Charlie Puth stays clever with Quantum
Charlie Puth stays clever with Quantum
Charlie Puth’s ongoing Whatever’s Clever World Tour is relying on a DiGiCo Quantum5-based audio setup at both front of house and monitors, with a pair of consoles supplied by Clair Global supporting the artist’s largest live production to date.
The tour, which began in San Diego in April and is scheduled to conclude in Perth, Australia in November, supports Puth’s fourth studio album and includes dates across North America, Europe and APAC. The production features a compact onstage line-up of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and three backing vocalists alongside the artist.
Production manager and front of house engineer Mike Schaeffer is mixing on a DiGiCo Quantum5 console, while monitor engineer Josh Cruz is working from an identical desk. The two consoles are connected via a shared Optocore network incorporating an SD-Rack, SD-MiNi Rack and Orange Box audio-format converter.
“The Quantum console has been on the rider for Charlie since 2018,” said Schaeffer. “It’s always been my preferential console. I’ve always chosen DiGiCo and so the console became a requirement based on anything we were doing.”
The system also integrates Waves plug-ins and a Rupert Neve Designs Shelford channel strip for Puth’s vocals. According to Schaeffer, the Quantum5’s routing flexibility plays a key role in his workflow: “The Quantum5 is a very comfortable desk to move around on. I do a lot of bus processing. I like the fact that you can send a bus to a bus, which a lot of consoles just didn’t do for a while.”
Cruz, who joined Puth’s touring team in 2022, cites the console’s flexibility as a major advantage for monitor mixing: “DiGiCo has also been my preference for a while. So having the flexibility of the three banks of faders, a powerful macro section and the amount of inputs and outputs the Q5 offers were super helpful.”
The monitor setup handles more than 56 stage inputs, alongside playback channels delivered over MADI through the Orange Box, mirrored Sound Devices Astral wireless receivers and a range of utility channels used for technical control.
Both engineers also highlighted the Quantum platform’s extensive networking and control capabilities. Cruz noted that external control options and software integration, including Companion by Bitfocus and the DiGiPanion module, help streamline operation during the show.“Capabilities like that, and the ability to let us work the way we want to, is why DiGiCo is always the top choice,” he concluded.
