French electropop legends, Air, have embarked on their summer festival season equipped with an Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing system to manage FOH. Specified by FOH Engineer, Dave McDonald, and supplied by Belgian PA company, Four Ears Audio, the system comprises an S5000 Control Surface with DM48 MixRack.
The tour marks the first time that McDonald has toured with the new dLive system having been an avid iLive user for many years with acts such as Adele, Florence & The Machine and Frank Ocean.
“The first thing I noticed was the build quality – it’s a sturdy beast – and the two touchscreens have a really classy feel, like something Apple would design,” McDonald commented.
Air’s festival gigs span Europe and include Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and Primavera festival in Spain.
“On the Air tour, we are using 14 vintage keyboards on stage, some mono and some stereo, and the stereo image and depth of sound coming from dLive is like nothing I’ve heard from a mixer before. The jump in sound quality is the difference between night and day,” continued McDonald. “I was very happy with its predecessor, iLive, but dLive is something else – it has all the great efects and dynamics plus lots of new toys, and it is so natural to operate it feels as if it is, well, designed for mixing! Definitely 10/10 from me.”