Fairlight delivers audio for Sochi ceremonies

Sydney-based Auditoria Pty Ltd made extensive use of Fairlight systems during its work on the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Staged at the Fisht Stadium, the shows featured two identical turnkey Fairlight editing and playback systems – each consisting of two XSTREAM desktop controllers, two workstation PCs, two SX-20 I/O units and XE-6 faders.

Scott Wilsallen, Auditoria director, comments: “The elegance, simplicity and robustness of the Fairlight systems in use here in Sochi are second to none. Whilst our primary usage of the system is for dual-redundant A/B playback, our workflow also includes creating QuickTime movies for technical programmers and choreographers. The Fairlight platform gives us the buss count and flexibility to deliver stems for FOH & monitors, broadcast mixes, sound design content stems and backup vocal stems as well as the Quicktime movies, all within one session with complete A/B-roll capability and fully backed up on a second system.

“The XSTREAM controller is fully configurable and offers the fastest, most user-friendly interface available. I am in the unique position on these projects where I can nominate any product the market has to offer – when it comes to playback, I choose Fairlight.”

The Fairlight systems on site were operated by veteran head audio editor and playback engineer Steve Logan.