GPA Hire's XTA SiDD processors demonstrated their versatility at a number of consecutive Brixton Academy shows serviced by the company during the summer. The shows incldued dance/DJ events, as well as live performances by Outcasts and Basement Jaxx. "We first used SiDD on the Leftfield tour last year," says GPA's Chris Hinds. "We had six units on those shows and have since added another six." The one-off Basement Jaxx show was the first time that the band's sound engineer Shan Hyra had used SiDD. "I believe you have to give new equipment a try, so I was very keen to get my hands on a SiDD unit," he says. "And I wasn't disappointed. As it was a one-off show, I didn't get chance to really 'get into' it, but I can see a lot of potential for it. I'd really like to take one on tour to properly get to the guts of it."For the Academy shows, GPA ran the units across the vocal channels, as well as the main left/right PA. In the latter case, the frequency-conscious compression was used to good effect on the low end, a key requirement for the dance sector. "Compression on bass frequencies sounds good, but there's nothing worse than listening to a compressor working hard," says Chris Hinds. "With the frequency-conscious compression of SiDD, you can bring more life to the low end, but it doesn't 'pump' on the high end."
This fact isn't lost on Shan Hyra, who describes said: " I will certainly be getting in touch with XTA to have a more in-depth look at the SiDD processor."
