LEXINGTON, Kentucky - July 2026 -Tyler Childers' seventh and latest studio record, Snipe Hunter, is an adventurously sprawling collection of tunes that spans a range of genres, from Appalachian folk and gospel music to psychedelia and experimental rock. To properly cover a lot of musical ground on his current Snipe Hunt Tour, which kicked off in Dallas on April 23, the Kentucky-born-and-raised singer-songwriter is backed up by his raucous seven-piece band, The Food Stamps, which generates a joyous explosion of musical creativity on stage each night. To best keep all of the singers and musicians in sync with their own performances as well as each other, Sound Image, a Clair Global brand, is carrying a DiGiCo Quantum338 as the tour's monitor console.
Cory Benson has been the artist's monitor engineer for three and a half years now, first hitting the road with Childers on 2023's Send in the Hounds Tour. As that tour wound down, I was taking inventory of the gear and reviewing what worked and what could be improved upon based on Tyler and the band's needs, he shares. I remember seeing a lot of positive videos and writeups on the DiGiCo Quantum338 and requested one to work with before the next tour prep began. What first drew me to the Quantum was a tossup between the superficial and the real-world applications. I'm a sucker for aesthetics and the Q338 is such a stunning console-the layout, the colors, the size, and those fantastic screens.
On the more practical side, the Nodal Processing was a game-changer, he continues. As a monitor engineer, you can find yourself cluttering up your fader banks with duplicated channels for specific sends. Being able to handle the individual sends from one channel allows me to keep my layouts simple and clean. Besides the fader bank cleanliness that Nodal Processing provides me, the safety net of my show lives in the macros. I've mixed on other desks, but nobody does macros better than DiGiCo. The layout and functionality are top notch on the Q338.
Benson describes his Snipe Hunt Tour monitoring setup as pretty simple, with the DiGiCo desk controlling two SD-Racks loaded with 32-bit mic pres and analog output cards. He's also utilizing two DiGiGrid MGBs to pull MADI into his recording computer.
From his typical position at stage left, Benson is supplying eight stereo IEM mixes for the band, along with five stereo IEM mixes for the backline techs, one stereo IEM VIP mix, and up to three stereo IEM mixes for guest sit-ins, potentially bringing the total to 17 on a busy day. I also send a backup stereo mix to a hardwired pack for our drummer, Rod, and a feedback wedge for our guitarist, James, which is only used for a few of his solos since all our amps are upstage of the risers.
This being Benson's third official outing on a Quantum338 has only further cemented his appreciation for DiGiCo's Quantum platform. Man, trying not to sound too much like a DiGiCo fanboy is tough! he laughs. The Mustard and Spice Rack processing is yet another powerful set of tools that help keep me in the box. True Solo is a tool that you don't think you'll need until you have it, and then you wonder how you'll ever work without it. The footprint of the Q338 is also great and can easily squeeze into some of the tightest of underplays that we sometimes find ourselves in. And the rugged, road-worthy build has definitely been tested in the past couple of tours: from rough ferry crossings across the UK/EU, to dusty outdoor festivals, to gale-force winds and rain in the Pacific Northwest, to a sweltering prehistoric show in a small grassy patch next to the highway-our most recent underplay at Dinosaur World in Kentucky-this console has never failed to perform.
Largely eschewing audio plugins and external processing, Benson prefers to keep everything onboard as much as possible. I utilize the Naga 6 on Tyler's vocal channel to reign in the wild dynamics of his performance before sending it through the DYN Blue Classic compressor, which is filtered to catch any aggressive peaks in his upper-mids, he says. I'm also running DYN Blue Classics on my band buses with a higher threshold to just glue everything together and catch any runaway transients. I use the Mustard gates for my toms because they feel a little more musical and organic than the SD's. And with DiGiCo's latest V22 software update, I'm now utilizing the new Mustard Levelling Amp, The Silver One, on upright bass-this thing is killer!
In my opinion, this desk works so well for this band because of its sonic transparency, he adds. These artists work so hard to craft the tones and sounds they want, so the last thing I want to do is affect it. I want the artists to be confident that what they're hearing in their IEMs is an accurate representation of what their instruments are doing on stage.
