Faithless, 2026 Tour
Waves LV1 Classic· DirectOut Prodigy MP · DiGiGrid MGR
Engineer: Matteo Cifelli, FOH
International tour • mixed venue sizes • fly dates • festivals (2026)
Stop Scaling the Console. Start Scaling the System.
How a Waves LV1 Classic and a DirectOut Prodigy MP replaced a large format console without reducing system capability across a global tour.
The Requirement
The 2025 Faithless rig was built around a Yamaha RIVAGE PM7. It worked. It sounded good. It also defined the FOH position in every venue the tour walked into.
For 2026, production asked for a different setup: a smaller footprint, a rig that genuinely flies, and no compromise on what the system can deliver.
This is the solution that came out of that brief: a Waves eMotion LV1 Classic at the surface, a DirectOut Prodigy MP at the centre of FOH and a DiGiGrid MGR bridging the SSL monitor world.
Five shows in Australia ahead of the European summer have been the first live test.
The Challenge
Four requirements shaped the design of the rig:
- Replace a known large format console without sacrificing creative range
- Sit alongside the SSL monitor console while utilising the SSL stage rack preamps
- Reduce the FOH footprint to something genuinely flyable
- Keep the show flexible and portable across mixed venue sizes and onto a forthcoming B Rig
The 2025 rig was the right solution for the previous production. The 2026 rig needed to solve a different set of problems.
Console Strategy
The Yamaha RIVAGE PM7 was not replaced because anything was wrong with it. It was replaced because a software defined console does not require the rest of the rig to be sized around it.
The Waves LV1 Classic brings the full Waves plugin catalogue inside the session. Channel strips, dynamics, time-based effects and system EQ all exist within the workflow. Plugin slots reorder by drag-and-drop. No insert patching between devices. No menu dives to swap a chain.
The change in cadence is the point. Trying something out costs a second, not thirty.
Sonic performance is not a compromise. Dual 32-bit floating-point processing runs across the signal path and bus headroom remains substantial.
Across the Australia run, the Waves LV1 Classic carried the show comfortably.
Roughly 90% of the show’s processing lives on Waves plugins inside SoundGrid. The remaining 10% sits outside SoundGrid as VST3, hosted on an external PC.
System Architecture
Bridging FOH and Monitors
Monitors are mixed on an SSL. Preamps are shared on the SSL stage rack. The monitor engineer’s snapshot recall logic is built around that, and it works.
A second stage rack for FOH would have added footprint, weight and signal splits.
The bridge between monitors and FOH consists of:
- MADI split out of the SSL console on stage
- Stage-side conversion to SoundGrid via a DiGiGrid MGR with backup switching
- Dual-path OpticalCON carrying SoundGrid to FOH on Netgear AVLine switches
- SoundGrid network switches at FOH acting as the system spine
The bridge between SSL MADI and Waves SoundGrid is just one device on stage.
DirectOut Prodigy MP
Only one device on the FOH rig physically connects to the PA.
That device is the DirectOut Prodigy MP.
Configuration
- DSP Bundle
- DirectOut MIC8.LINE.IO
- DirectOut AES4.IO
- DirectOut SG.IO
- DirectOut USB.IO
What This Consolidation Removes
- A separate outboard system processor
- A separate FOH I/O device for analogue and AES drive
- A separate audio interface for the VST3 host
The Prodigy is not being asked to do anything novel.
It is being asked to be the only thing doing it.
Processing & Integration
System EQ on the PA outputs runs as FIR filters inside the Prodigy.
Matrix mixing handles output flexibility for different PA systems across the tour.
Both remain outside the show file, meaning room-driven processing becomes a measurement task rather than a session rebuild.
VST3 Integration
The USB.IO module connects the Prodigy to an external PC running SuperRack Performer.
From the Waves LV1 Classic session, those plugins appear as inserts.
From the network, they are SoundGrid endpoints.
No additional I/O. No extra routing.
The set of plugins outside SoundGrid is deliberately small:
- Black Salt Audio Silencer
- Cedar StageVox
The stage on this show is loud. The singers carry heavy effect chains, so maintaining a clean vocal input matters more than it does on a quieter production.
Recording & Measurement
A separate machine runs Pro Tools as a multitrack recorder and virtual soundcheck.
It connects directly to SoundGrid via the SoundGrid ASIO driver.
A Waves WRC-1 provides a separate LAN for iPad remote control during PA tuning.
Networking
SoundGrid is reliable when the network is treated as part of the system rather than an accessory.
The discipline on this build includes:
- Cat5e infrastructure specified correctly for deployment
- Netgear switches configured and locked once stable
- Redundant SoundGrid switching on stage and at FOH
- Dual fibre runs between stage and FOH
- Separate LAN planes for audio and remote control
Most reports of SoundGrid instability trace back to cabling.
Get that right and the network stops being something the engineer thinks about during a show.
Scaling the System
The 2026 Faithless system was designed around portability, but portability was never the primary objective.
Production required a system capable of moving between international fly dates, festival deployments and mixed venue scales without changing the underlying workflow. The architecture also needed to support future expansion, including the introduction of a B-rig, without requiring the show to be rebuilt around a different platform.
The challenge was not simply reducing size. It was maintaining consistency while removing physical infrastructure.
By separating console operation, system processing and network transport into dedicated layers, the system remains flexible regardless of venue scale. Inputs stay within the SSL monitor environment, SoundGrid provides transport and plugin processing, while the DirectOut Prodigy MP handles routing, system EQ, output management and integration.
The PA systems, infrastructure and deployment requirements may change from show to show, but the core workflow remains consistent.
The outcome is a touring platform that can move between territories, venue sizes and future production requirements while maintaining the same workflow, the same processing environment and the same creative approach at front of house.
Outcome
After five shows in Australia, the rig stopped being the thing we were watching.
Australia was chosen on purpose. Geographically isolated, freight is expensive and spares are slow.
If the architecture was going to break under touring conditions, it would have broken there.
It didn’t.
The result:
- A FOH footprint that fits where the 2025 rig didn’t
- A creative range that exceeds the rig it replaced
- An SSL-to-Waves bridge that asks nothing of the monitor world
Key takeaway
The 2025 rig was not wrong.
It was specified for a different brief.
The 2026 system is what happens when production names the constraints and the architecture follows.
DirectOut became central not because it was specified first, but because FOH I/O, system EQ, SoundGrid bridging and USB connectivity to the VST3 host could all be consolidated cleanly inside one device.
The console is smaller.
The rig is smaller.
The mix is not.
Equipment List
Front of House
- Waves eMotion LV1 Classic
- DirectOut Prodigy MP
- Waves WRC-1
- Netgear AV Line Switches
- SuperRack Performer Host
- Pro Tools Recording System
Stage
- SSL Monitor Console
- SSL Stage Racks
- DiGiGrid MGR
- Netgear AV Line Switches
- OpticalCON Fiber
Production Credits
Audio Vendor Stage Package: Britannia Row
Audio Vendor FOH: Engineer Owned
Account Handler: Dave Compton
Monitor Engineer: Ryan Hansen
FOH Engineer: Matteo Cifelli
Written by Matteo Cifelli on behalf of Nifty Audio.