Aktuelle News & Schlagzeilen

Olly Murs FOH/monitor engineers use DiGiCo Quantum 5 consoles on tour

Rob Sadler at the front-of-house position and John Lumsdon on monitors both chose the DiGiCo Quantum 5 console, supplied by Solotech, for Olly Murs’ latest UK tour, including the O2 Arena dates in May 2025. The engineers joined Olly Murs a little over a year ago but, as Sadler explains, their relationship with DiGiCo consoles began much earlier.

“I first used a DiGiCo in 2011, and I’ve used them on almost every tour I’ve done since 2015”, he recalls. “It is definitely the console I feel most comfortable behind and most things are now second nature. I’ve been on tour with Olly for about sixteen months and it’s been a lot of fun. It’s what I’d class as a proper pop music concert. There are pyrotechnics, confetti and automated staging, there’s even snow!”

“The show typically starts with a lot of excitement as the intro-video rolls, then thousands of screaming fans join in as Olly appears on stage”, he continues. “I don’t tend to make many adjustments to the mix during the show, just the odd fader ride for guitar solos, horn solos and key BV lines. I’m also using Snapshots on each song for muting and sending MIDI signals to the outboard reverb units. My main focus throughout is vocal impact and intelligibility. Olly wants the crowd to have a great night, so he also tells a lot of stories between songs. I use Macros to change the Naga 6 between my ‘singing’ and ‘talking’ presets. It’s something that I couldn’t do the gig without now.”

“I chose the Quantum 5 because I like the layout of the console”, Sadler furthers. “My entire show is laid-out over the first two layers, so it’s all just one button-press away. This is my first time touring a Quantum console and I feel like I haven’t gone as deep as I could have with the Mustard channels, but it’s something I’ll definitely try out in the future, along with the v20 updates. I’m looking forward to trying the MSE (Mustard Source Expander) and seeing how it compares to similar analogue units.”

At the monitor position, John Lumsdon, who has used DiGiCo consoles since 2017, is also using a Quantum 5. “The show is a jam packed, exciting, all action, with a feel-good vibe”, he says. “With ten band members and Olly I need to keep an eye over the whole stage, so looking down at console isn’t an option. The Snapshot and Matrix features make everything smooth. We have lots of different parts to the show where new instruments come in and others go off-stage, so we can make transitions seamless without disrupting the workflow.”

Lumsdon is responsible for the monitor mixes, all delivered via in-ear monitoring, not just for Murs and the band, but also for tech and stage management, a total of sixteen wireless IEMs and a further four hardwired units. There are also sub-bass loudspeakers onstage to give a tactile response for the drum, bass and keyboard players.

“It’s always important from a monitor point of view to get the vocals to have the correct impact in the ears”, Lumsdon explains. “Using a digital radio mic AES output directly into the SD Rack and running at 96K helps to cut latency down to a minimum. That, combined with the 32-bit outputs, starts the mix off right.” Looking forward to dates over the summer, Sadler and Lumsdon will continue to use their Quantum 5s.

(Photos: Ben Gibson Photo)

www.digico.biz

© 1999 - 2025 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories