addition of the 338s and how they will help improve upon what MCEC can offer its clients: “We’re anticipating the 338s being a rider friendly console for touring shows where a little more than what the SD10 can provide is needed. Outside of that, the Nodal Processing makes it a great monitors option, not to mention the possibilities it opens in the hybrid event space.”
