Today, from their bustling booth at NAMM 2020, DiGiCo
revealed the latest model in their Quantum generation of consoles- the brand
new Quantum338.
The Quantum338 represents the same efficiency of operation
that DiGiCo users have come to expect from consoles like the ground-breaking
Quantum7, in a smaller form factor. Sporting a sleek new look and impressive
new design features, the Quantum338 represents
a dramatic step up in connectivity and processing power.
“With Quantum338, we have ensured that we are providing a next generation console that works in synergy with our Quantum Engine,” says DiGiCo’s Senior Electronics Engineer, Michael Aitchison. “We focused our R&D team on user experience, learning from the last 20 years, with our continuing main objective of merging new with familiar.”
Based on seventh generation FPGAs, the Quantum338 includes 128 input channels with 64
busses and a 24 x 24 matrix, which all feature full channel processing. Three
17 inch 1000 nit, high brightness, multi-touch screens feature prominently and
allow both the meter bridge and soft quick select buttons to be displayed on
each screen.
The floating Quantum chassis
features 38 x 100mm touch-sensitive faders, in three banks of 12 faders, as
well as two dedicated user-assignable faders, both with high resolution
metering. The system also includes 70 individual TFT channel
displays and a ‘new look and feel’ dark mode application.
The “Ultimate Stadius” 32-bit DAC and ADC conversion systems, which are built in to the Quantum338 as standard, offer a new level of local audio connectivity and performance. On the rear, six single (or three redundant) MADI connections sit alongside dual DMI slots, and a UB MADI USB recording interface built directly into the console.
The Quantum338, like the
Quantum 7 before it, features all the benefits of the new Quantum engine,
including Nodal Processing, True Solo, Mustard Processing and Spice Rack.
The Spice Rack supports plug-in style native FPGA processing, allowing you to
build a rack of up to 8 insertable processor instances. The first of these,
known as Chilli 6, is a six-band compressor including access to all parameters.
Chilli 6 is not only suitable for focusing on problem frequencies, but also
perfect for shaping vocals and instruments, as it includes DiGiCo’s unique and
patented Release Shape Control.
Mustard processing is a set of channel processing strips
designed to work alongside standard Quantum channel processing. Each strip
provides a choice of four different boutique-style compressor models, a
gate/ducker, two pre-amp modellers, and a four-band EQ which includes all-pass
filters. The system is equipped with
36 of such strips.
Austin Freshwater, DiGiCo’s General Manager, sums up
the console’s impact- “The entire system architecture is new and exciting- but
just to recap on a few cool highlights, we have improved transparency of audio,
provided more audio toys, bigger, brighter multi-touch PCAP screens, increased
visual feedback and an all new worksurface architecture!”
