Club CITTA is a much-loved venue in Kawasaki, Japan. Opened in 1988, the club has seen historic performances from Nirvana, Oasis, Radiohead and many more, it is a popular stop for many Japanese and international touring bands. The input from touring engineers was enough to convince Toru Yamamuro, General Manager of Stage Production at Club CITTA, that their planned console upgrade should be to a DiGiCo Quantum 338.

“We introduced our SD8 back in 2012, updating the SD with a 32-bit card in 2019, so when the time came to upgrade our system, we asked various people about the Quantum and the feedback was very good,” Yamamuro said. “We also received enquiries from overseas artists who wanted to use the Quantum 338, so we had a strong desire to install it ourselves, and we were able to make it happen.”

Quantum 338 operability is improved from the SD8 with the addition of Mustard Processing and the Spice Rack. The mix surface boasts three, 17-inch, 1000 nit, high-brightness, touch screens, with both the meter bridge and soft quick-select buttons displayed on each screen, with physical controls to the right of each screen, for quick, intuitive operation of features like EQ and dynamics. In addition, 70 individual TFT channel displays join the chassis with 38 100mm touch sensitive faders laid out in three blocks of 12 fader banks plus two dedicated user-assignable faders, each with high resolution metering.

“With the addition of Mustard Processing and Spice Rack, plus the increase in EQ parameters, there are many more points at which you can process the sound, so it’s fun,” he said. “I like the Mustard Processing, especially the vintage VCA Compressor, which feels like a dbx, it has a similar effect to the 1176, and the response of the console is fast! With the Quantum 338, I can easily apply EQ and compression while I’m mixing.”

The installation was completed in June 2024 and, thanks to their familiarity with the SD8, Yamamuro and his team are already completely at ease with the console.

“I even heard that an older operator, who likes analogue equipment, said that the Quantum 338 was easy to operate!” Yamamuro smiled. “About 80% of the operators are touring or freelance, and they’re all raving about it! They’re particularly impressed with the sound, saying that it’s a very honest sound. I’ve used it myself, and I have the impression that it is completely neutral. I think the separation and resolution of the sound is amazing.”

Club CITTA has a reputation for full-power rock bands that make the most of the sound system, so the audio team wanted a mixing console that could keep up with the wildest bands that play there.

“Sometimes, when bands play with tracks, the sound of tracks could get buried, so we would have to think about how to process them while operating the system. With the Quantum 338, however, just by turning up the fader, the sound comes through clearly,” Yamamuro added. “Our management company invites overseas guests, and the promoter told me that the Italian operator had said many times that the sound was really good, even just after rehearsals.”

Dante networking is also very important to Yamamuro and his team, and adding the DMI-DANTE64 @96 card has changed their signal path for the better. This card provides 64 input and 64 output channels at 48KHz or 96KHz and is provided with Primary and Secondary Gigabit Ethercon ports for connection to the Dante network, simplifying their workflow, as Yamamuro concludes:

“We have a Dante card installed. In the SD8 days, we sometimes recorded live performances using MADI and then recorded them again using Dante on the monitor desk. But now that the Quantum 338 has a Dante card installed, we can record live performances using just this. It’s a straightforward system and I’m looking forward to using it more.”

DiGiCo