NAB 2018: DiGiCo's 4REA4 To Make North American Debut
Attendees of NAB 2018 will have an opportunity to catch the first official North American showing of DiGiCo’s new 4REA4 Installed Audio Solution. On exhibit in Las Vegas Convention Center’s Central Hall from April 9-12, the product is designed to meet the expanding performance requirements of large broadcast facilities, entertainment venues, houses of worship, theatres and shared stages at festivals and music venues.
In addition to the 4REA4, DiGiCo will be exhibiting “B” versions of several of its SD-Series digital audio consoles, which sport broadcast-specific amenities like a complete 5.1 monitor matrix with 48 x 6 source to speaker selection; mutli-channel folding; user defined stem order selection; Mix Minus busses (one per mono channel); backstop PFL (over press) and Auto PFL; and Audio Follow Video implementation. The manufacturer’s compact and budget-friendly S21 and S31 will also be on display.
DiGiCo further announces that it will be “revealing a number of exciting new developments and upgrades at the show,” which are currently under wraps for now.
At the heart of the system is the 4REA4 processing engine with DiGiCo connectivity options and powerful 4REA4 control software, providing routing, processing and mix control that allows your performance area to expand across your installation. The 4REA4 processing engine rack has four dedicated mix areas, or zones, each with its own stereo master output, CGs, and allocated FX. With an available 128 input channels and 48 buss output processing strips, you can independently allocate processing to whichever area as required.
Managing the mixing and routing of each individual local performance area are a new range of premium designed hardware control panels and external I/O units, that work in conjunction with the 4REA4 processing engine and control software. New Ethernet connected controller options include the wall mounting single rotary ACONTROL1 with a TFT display for small area performance management, and the ACONTROL8 with eight 100m faders designed for more complex mix and function control.
Local I/O boxes are managed via proprietary Ethernet or Dante connectivity for extended reach across a facility, with options including the new A168 STAGE floor rack and the A164 WALL LCD box, both providing mic and line level connectivity to ensure a premium 96kHz audio experience across the most demanding performance venues.
“It’s a natural but very exciting step in terms of expanding our current range of live performance solutions,” says DiGiCo Managing Director James Gordon. “4REA4 will allow our customers and new facilities to expand the function and reach of our live consoles today, whilst providing a new installation platform that delivers the highest quality audio and control across multiple performance areas. And it’s all backed up with the signature DiGiCo leading audio performance, connectivity and reliability.”