Blue Thunder Installs New DiGiCo Quantum 225

Blue Thunder Sound is based just outside Ivybridge in Devon.

The company was founded by Jake Prowse and has been running for the last 14 years, supplying events equipment to festivals all over the country, and touring internationally. Purchasing a DiGiCo Quantum 225 has been a game changer for the company and The Big Weekender at Yeovil was the first outing for the console. Jake Prowse, Managing director and Ryan Gardner, Senior Audio Engineer say the new Quantum 225 complements their existing inventory and is a perfect fit for their style of working.

"The versatility of the Q225 is very important," said Gardner. "We do festivals over the summer, but we are also doing theatre shows and corporate events. We need a console that has a simple user interface and is as versatile as we are as a company. The Quantum 225 can do all of this and more."

The Quantum 225 was provided by SoloTech, the Solihull based DiGiCo supplier, and the Big Weekender in Somerset was the perfect opportunity to test drive it. The festival is a huge weekend of music, family entertainment, monster trucks and hot air balloons.

The Quantum 225 was the ideal fit thanks to its fully programmable work surface, ensuring that everything engineers need is always at their fingertips. The console benefits from 72 input channels with 36 busses and a 12 x 12 matrix, all with full channel processing. Also included are Mustard Processing channel strips, Spice Rack, Nodal Processing and True Solo. It provides the flexibility that Blue Thunder needs.

"I really appreciate its usability," Gardner said. "If anybody asks you for a feed, it's just so quick and easy to get the result you want rather than fussing around in menus. It's such a flexible and adaptable piece of kit, whether you're doing broadcast or live."

2024 was the first year that Blue Thunder had been responsible for the Big Weekend audio, so it was a great opportunity to show off their new equipment. Alongside the brand new console was their new Martin WPC PA.

"The festival has a real funfair feel. With it being our first time, it was great to have plenty of toys to use," Gardner recalled. "There are Monster Trucks right behind the main stage, so we needed some powerful audio to beat those!"

Owning a Quantum 225 also has perks for the freelance engineers that work throughout the year for Blue Thunder, enabling a longer prep time because equipment is not being sub-hired. The prep room in the warehouse is already busy and engineers are looking forward to using the desk, rather than on off-line editors.

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