Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati world tour utilises DiGiCo Quantum 338s at the front of house and monitor positions, supplied by Solotech Group for the UK and European leg of the tour, complete with DMI-KLANG immersive in ear monitoring.
Engineers Kenny Narayan and Ranjeet Singh have toured with Dilijit Dosanjh for many years, choosing DiGiCo because of the console’s durability and the range of features that enable it to cope with the demands of a multimedia artist.
“The show is very heavy on Snapshots and MIDI recalls. Dilijit is very active on social media, so we use a lot of busses, too,” Narayan explained. “The console really meets our needs. There are often TV news cameras, or social media teams that need feeds, so having the MADI streams at the desk to hit their recording platforms, rather than needing an additional rack, made it seamless.”
With massive media interest in every aspect of the show, Narayan and Singh must be fully focussed on ensuring that Diljit’s sound is perfect. Reliability and consistency are key to trusting the equipment to do exactly what is needed, every time it is asked. Redundancy comes as standard for the Quantum 338, with six single or three redundant MADI connections, dual DMI slots and a built-in UB MADI USB recording interface. Alongside the super-fast seventh generation FPGAs, the console offers security, speed and control.
“Overall, there are no more than 56 channels in use at the monitor desk. We use timecode for tracks and have additional monitor mixes for video, broadcast mixes and recordings,” Singh said. “The console copes well with everything we ask of it, it is robust and trustworthy.”
Both consoles are connected via Optocore, enabling additional send and return channels in addition to simplifying system integration. It is a set-up that works well for the pair, as Singh continues.
“For this tour, it has to be DiGiCo. There are so many features that we appreciate, especially the chat function, which makes it so easy to communicate during the show; the SPL regularly goes above 108dB, so it’s essential,” he said. “Spice Rack and Mustard work really well, too, especially the DiGiTube valve amp emulator, which means we don’t have to rely on external processing racks.”
Another feature available directly via the console is the DMI-KLANG card. This fully integrated expansion card gives Singh access to the powerful KLANG immersive in ear mixes, delivering a full 360 degree immersive experience for the artists. KLANG is accessible directly via the console, allowing engineers to remain in their usual mixing workflow, and offering 64 input channels and 16 mixes, with latency of only 0.25 of a millisecond.
“DMI-KLANG is the first choice for our monitor mixes,” Singh continued. “The whole band uses the immersive settings, and we have 13 mixes in total. The musicians appreciate the clarity of sound and the space KLANG gives each element of the mix. Many of our artists are demanding the system for other performances! This is the first tour that we have used it for, and they are really enjoying it to the fullest!”
The record breaking Dil-Luminati tour sold out three nights in London’s O2 in a matter of minutes, making it the fastest selling, highest grossing run of shows for a Punjabi artist in the venue’s history. The tour closes the year in India with sold-out shows across the country, and their trusted DiGiCo desks will accompany them. It is a relationship that was built to last, as Narayan concludes.
“We chose DiGiCo for its robustness and the ability to share a rack,” he said. “Both Ranjeet and I have extensive DiGiCo experience, so if there are ever any issues, we can usually fix them. The audio quality and workflow work extremely well for us.”
