
We are seeing a dominance of DiGiCo consoles being used by artists on the main stage, he says. The choice of consoles for the festival is usually determined by the artists' engineering team and their preference is often a deciding factor. In front of me at the mix position, three of the four consoles are DiGiCo; it seems to be a trend. We are also using an SD-11 to control system feeds, including video mapping, pyro-sound, FOH-stage communications, FOH walk-in music and more.
The experience of Rock in Rio is like no other festival. Created by Roberto Medina as a gift for the city and a way to put Rio de Janeiro firmly on the world music map, it has an enormous reach. Since 1985, there have been 19 editions, and 2,038 artists have performed in front of 9.5 million attendees. A further 12 million fans have joined by watching the live stream online, with the festival's social media channels connecting with 143 million people since 2017. In Rock City, the festival site, there are seven music stages, rides, attraction and food choices from chefs who have been flown in from cities around the world to deliver exceptional dining experiences. Also enjoying the spectacle was Ian Staddon, VP of sales for DiGiCo. Staddon joined the Gabisom team and Audio System's Brazil, DiGiCo distributors and suppliers for the festival, to experience the festival for the second weekend.
It was very special to see so many artists coming through the festival using DiGiCo consoles, Staddon recalls. In addition to being at the front of house position, I also got to witness the team from Epah Studios provide the live broadcast mix from their SD7, and the Gabisom engineers in their purpose-built studio using the Quantum 852. It was a really positive experience.
Rock in Rio has always been an industry leading festival, with techniques used there replicated at festivals across the world. Today the visitors' experience is second to none and festivalgoers can experience VIP lounges, shopping experiences, chill out zones and, for the first time this year, the Hype Fair, a new space for fashion, art and design. Rock City is an extravagant opportunity to really enjoy all that the music world has to offer with the highest-class facilities, and visitors do so knowing the weekend will be mud free, thanks to extensive site preparations.
The event was outstanding, Staddon continues. The whole system was exceptional, with many engineers commenting on the quality of the set-up. There was a long list of artists on the Palco Mundo and Sunset stages that were using DiGiCo, and I noticed a full range of Quantum consoles from all the headliners!
Technically, the audio set-up was huge. Not only must the audience hear the artists perfectly from each stage, but the entire festival was also live streamed via the festival's website and recorded. The live recordings were mixed onsite from the Gabisom recording studio installed backstage, with DiGiCo consoles providing the reliability and clarity that is required by all sound engineers, regardless of the application, as Racy continues.
From my perspective as a systems manager and also a FOH mixer, I like DiGiCo consoles for a number of reasons, he says. Thanks to features like their dual power-supplies, dual engines, and redundant fibre loop, they are a solid and reliable platform. And you can't forget the excellent audio specifications and performance, all accessible via the amazing, feature rich user interface.
Thanks to the festival's long history and luxurious setting, they have no trouble booking the very best acts, and the calibre was high across all seven stages this year. Each one had its own focus, with the World Stage featuring artists like Imagine Dragons, Ed Sheeran, Karol G, Avenged Sevenfold, Charlie Puth and Ne-Yo.
Peter Racy and the Gabisom crew are masters of their craft, says Staddon. Flipping between both main stages, interspersing acts with live, aerobatic display team fly-bys as well as full fireworks displays and anniversary presentations, it's outstanding to see. Mariah Carey closing the Sunset in style, with a Quantum 5 at FOH and a Quantum 7 on monitors, was a special moment.
The Rock in Rio production team have turned festival-production into a fine art, the result is relaxed, looks incredible and almost feels like a theme park, Racy concludes. DiGiCo consoles fit into this world because they are feature rich and super flexible. The software is highly evolved to do exactly what we need it to do. Add to that combination the practical and communicative surface, and there is no doubting that the Rock in Rio / DiGiCo trend is here to stay.
[ENDS] Image captions:
DiGiCo_Rock_In_Rio_2024_1.jpg - Simon Kemp - FOH for Ed Sheeran
DiGiCo_Rock_In_Rio_2024_2.jpg John Buitrago FOH for Karol G
DiGiCo_Rock_In_Rio_2024_3.jpg Maycon Mendes FOH engineer for Jao, Quantum 338
DiGiCo_Rock_In_Rio_2024_4.jpg Mike Schaeffer FOH Engineer for Charlie Puth
DiGiCo_Rock_In_Rio_2024_5.jpg Gabison recording the full festival on a Quantum 852 from the broadcast truck
DiGiCo_Rock_In_Rio_2024_6.jpg Ze Lima FOH Engineer for Ivette Sangalo
DiGiCo_Rock_In_Rio_2024_7.jpg Doreonne FOH for Ne-YO
DiGiCo_Rock_In_Rio_2024_8.jpg and DiGiCo_Rock_In_Rio_2024_9.jpg Paul J. Falcone FOH and monitor engineer Connor Murray
Press Contacts:
Maria Fiorellino at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: maria@digiconsoles.com
Web: www.digico.biz
Sarah James at Gasoline Media
Tel: +44 1483 223333
Email: sarahj@gasolinemedia.com
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
19/11/2025
Sphere Sound Kicks Up Its Heels at Radio City Music HallUltra-immersive system from the singular Las Vegas venue is also ready for sportsBy Dan Daley, Audio Edi...
