Faithless, 2026 Tour

A Smarter System

The 2025 Faithless rig was built around a Yamaha RIVAGE PM7. It worked. But it also meant the FOH system was built around the size and infrastructure of the console.

For 2026, the brief changed.

The rig needed to fly, fit into very different FOH positions, work alongside an SSL monitor system and scale to different shows and a future B-rig.

The answer wasn't simply a smaller console. It was a different approach to the system.

At the centre of it: Waves eMotion LV1 Classic and Direct Out Prodigy MP.

Smaller FOH. Same show.

Moving to LV1 wasn't about giving up what the RIVAGE could do. It was about no longer needing the rest of the rig to be built around the console.

Around 90% of the show's processing now runs inside SoundGrid using Waves plugins, with the remaining processing handled as VST3 inserts via SuperRack Performer.

That means more than 200 Waves plugins are available within the session, while the LV1 itself takes up a fraction of the physical footprint.

But making the console smaller was only half the problem.

The Prodigy MP became the system

The monitor world stayed on SSL, including the stage preamps. Rather than adding a second stage rack for FOH, the MADI split from the SSL was converted to SoundGrid at stage using a DiGiGrid MGR. From there, SoundGrid travelled to FOH over redundant optical paths.

At FOH, the Prodigy MP handled the jobs that would otherwise have required several separate pieces of hardware. It provided the SoundGrid interface to LV1, analogue and AES connectivity to the PA, FIR-based system EQ and matrix processing, plus the USB connection to the external VST3 host.

In other words, the Prodigy became the only FOH device physically connecting to the PA.

That consolidation is what made the smaller rig possible.

Keeping system and show files separate

There was another important design decision: system processing stayed outside the console.

PA EQ and matrix configuration live in the Prodigy MP rather than the LV1 show file. So tuning the system for a new venue doesn't mean changing the show file, and recalling the show doesn't overwrite the system tuning.

For a touring rig moving between very different PA systems, that separation matters.

Five shows in Australia

The first live test was deliberately unforgiving: five Australian shows, geographically isolated from the rest of the tour, with expensive freight and slow access to spares.

The system held up.

The FOH footprint was smaller. The monitor system remained untouched. Processing capability increased rather than decreased.

The console got smaller. The rig got smaller. The mix didn't.

Nifty System Notes

The RIVAGE wasn't the wrong choice. It was the right answer to a different brief.

For 2026, the challenge was to make the system smaller without making the show smaller.

The LV1 provided the software-defined workflow. The MGR bridged SSL MADI to SoundGrid. And the Prodigy MP brought FOH I/O, system processing, SoundGrid and VST3 connectivity into one device.

That's what made the whole architecture fly.

The trick wasn't scaling down the console. It was scaling the system differently.

Production Credits

Audio Vendor Stage Audio Package: Brittania Row
Audio Vendor FOH: Engineer Owned
Account Handler: Dave Compton
Monitor Engineer: Ryan Hansen
FOH Engineer: Matteo Cifelli

Equipment List

FOH

Waves eMotion LV1 Classic
Direct Out Prodigy MP - DSP Bundle, SG.IO, USB.IO, MADI module, analogue + AES outputs
External PC - SuperRack Performer (VST3 host)
Windows machine - Pro Tools (multitrack record / virtual soundcheck via SoundGrid ASIO)
Waves WRC-1 - second LAN for iPad remote
Netgear AV Line switches - SoundGrid network at FOH