DiGiCo at NAMM: Going Quantum (Again)

Quantum 5 follows on from the huge success of DiGiCo’s flagship Quantum 7. As with Quantum 7, the Quantum 5 engine slots neatly into the existing SD5 frame and, with its 37 faders and three 15-inch full colour TFT touchscreens, provides Quantum processing features, power and connectivity in both new and existing hardware. 

Quantum 5 expands the SD5 to over 450 channels of processing at 96kHz. It includes up to 256 input channels with up to 128 busses and a 36 x 36 matrix. The engine is also equipped with four redundant, or eight individual, MADI ports and two DMI slots (DiGiCo Multi-Channel Interface) for AoIP and other connectivity options from the complete family of DMI card options, plus a built-in Waves port and up to two Optocore loops. 

Other Quantum enhancements include the now highly regarded Nodal Processing which allows monitor engineers unrivalled creativity on their IEM mixes, and of course True Solo to allow them to hear exactly as their artist does. These are combined with the multiple flavours of 48 channels of Mustard processing and 12 Spice Rack processing slots, including Chili 6.

Mustard processing is a set of channel processing strips that work alongside standard Quantum channel processing. Each Mustard processing strip provides a choice of two pre-amp modellers, a four-band EQ (including all-pass filters), four different boutique style compressor models and a gate/ducker. Quantum 5 is equipped with 48 mono Mustard processing strips which can be used on any channel type.

The Spice Rack, meanwhile, supports plugin style native FPGA processing options, allowing you to build a rack of up to eight insertable processors. The first of these is the Chilli 6 – a six-band multi-band compressor which allows full control of all parameters, including DiGiCo’s unique, patented, release shape control, which means Chilli 6 is perfect for shaping vocals and instruments as well as focusing on problem frequencies.

“Quantum 5 makes complete sense as an upgrade path for both new and existing SD5 users,” comments DiGiCo general manager, Austin Freshwater. “It allows them to take advantage of all the new Quantum features while maximising their ongoing return on investment.”

Along with the newly launched Quantum338, Quantum 5 is part of DiGiCo’s expanding Quantum range. As with all consoles in the range, Quantum 5 is developed with seventh generation FPGA devices that further expand audio processing power and allows DiGiCo to provide its users with unrivalled flexibility.