Monitor engineer Julien Vouillon played a central role in ensuring the sonic identity of this landmark album, delivering a faithful and consistent listening experience for the band, regardless of the constraints imposed by the scenography or the venue. With precise micing, faithful recreation of the original sounds and total sonic clarity, the end result was so good it was used for the live album in its entirety, with no studio remix required.
DiGiCo have designed some of the world's finest monitor consoles, establishing themselves as reference tools for the most demanding and complex productions, Vouillon says. The capabilities of the Quantum consoles in terms of input/output counts and processing power have opened entirely new possibilities. They offer a decisive advantage to anyone dealing with particularly complex technical and artistic requirements and have allowed me to realise ideas I had been developing for years.
The tour's live album was recorded in Odeon of Herodes Atticus, in the heart of the Acropolis of Athens, and was created entirely from the monitor mixes for the band. As Vouillon expands, this unique recording choice could only have been achieved with the DiGiCo Quantum 7 at the heart of the system.
For AIR and their close collaborators, that night became legendary, Vouillon recalls. From the very first playback of the recording, it was clear that we had captured something extraordinary. The monitor mix sounded like an album, already perfectly balanced, but it also represented a new way of producing a live album with the mix being taken directly from the monitor console, rather than front of house. Most are reworked in a studio, often with a reduced dynamic range, making them feel closer to a studio record. This recording preserved all the energy, breathing, and authenticity of a live performance. That is precisely what makes it unique.
The Athens Concert, AIR's first-ever live album, is set to be released on April 18, 2026, capturing the performance with an unprecedented level of fidelity and realism.
The Quantum 7 was Vouillon's console of choice thanks to the intuitive workflow and high-quality audio processing. For him, only DiGiCo consoles provide the speed, ease of use and efficiency required for every performance.
Despite the Quantum 7's ability to manage an extremely large number of simultaneous mixes, the user interface remains remarkably intuitive and ergonomic, enabling fast and efficient workflows, he continues. Access to parameters is immediate, allowing instant responses even in the most critical situations. The introduction of 32-bit I/O conversion cards has further reinforced DiGiCo's advantage in pure audio quality, delivering exceptional clarity and transparency, particularly at 96 kHz.
Vouillon's weeks of preparation had clear results in the recording because for AIR, the whole goal of the tour was to perform the entire album live on stage while staying true to the original sounds, reproducing the mix of this iconic album as faithfully as possible.
From the very first weeks of rehearsals AIR were excited to return to playing live and experience a sound on stage that matched the quality they are accustomed to in the studio, he continues. Long celebrated for their meticulous studio work, AIR found that this tour marked the first time their live listening experience truly equalled their studio standards. It was also the first time their onstage performance fully reflected the precision and quality of their entire recorded catalogue.
Not only did the audio reflected AIR's exacting attention to detail, the visual spectacle of the show was also breath-taking. The band performed every night inside a large cuboid, 14 metres wide, four deep and three high. Made with clean, sharp lines of plexi-glass and metal, the surfaces were highly reflective. It was a challenging space to work with and one that focussed Vouillon's mind immediately.
The design created an intense accumulation of reflections and floating echoes, he continues. It was, quite literally, one of the most acoustically challenging environments we could have imagined. From day one, this constraint required me to carefully select microphones capable of minimizing the acoustic imprint of the space. We used Sennheiser MD 445 for vocals, along with DPA 2012 and 4055, plus Beyerdynamic M160 for the drums. These capsules allowed us to significantly reduce the influence of the box on the overall sound. I then applied a specific processing chain to each microphone, cleaning every source and optimizing the signal-to-noise ratio before producing the sounds themselves.
Once he had a system in place, the set design ultimately became a significant advantage on tour. By transporting the structure from city to city, the musicians experienced the same onstage acoustics every night. For the final concert at the Grand Palais in Paris, a spectacular but challenging venue for amplified music, the team knew they would have to work hard to balance the 43-piece symphony orchestra that would accompany the band. Even with exacting microphone choice and placement, Vouillon found that utilizing Waves plugins was a great way to process each source individually.
Plugin processing was essential for preparing the mix, ensuring it faithfully reflected both the sonic aesthetic of the album and the specific demands of live performance, he says. With the arrival of the Quantum series, the use of Mustard equalizers and compressors added an analogue character to the extremely precise and detailed sound of the DiGiCo digital environment. For me, it allows a perfect balance of fidelity, musicality and efficiency in a live setting. In my opinion, this represents the most significant improvement from the Quantum series.
Vouillon makes extensive use of plugins throughout
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture -Zac Fields, Fox Sports, SVP of Graphic Technology and Integration...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
Monitor engineer Julien Vouillon played a central role in ensuring the sonic identity of this landmark album, delivering a faithful and consistent listening experience for the band, regardless of the constraints imposed by the scenography or the venue. With precise micing, faithful recreation of the original sounds and total sonic clarity, the end result was so good it was used for the live album in its entirety, with no studio remix required.
