A recent upgrade of the club's technical facilities has seen the installation of a bespoke digital audio network plus two DiGiCo consoles, with the system design, supply and installation all carried out by Autograph Sales & Installations.
The club's technical manager Miles Ashton had been considering replacing the venue's mixing console and following conversations with DiGiCo he contacted Autograph to discuss his options including supply and installation. In addition to the requirement for new FOH mixing capabilities, the club wanted to make permanent provision for a dedicated monitor console when required and also to upgrade their broadcast connectivity.
Autograph's Euan Mackenzie and Ben Wiffen delivered an elegant solution to all the club's operational requirements by designing and installing a permanent fibre optic network using DiGiCo's Optocore system, which has the additional benefit of redundancy backup via an optical loop which takes over in the event of a link failure. A dedicated fibre optic patch panel now resides at stage left, allowing simple integration of a visiting monitor console (whether Optocore-equipped or not) to the house audio infrastructure without sacrificing the backup system.
Additionally, every custom connector panel is designed such that it can handle any combination of connectivity and be reconfigured according to the demands of a specific show, while the previous analogue broadcast feed is now accompanied by a permanent digital link to the broadcast position, to which a fibre patch is also available from stage left, front of house or the patch room. Three fibre connector panels are located at stage left, FOH and the broadcast position respectively, while the latter also features a dedicated BNC MADI link to FOH. A fibre patch in the upstairs rack room allows each fibre link to be re-patched to suit a given application.
At the heart of the system is a new SD10 digital mixing console, customised by DiGiCo who fitted specially-designed side cheeks for the control surface so that it fitted snugly into the available space in the FOH booth. The club additionally purchased a DiGiCo SD11i for when performances require a dedicated monitor mix engineer. This desk is also ideal for use in the upstairs club (Upstairs@Ronnie's, a 140 capacity bar and live music venue which is separate to the main club) if required.
Ronnie Scott's technical manager Miles Ashton said, "It wasn't a quick decision. I looked at almost everything available and we trialled a couple of options for a few weeks. Flexibility was the key, plus we also needed consoles that were familiar to visiting engineers."
(Jim Evans)
