With digital consoles now a standard inventory requirement, Entec once again needed to call on all the expertise of the Shepperton based suppliers, and their digital specialist Andy Huffer.
Head of sound Dick Hayes remembers the support provided by Marquee when they entered the brave new world of digital, purchasing a Yamaha PM1D from the resellers four years ago for use on the David Bowie tour. This gave them the confidence to buy their first PM5D-RH when it was released - and now their second.
Entec's sound assistant Peter Codron, says that winning the TPI award last year has raised the general level of perception, and suddenly Entec found themselves prepping up for tours by Lily Allen, Jet and Tool - along with the Electric Proms show for Damon Albarn's new band, The Good, The Bad & The Queen. It was thus essential that they increased their large console inventory to nine.
"When we are buying a desk of this magnitude we expect full support - and Marquee deliver it every time. Our engineers have received extensive training from them over the years, both here at Entec and in Shepperton," said Codron.
He added that with its small footprint and excellent sound, the PM5D-RH offers good dry hire potential and is very popular with sound engineers. "It's an all-in-one unit and you can use your existing analogue cabling infrastructure."
Huffer notes that the issue of depreciation and lifespan - which is endemic to modern digital devices - will be mitigated when Yamaha release their DSP5D next year. This has all the processing power and functionality of a PM5D-RH - minus the control surface - in a rack-mountable unit that can be controlled from the console.
"Presently there's a naturally shorter lifespan in the digital world than the analogue, but the DSP5D will help protect their investment, and allow rental companies to increase their PM5D mixing platform to a mighty 144 channels by adding two of these."
He also puts the supplier's role into sharp perspective. "People accept that whatever you buy, be it digital or analogue, there is always the potential for something to go wrong. Accepting that we are in the touring industry, the key to a successful sales company is being able to respond quickly and coherently."
(Chris Henry)
