Allen & Heath’s dLive Enables the Talent to Shine on X Factor Italia

 

Now in its fifteenth season, X Factor Italia has launched the careers of numerous artists in Italy since debuting in 2008, not least glam-rockers Måneskin who went on to win Eurovision 2021 with their single “Zitti e buoni”.

For the 2021 season of X Factor Italia, Mauro La Ficara returned to his role as FOH engineer for the second year running with production company AMG International SRL providing a turnkey audio system, based around a pair of Allen & Heath’s flagship dLive systems, capable of handling the show’s demanding requirements.

“To manage the high number of incoming channels we use the dLive S7000 Surface with a DM64 MixRack, extended with a C3500 Surface and DM48 MixRack,” La Ficara explains. “The sync between the two systems for changing Scenes works very well via the Scene Embedded Recall, I simply connected a network cable between the MixRacks.” With all dLive MixRacks providing 128 input processing channels at 96kHz with an ultra-low 0.7ms of latency, La Ficara’s configuration allowed over 250 input processing channels to be utilized during each show.

A unique dLive feature that La Ficara made extensive use of was A/B/C/D Inputs, allowing up to 4 input sockets to be assigned to a single input channel with instantaneous switching via user-configurable SoftKeys: “Having 4 alternative inputs on each channel is very useful, it easily allowed me to manage the bands without worrying which stage they played on, or if they were on RF” he notes.

“Also, I’m very happy with the quality of the DEEP compressors, especially the parallel path option which is very easy to use and available on all channels” he adds. “The multiband compressor [Dyn8] was also widely used, the options and parameters make it very versatile. I also used the built-in reverbs and delays without feeling the need to use any external processing, the range of choices and possibilities really cover any requirement.

“I am very happy with the decision to use dLive, particularly the versatility and flexibility of the surface. I can organize and then quickly manage a complex situation with several stages, where the needs of a TV show must coexist simultaneously with those of a live concert.”