8th Day Adds 20 DiGiCo SD 192KHz Racks to Inventory and Lil' Wayne Tour Eighth Day Sound recently added 20 of the new DiGiCo SD racks with 192, 96, or 48KHz sampling rates to its touring inventory. Based around the Stealth Digital Processing FPGA technology, the SD Rack is, the company says, the first I/O rack for any mixing console that offers multiple format sample rate conversion and allows up to 448 I/O, in any combination at 96kHz, spread across 14 racks on one redundant optic loop. "We wanted to upgrade all of our systems to have the most current technology available, so we can offer and deploy the best possible product and get the maximum sound fidelity with the newest software and hardware available on the market," explained Jason Kirschnick, Eighth Day's chief technology officer. "The features that enhance the experience that we are excited to make use of are the 96kHz sample rate with the future potential to 192kHz and the built-in analog splitter with Gain Tracking and down-sampling output streams. The flexibility of the Opticore upgrades with the new racks enables us to be very flexible and offer solutions in a pinch that weren't available until now." Currently making use of several of these new racks include the Lil' Wayne I Am Music II spring trek across North America from March to May, featuring sets by supporting acts Travis Barker, Mix Master Mike, and Rick Ross, plus Nicki Minaj and members of his Yoney Money crew (Birdman, Lil Twist, Mack Maine, and Shanell). At the front of house, Demetrius Moore employs two SD racks loaded with 96 channels (eight AES out and eight analog out) to feed Dolby Lake processors at 96KHz with analog backups, which then feed 40 d&b audiotechnik D12 amplifiers, keeping the sampling rates at 96kHz from the A-to-D converter to the speaker output of the amplifiers. In addition, there are three more SD racks out with the group, one at the front of house, loaded 40 inputs x 30 outputs with 16 AES S/R to drive all the front-of-house effects in the same fiber loop as the stage racks. The other two are at monitor world with engineer Sean Sturge, loaded with 96 input channels-40 analog and 8-16 digital outputs at 96kHz. Both Moore and monitor engineer Sturge have noticed a perceptible audio difference with the addition of the SD racks. "These racks are clearer and have more high end," said Moore. "They sound more natural and warmer. We actually A/B'd them at Eighth Day, and everyone agreed there was definitely a noticeable difference." Kirschnick says Eightht Day plans to send the racks out on upcoming tours with Juanes and Arcade Fire, "and, on pretty much every tour we deploy from this point on," he said. "They have added an additional level of versatility and sonic clarity to the already flexible DiGiCo platform. "That, coupled with the small footprint, MADI stream multitrack recording, and 96KHz fidelity, makes the SD7 an all-around outstanding product." Moore has utilized it on previous outings with Drake and Kanye West, among others. "I'm very comfortable with it and love it for the sound, and for what I can do with it. I use the multiband compressors heavily, no matter what the tour is. I love that feature. I don't have to EQ as much as I used to, plus you can clean up a lot of the artist's Pro Tools files with the multiband compressor-vocals, keyboards, drums, etc-across the board. They really save the day." Moore is also taking advantage of the recording capabilities via the onboard RME MADIface cards, backing up to CD on a Nuendo HP Workstation, as well as on hard disc and multitask recorders from ADK for archival purposes. "The mix is recorded in three different places," he said, "and, technically, four, if you count video world. I record every day and, when they're done, I can play it back and brush up the mix; I also use it for virtual soundchecking." With a revolving roster of artists performing nightly, Sturge is juggling a multitude of in-ear monitors as well as wireless mics. His main concern was accommodating smooth transitions between all the artists. "There are about 57 songs in the set list and there's more or less a different person coming out on every song," he explained. "I'm able to program it all in rehearsals so I don't have to worry about who's coming out on what song. The console is doing it all for me... I set a snapshot and off I go. It's all right in front of me." "Also, like Demetrius, the multiband compression comes in handy because you can go through all the song files on each set and fix everything in detail. If there's too much high end on the song, no problem. We're also using a lot of compression. And the macro section is one of the main features of the desk that I enjoy. I can assign a lot of stuff there, and get to it fast with a touch of a button. I put all my effects on macros without having to go into all the layers. It's a great addition." 
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