UK - DirectOut is the creator of multi-function audio processor PRODIGY.MX, currently in use across a range of Gareth Owen Sound (GOS) Productions. These include the recently opened production of Starlight Express at London’s Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, and The Devil Wears Prada, which is currently showing at the Theatre Royal Plymouth, and due to open at the Dominion Theatre in October 2024.
Gareth Owen is one of the world’s most successful theatrical sound designers. Not only is he responsible for multiple award-winning shows, he is also a pioneer in immersive theatrical sound design. Owen was co-founder of Fourier Audio and still holds the title of CCO, after the sale to DiGiCo in 2023. He is also CEO of software house Show Control, creators of EnSnap and other software/hardware tools for use exclusively on Gareth Owen Sound productions. Owen understands exactly what is needed for theatrical storytelling and this is evidenced by his many Best Sound Design awards.
“We have been using DirectOut on our shows for a few years now. Most shows have a pair of PRODIGY.MX and we use the EXBOX.MD a fair bit, too. I love elegance and simplicity, as hard as that might be to believe from my shows,” Owen explains. “Chris Lambrechts from Avid is a huge proponent of DirectOut and he said that the PRODIGY.MX would replace a lot of other stuff with one elegant box. That was music to my ears.”
PRODIGY.MX is a multi-format audio matrix with a capacity of 1664 x 1668 audio channels. Interfacing with the whole range of audio protocols offered by DirectOut and with powerful DSP functions, it addresses numerous applications. The hardware is modular and the available licenses are granular, making a reliable and stable choice to meet various theatrical applications.
“We use the PRODIGY.MX primarily as a format convertor. For most shows, this is usually from MADI to Dante and back again. We also use it as a matrix router,” he says. “However, in recent years we have realised we can retire many of our MADI and Dante backup switchers by doing main-backup changeover inside the PRODIGY. We use the Nemesis OSC GPIO box, coupled to a nice panel with some illuminated switches, and do all our backup switching internally. This massively simplifies our signal path and removes additional points of failure.”
Theatrical performances happen every night, for as long as the show runs, and Owen has designed musicals that are still playing to audiences after many years, shows like Back to the Future in London, that opened in August 2021 and is booking until October 2025.
“We have PRODIGY and/or EXBOX.MDs on at least a dozen shows around the world today and they have been nothing but trouble free,” Owen explains. "We come out of the MADI cards on the back of the Avid DSP and convert to Dante which forms the backbone of the rest of the sound system. Connection to playback systems, SoundScape processors, amplifiers, and the Fourier transform.engines all flow through the PRODIGY."
“Some companies treat support like a necessary evil - they know they have to do it, but it’s given begrudgingly and on their timetable,” Owen concludes. “DirectOut are all over it. I don’t think I’ve ever failed to get hold of a qualified engineer on the first call, and I’ve never waited more than an hour for a sensible email reply. The DirectOut team understand that when we are in the thick of an install, the last thing we need to be doing is opening a Service Ticket. That is invaluable.”