The confirmation that Benson has received back from the performers has confirmed that he's taking the right approach-with the right console. They've all, at one time or another, said positive things. But the comment that immediately comes to mind was from Jesse, one of our guitarists/multi-instrumentalists-they call him The Professor' because he actually is a music professor back in his home state of Kentucky. During our first rehearsal after the switch to the Q338, he turned to me a few minutes in, smiling, and said that he noticed a major positive difference in the clarity and fidelity compared to our previous console. All the guys on stage have great ears and don't tend to sugarcoat anything, so when they comment positively on the audio, I know it's genuine.
The Snipe Hunt Tour stops at a variety of iconic venues-including Chicago's historic Wrigley Field and Pennsylvania's Hersheypark Stadium-before wrapping u
Europe Stories
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...
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
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
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
Thursday 2 July 2026
Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen
Sky today confirms Tea with Judi Dench will return this su...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
LEXINGTON, Kentucky - July 2026 -Tyler Childers' seventh and latest studio record, Snipe Hunter, is an adventurously sprawling collection of tunes that span...
01/07/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
BLEACH Comes to Life in Los Angeles with First-of-Its-Kind...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
01/07/2026
Nectar360, the Retail Media, Loyalty and Insights business of the Sainsburys Gro...
01/07/2026
9.2 million streams on RT Player between 11 and 28 June
Reach of 2.9 million viewers during Group stages of FIFA World Cup on RT 2
23 million video views acr...
30/06/2026
Could your journalism reach an international stage?
Entries are now open for the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2026, one of the most prestigi...
30/06/2026
Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects
Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...
30/06/2026
New IR reverb engine, Juno-inspired chorus & more
The latest version of Rapid Flow's hardware-emulation synth plug-in expands on its predecessor with a ...
30/06/2026
Excels at heavy-handed VCA compression
For their latest release, Shy Audio have recreated the crunchy' sound of a rackmount compressor that found its w...
30/06/2026
Component scarcity drives cost increases
Shortly after Apple's CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that cost increases would soon be inevitable , the company hav...
30/06/2026
Hitachi and Bank Pekao S.A. have completed the installation of the first Hitachi...
30/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/06/2026
Four-layer instrument aimed at dark electronic music
Excite Audio's latest software instrument has been designed with dark drum and bass, atmospheric te...
29/06/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
29/06/2026
Details environmental policies & results
The Focusrite Group have just announced that following a long audit process, they have published their 2026 sustain...
29/06/2026
Arvato Systems Achieves AWS Cloud Operations Competency
The team behind the AWS Cloud Operations Competency (from left to right: Philipp Hellmich, Johanna Bod...
29/06/2026
RT today announced that Ger Gilroy will join the RT Podcasts team to present a daily sports podcast. Launching later this year, the new show will set the spor...
29/06/2026
RT Commercial announced OUTsurance as sponsor of the Oliver Callan show on RT Radio 1 from Wednesday 1 July.
Oliver Callan doubles the fun, delivering two ...
28/06/2026
Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up
Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...
28/06/2026
New EXO Series DSP control software announced
EVE Audio's EXO Series monitor range has just gained a new software element that provides remote access to...
27/06/2026
Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects
Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...
26/06/2026
Virtual session musician plug-in gains new percussion options
Celemony's latest update for their virtual session musician platform complements the exist...
26/06/2026
Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up
Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...
26/06/2026
ELT Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...
26/06/2026
Flicker Productions to produce five-part docu-reality series following women who have fallen for men in prison and have become TikTok sensations, with brands an...
26/06/2026
Catch up on the latest developments across Baselight and Daylight v7, Nara and F...
26/06/2026
26. June 2026 News
DFT is pleased to announce that a second Polar HQ film s...
26/06/2026
A fresh look at how the Irish helped shape the foundations of the United States
...
LEXINGTON, Kentucky - July 2026 -Tyler Childers' seventh and latest studio record, Snipe Hunter, is an adventurously sprawling collection of tunes that spans a range of genres, from Appalachian folk and gospel music to psychedelia and experimental rock. To properly cover a lot of musical ground on his current Snipe Hunt Tour, which kicked off in Dallas on April 23, the Kentucky-born-and-raised singer-songwriter is backed up by his raucous seven-piece band, The Food Stamps, which generates a joyous explosion of musical creativity on stage each night. To best keep all of the singers and musicians in sync with their own performances as well as each other, Sound Image, a Clair Global brand, is carrying a DiGiCo Quantum338 as the tour's monitor console.
