DiGiCo SD5 Arrives at Prolight + Sound

A decade after the launch of the D5 Live, British audio solutions manufacturer DiGiCo launches its new incarnation, the SD5 at Prolight + Sound, running through March 24, in Frankfurt. The SD5 benefits from the advancements made possible by Digico's proprietary stealth digital processing, the company says.

"We've evolved a lot over the past decade, both in terms of the way we use the available technology and our understanding of what our customers really want and need," says DiGiCo's managing director, James Gordon. "SD5 is the culmination of that combined knowledge, so we want to make it the next generation D5 Live."

The SD5's work surface is a low noise, heat dissipation work surface benefiting from Hidden-til-lit (HTL) technology, yet its five digitally-driven full color TFT LCD screens, three of which are touch sensitive, have a new configuration that allows easy access to single or multiple users. There are also two interactive dynamic metering displays (IDM) and quick access buttons are positioned down the left side of the channel screens for fast and easy navigation.

Incorporating the master screen into the work surface design has allowed for complete user feedback, but maintained a lower profile meter bridge. This still allows clear visibility of those on stage for the user, with everything in close reach to the mix position.

As with all SD range consoles, the SD5's superior headroom, dynamic range, and audio quality are of paramount importance and according to the company its feature set surpasses any other console in its class.

As standard, the SD5 comes with a 2Gb fiber optic system, which is capable of running 448 channels of I/O at 96kHz, plus 56 console-to-console tie lines, allowing connection to up to 14 of the SD variant racks. There are three redundant MADI ports and local I/O includes eight microphone inputs, eight line outputs, and eight AES I/O (mono).

The SD5 has 124 input channels; 56 configurable busses, plus up to 5.1 master; a 24 x 24 fixed matrix; DiGiTubes on every channel, buss and output; 24 assignable dynamic EQ; 24 multiband compressors; 24 stereo effects; 32 Graphic EQ; 10 x 4 (40) RGB backlit macro buttons; plus the ability to add a waves upgrade.

"The SD5 has some Digico added extras as well," adds Gordon. "The D5 Live was the first-ever console to have an integrated light bar, so of course, the SD5 has that as well. We've also included keyboard illumination and convenient headphone hooks to save you having to borrow a drumstick to hang up your headphones."

"The D5 was at the forefront of the live world moving over to digital mixing and SD5 is the perfect way of taking that pioneering spirit to the next level," noted Gordon.