Soundcraft Vi6™ Digital Consoles On Display At The 2009 NBA All-Star Game In Phoenix, Arizona

For the third time in NBA All-Star history, Phoenix, Arizona hosted the 58th annual All-Star game that featured a weekend of competition and events, including the 3-point and dunk contests as well as the Rookie Challenge. Two Guys Audio Services Inc. of Rainbow City, Alabama, through Volume Inc. provided FOH audio console support for the event and flawlessly mixed the weekend’s events on two Soundcraft Vi6™ digital consoles.

Engineers Jerome Fox and Dave Zammit independently operated the desks and provided outstanding audio quality for the event. Fox utilized one Vi6 to drive the speaker systems while mixing the production elements, including video playback rolls, announcer microphones, television feeds and on-court mics, while Zammit mixed the live music elements and delivered the feed to Fox’s console via AES for distribution.

Zammit commented on the development of the event and discussed the selection of the Vi6 consoles. “We started with 2 x 96 input systems, intending to use these as parallel main and backup systems, but as things progressed, it became clear that more than one system would be needed to merely address the input / output requirements of the event.” Zammit continued, “We needed outstanding performance from the consoles and we selected the Vi6 consoles for their great sound, reliable platform and the intuitive Vistonics interface that provides such an “analog” operation allowing engineers to fully exploit all the advantages of a digital system.”

Fox added,” I was sold the minute I discovered the HiQnet capabilities and the ability to mix effectively even without a mouse.”

The versatility of the Vi6 consoles was an integral part of the NBA-All Star weekend’s festivities commencing with the first live performance of Corbin Bleu on Friday at the Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam night and continuing on Saturday with performances by Kevin Rudolph and the dunk contest. The main event on Sunday featured John Legend, and included Latin star Juanes.

“As is the case with mixing any live event, the NBA All-Star games presented a few challenges but the Vi6 allowed us to successfully manage the event on the fly,” added Zammit. “The nature of the event required us to make quick adjustments and the reliability and flexibility of the console enabled us to remain relaxed while mixing a great All-Star game.”