Nearing the end of a billion dollar transformation, The Star in Sydneys Pyrmont has morphed from a large-scale casino into a full-blown leisure and entertainment complex. With its panoramic views of Sydneys harbour and skyline, the venue has been designed to entice and host international headliners and A-list celebrities from around the globe. Situated within The Star is The Event Centre, a world-class entertainment space suited to intimate concert settings as well as domestic and international conferences, exhibitions and awards functions, which boasts a combination of DiGiCo SD10s and SD11s at the heart of its audio system.
The Event Centre is a huge 2400 square metre column-free space, the biggest of its kind in Sydney. The room caters for 4000 patrons in concert mode, 3000 guests with half seated, 1200 in a banquet ballroom setting and 1300 in a conference space.
Head of Audio at the Event Centre, Ian Brown, made his assessments of what audio solution The Event Centre would need early on in the process. DiGiCo quickly surfaced as the best choice and Ian was quite vocal in his reasons behind going with an SD10 and SD11 in particular.
"This was the first major purchase of audio equipment since the initial fit out of the Casino. From the beginning of this project we set a very high standard for all systems to be installed into the Event Centre, with special emphasis on the audio system. We had a huge list of special requirements the system had to meet: it had to deliver the best sound available today; and be able to mix up to four independent events on one core system while integrating with our HD vision, conferencing systems and broadcast trucks, as well as be able to link to the existing audio system within the casino. Ultimately, my brief was simple. It had to be the best in the world. Nothing else would do."
The flexibility of the console was paramount as Ian also notes: "We required a system that could easily switch from doing a concert for major International artists to a conference with the main room operating as two spaces, then go back to broadcast with MADI consoles from the truck linked to the system; and all with minimal time and minimal fuss. It also had to be a system that any sound guy (or girl) would be happy to use - and we can be a very fussy bunch. Above all, it had to be reliable. The SD series consoles were the only system that could meet all of the scenarios we could throw at them and they have exceeded all of our expectations."
With such a varied cross section of events being held at the Event Centre year round, the ability to re-locate consoles and re-configure them in various locations easily via optics proved very appealing to Ian at the onset and has since proven extremely practical.
"Weve had the consoles working hard since we opened. They have been used on the AACTA awards, the launch of the 2013 NRL season, a constant string of corporate events including product launches for Blackberry, HP, and Gala events with artists such as David Campbell, Dragon, Mark Seymour and a stream of major Chinese artists over Chinese New Year.
The ability to put a console anywhere in or out of the venue and have it link to the rest of the system with a simple optical patch is a god send especially when sub mixing for vision and / or links to breakout rooms are required. Many events require some unusual operating locations and complex routing is the norm here. Optics makes this a breeze, also saving us a lot of cable and head scratching. Hum and unwanted noise are a thing of the past. We are able to mix vision on one SD11 in the control room while sub mixing additional vision and playback from the main operating position on the other SD11 while mixing a band and additional mics on the SD10s. We can then bounce a mix to one of the SD11s for a live conference link, then bounce a total mix out for broadcast or streaming from any of the consoles. The possibilities are endless."
The ultra-low latency of the SD consoles has also ensured that syncing and streaming to HD video is easily achievable.
"The SD system has met all of these challenges with ease. We are not only able to access the hundreds of inputs and outputs across the entire Star Casino property via our extensive Dante network, but we can also link to the other properties in the Echo Entertainment Group or any site worldwide via a secure DVN service. We can also stream live over the Internet, and all in HD. The almost complete lack of latency in the system makes broadcast and syncing to vision a snap."
After steady use for several months, the SD consoles have met every requirement for Ian, his crew and any major act who has used the Event Centre, proving further the undisputed power and flexibility of DiGiCo.
"Everyone at the Star is blown away by the SD consoles. The layout and features are done just right. The mic preamps are stunning, tonnes of gain and clean - they don't add any unwanted noise or tone to the input. The EQ is as good as any I have ever heard. There is no difference in sound quality between the SD10 and the SD11, this is unheard of in any of the other mixers I have used when you go from a large to small format console from the same manufacturer. The routing capabilities of the system are extremely powerful while being easy to get your head around; it has made most of the cable infrastructure we installed redundant. The FX and dynamics are fantastic. The snapshots and pre-sets are powerful yet functional - easy to use and update on the fly. They are clearly designed by people who operate sound systems for people who operate sound systems. The learning curve is very shallow for such a powerful system. Every time someone asks can I ?' that is as far as they get. I just say yep'. They are a pure joy to use and there are constant fights over who gets to mix. Fortunately I usually win
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
28/08/2025
IBC stand 5.F81
Wowza to Reveal Next-Gen Video Streaming Innovations at IBC 2025
Amsterdam, August 28, 2025 Wowza, a leader in video streaming infrastructur...
Nearing the end of a billion dollar transformation, The Star in Sydneys Pyrmont has morphed from a large-scale casino into a full-blown leisure and entertainment complex. With its panoramic views of Sydneys harbour and skyline, the venue has been designed to entice and host international headliners and A-list celebrities from around the globe. Situated within The Star is The Event Centre, a world-class entertainment space suited to intimate concert settings as well as domestic and international conferences, exhibitions and awards functions, which boasts a combination of DiGiCo SD10s and SD11s at the heart of its audio system.
