
BURBANK, California - October 2020 - The tenth annual iHeartRadio Music Festival, a two-day virtual streaming, radio and TV broadcast event in late September, featured a lineup of international chart-topping artists performing live in front of a virtual audience, including Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, BTS, Coldplay, Kane Brown with special guests Khalid and Swae Lee, Keith Urban, Migos, Miley Cyrus, Thomas Rhett with Jon Pardi, Usher and others. The festival also marked the debut of the recently introduced DiGiCo Quantum338 digital mixing console, along with a new DiGiCo SD12 mixing console, at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles in Burbank, California, where many of the artists recorded their performances in the lead up to the festival's air date.
Jason Batuyong, the venue's head of audio for the past year, has worked at iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles since the 20,000-square-foot space-formerly NBC Studios and home to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno-opened at the Burbank Studios in 2013. He reports that the two-console upgrade has significantly improved the setup process at the venue. The original sound system installation, on which Batuyong also worked, was performed by ATK Audiotek, and included digital desks that, while rider-friendly, were of a previous generation of technology, he says.
Most of the time acts would bring in their own tour package desks or rent them in for their shows. The idea was to streamline everything and make it easier for artists to not have to bring in all their own stuff. We picked DiGiCo, because that was all we had been using, really, for every show, says Batuyong, who regularly works on America's Got Talent, X-Factor and numerous other TV shows and live events.
Batuyong and his team, which includes FOH mixer Josh Manville and monitor mixer Matt Russell, knew that they wanted a compact SD12 at the front-of-house position in the theater, which has a capacity of around 500 standing plus another 150 to 200 on the mezzanine. Having an SD12 at front-of-house saves us so much space because it's so small, yet it still has all the functionality. And that made everybody happy, because everyone that normally congregates at front-of-house suddenly had more room, he says.
When he contacted Matt Larson, vice president of professional audio for DiGiCo's US distributor, Group One Ltd, in late 2019 to see what options might be available for the monitor desk, Matt said, Don't buy yet; wait until the NAMM Show. I can't tell you what's coming, but you're going to want it.' I said, Sign me up; I trust you.' We didn't know it was going to be Quantum, although we hoped.
But then, says Batuyong, We found out that it was a whole new Quantum machine. It was everything we'd hoped for and more-way more. The venue's new Quantum338, which is based on seventh-generation FPGAs and an entirely new system architecture, is fitted with 112 inputs and 48 outputs, all incorporating DiGiCo's new Ultimate Stadius 32-bit ADC and DAC conversion, plus DMI-AES cards supporting 16 AES I/O.
Two SD-Racks are connected optically, he also reports. We run everything on a loop and share the head amps, one mixer using the gains and setting them, and then everybody using trims beyond that. No one is using gain tracking. We found that that works the best for us.
The iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles had been closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, so the festival marked the venue's debut of its new Q338. We shut down, like everyone else, in March. And we didn't receive the Q338 until June, says Batuyong. We did use the SD12 on a few shows earlier in the year, but the tenth anniversary music festival was the maiden voyage for the Q338, and it was 100 percent amazing.
He continues, Everyone was extremely excited because, with quarantine, nobody had been able to see this console. Some artists' FOH mixers were little bit worried about bringing their files and how the file converter was going to work, but all of that worked seamlessly and was absolutely great. But most people started the mix from scratch. That was easier for the shortened sets that they were going to play. And everyone said, on their next tour, they want a Q338.
The weekend-long virtual festival, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, was broadcast on iHeartMedia stations nationwide September 18 and 19, and was also televised on The CW Network on September 27 and 28. The iHeartRadio Music Festival, which debuted ten years ago in celebration of the launch of the iHeartRadio digital service, was additionally available for streaming via the iHeartRadio app, iHeartMedia's free all-in-one digital music, podcasting and live streaming radio service.
This year's iHeartRadio Music Festival included performances not only from Los Angeles but also from the broadcaster's theater in Nashville, as well as from Seoul, South Korea. We had eight artists come through in seven days, including two on one day, Batuyong says. For example, he says, Miley Cyrus was the big showstopper, headlining the second day of the festival. Enrique Santos, winner of the 2017 iHeartRadio Latin Personality of the Year Award, introduced Kane Brown onstage in Nashville for a performance of Be Like That alongside special guests Khalid and Swae Lee on the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles stage, a collaboration made possible via PORTL, a new hologram technology. Alicia Keys came through, and Usher was also here, he says.
A couple of artists did bring their own setups, Batuyong reports. Which was fine, because we have a little room now, he says, thanks to the space-saving compact SD12. And everyone brought in DiGiCos.
For more information on iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles, visit www.iheart.com.
ATK Audiotek can be found online at www.atkaudiotek.com.
About DiGiCo
DiGiCo is
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...