DiGiCo SD9 Satisfies Ukrainian Taste At STB

Currently ranked first in the country by audience share, Ukraine television station STB, needed a digital console that would withstand the rigors of moving around the country to regional heats of the Ukrainian version of Masterchef.

"The console had to be a reliable workhorse, able to work while constantly travelling -- sometimes in hostile environments. As far as we were concerned, DiGiCo has the best protection against dust and shock resistance. There was also an urgent need for a MADI interface and we wanted the possibility of using fiber optic," says STB sound engineer for projects such as The X Factor and Ukraine's Got Talent, Anton Fedorov.

Together with Masterchef senior sound designer Andrei Petrik and engineer Alexander Pavlyukov, Anton chose the SD9, supplied by Digico's Ukrainian distributor Real Music.

"Masterchef was filmed in all parts of Ukraine -- Kyiv, Donetsk, Odessa, Lviv, Chernivtsi, so it passed the touring test easily," says Andrei. "It's now being used on The Bachelor and it has worked very well. The channel ganging is very convenient and everyone who needs to get a desired mix can without any problems. I think it will work perfectly as a monitor mixer on our big live shows."

"I have been especially impressed by the dynamics processing and the multiband compressor in particular. It is easy to use and the sound is really something!" adds Anton. "The output buss design is very easy to use and everything can be completely reconfigured in the software for any task. We were even able to flip the touch screen upside down with the software, which we needed to for one show."

Anton and his colleagues have been impressed with the SD9, so much so that they are planning to buy a second Digico console.

"We are thinking of buying a new front-of-house console, most likely an SD8 with optical interface, although the configuration has not yet been determined," he says. "Digico also has the broadcast specific SD7B and SD10B and we need to further explore the capabilities of those consoles. But anything is possible, because Digico is Digico, and that says a lot."