19/11/2025
The Future of Stadium and Arena Video Control Rooms: Tech Leaders Talk 4K, IP, a...
19/11/2025
One Year at Intuit Dome: Walking Through the Stunning Arena's Advanced Video...
19/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: IMG's Francois Westcombe Goes Inside IMG's Annual Digital ...
19/11/2025
Inside Brighton & Hove Albion's fan-first media machine By George Bevir
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
Brighton & Hove Albion'...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 1: Kansas Athletics Brings New Production Power to Rebu...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 2: A Pro's Guide to Kansas Athletics' New Video...
19/11/2025
MLB Media Rights Shakeup: NBC Inks Three-Year Deal for Sunday Night Baseball, Pe...
19/11/2025
Rohan Parashuram Kanawade attends the premiere of Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival at Egyptian Theatre on January 26, 2025, in Pa...
19/11/2025
Awards season is heating up, and the International Documentary Association just ...
19/11/2025
Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were joined by state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking o...
19/11/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
19/11/2025
Calrec gives Phoenix Broadcast Solutions its full support in strategic multi-year enterprise partnership New Singapore OB company invests in Calrec technology f...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Vitec has acquired Datapath, a developer of real-time video processing for large-scale video walls, AVoIP content distribution and KVM control in mission-critic...
19/11/2025
NEVADA CITY, Calif. Telestream has introduced ARGUS Version 2.3, which introduces Live Look, a feature that lets operators inspect live and on-demand streams vi...
19/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charters stra...
19/11/2025
TOKYO Atomos has announced a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monitor-recor...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
19/11/2025
PlayBox Neo departed the NAB Show New York 2025 on a high note. The company's all-new PlayBox Neo Suite made a splash on the show floor, drawing strong inte...
19/11/2025
AAVBR (American Audio Visual Baton Rouge), a leading full-service event production company serving Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, has enhanced its product...
19/11/2025
In its mission to deliver live event services combining advanced engineering with a creative approach to captivating live sports and entertainment experiences, ...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK Short-form vertical video has exploded across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but a new survey commissioned by Media.net, a provider of c...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK YES Network, the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, and CAMB.AI have struck a partnership they said will leverage ...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has issued detailed guidance on filings that were disrupted by the government shutdown. While many of those fil...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK The popularity of NFL games is largely responsible for continued seasonal momentum in TV viewership into October (measured Sept. 29-Oct. 26), according...
19/11/2025
DirecTV has announced that its MyFree DirecTV streaming service has added seven new channels. Those include four sports services, NBA FAST, Red Bull TV, DAZN Ri...
19/11/2025
SURREY, U.K. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has launched Flair Bridge, a compact device that transforms how operators control the company's motion-contr...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission, which is continuing to rapidly ramp up its operations after the end of the federal government shutdown, has se...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Martin Freeman, Jessie Buckley, Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, Eddie the Eagle and ...
19/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz collaborates with Broadcom to enable testing and validation of n...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Innato, starring Imanol Arias and Elena Anaya, arrives on Netf...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Guillermo del Toro Sits Down With Troll 2 Director Roar Uthaug...
19/11/2025
Some projects feel monumental from the moment the first phone call comes in. When BCE, the host broadcaster appointed to coordinate the national coverage, asked...
19/11/2025
November 19 2025, 08:00 (PST) BAY AREA HOST COMMITTEE AND DOLBY PARTNER TO DELIVER IMMERSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES
During the Week of Football's Biggest Game...
19/11/2025
Michael D. Higgins: Ireland's Ninth President features RT Archives footage and interviews across seven decades
Watch Wednesday 19 November at 9:35pm on RT...
19/11/2025
Scripps Research scientists receive $1.1 million to advance AI modeling for HIV vaccine development New AI system helps scientists rapidly pinpoint the most pro...
18/11/2025
Independent media across Central America are operating under intensifying financial pressure, yet there is a clear appetite for models that can sustain both ind...
18/11/2025
NBA Debuts New Comms Infrastructure and Systems for RefereesTwo-phase rollout is intended to improve game flow, enhance officiating accuracyBy Dan Daley, Audio ...
18/11/2025
Platinum White Paper: How Aggreko Delivers Certainty For Broadcasters On The Wor...
18/11/2025
Kiswe Extends DTC Products With Kiswe Core Cloud-Based Tool for Distributing Con...
18/11/2025
Spanish Basketball Federation partners with ScorePlay to power digital transform...
18/11/2025
HBS selects BBright encoders and decoders to connect ST 2110 live production wor...
18/11/2025
Ashes to Ashes: Inside TNT Sports' hybrid and maverick' production plan...
18/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Mimi Fotopoulos, Director, Talent and Production Operations, Tenn...
18/11/2025
SVG LIVE! Conference Explores the Tech Side of Sports and Entertainment ConvergenceLive sports and music productions increasingly share gear and infrastructureB...