GLOBAL: When global pop powerhouse Halsey set out on the Back to Badlands world tour, the production demanded an audio infrastructure capable of delivering both reliability and flexibility across a demanding international schedule. For front of house engineer James Butera and monitor engineer Schyler Blackman, that role has been filled by the DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles supplied by Clair Global.

Halsey, the American singer-songwriter from New Jersey whose catalogue has amassed more than 31 billion streams, five chart-topping studio albums and 29 singles, embarked on the Back to Badlands tour as a celebration of her 2015 album Badlands. Beginning last October, the tour travelled across the USA, Canada, Mexico and Europe before concluding in Australia in February 2026, with numerous additional dates added in response to overwhelming fan demand.

The move to DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles came in 2023 following a critical failure of Butera’s previous console during the opening moments of his very first show with the artist. Faced with both reliability and compatibility challenges, he opted to transition to a different platform that could offer greater operational stability alongside seamless integration with the existing Dante playback system. The switch also enabled a more streamlined audio infrastructure through the use of DMI Dante cards, reducing the overall rack footprint.

“DiGiCo’s I/O flexibility and stability were the two big selling points,” Butera recalls. “We cut the amount of rack space and gear in half when we switched to DiGiCo and we no longer started festival set changes with, ‘hold on, I need to power cycle’, which was great! Global availability is also excellent. Every festival you walk into, it’s a DiGiCo, which is reassuring. There are a lot of administrative details that make DiGiCo an easy choice for a global act.”

For Butera, operating a DiGiCo console on tour brings a level of refinement comparable to working with a high-performance machine, offering the precision and flexibility needed to manage complex live productions.

“I think all the major players have great sounding consoles, it’s like Porsche versus Ferrari. They’re both beautiful cars and they both go fast,” Butera continues. “At some point, it becomes a personal preference, but there are definitely some shortcomings in terms of flexibility if you leave the DiGiCo ecosystem. There is so much flexibility, all the network options on hand are great. Built-in Dante on the Quantum 112 looks really good, DiGiCo is just really hard to beat.”

The DiGiCo ecosystem also enhances workflow between the front of house and monitor positions. Blackman is able to share data quickly and efficiently using the Console send/receive functionality via the Optocore loop, allowing any assigned send to function as a latency-free port visible to other consoles on the network. This capability removes the need for additional multicore runs while improving communication between mixing positions.

“I’ve been flitting in and out with DiGiCo since 2015, depending on whether I get to choose, obviously,” Blackman explains. “It’s the flexibility, stability and reliability, that really stand out. No matter, where you’re at in the world, whether it’s Topeka, Kansas, or London, you can find a DiGiCo somewhere close. I was on a gig this summer in Seattle and one of the cards in our stage rack developed a fault, we discovered it at power-up and within 20 minutes, we had another one on site from a local audio vendor. That’s not always the case with all manufacturers. Just being able to source parts on the rare occasion where something does go wrong is amazing.”

Beyond performance capabilities, the engineers also point to the global support network behind the brand as a major advantage during demanding international tours where reliability and rapid assistance are essential.

“I like having the IO flexibility too, DiGiCo is friendly with everything,” Blackman finishes. “I’m using a LiveBox, a bunch of outboard gear and Dante. Having one system that is compatible with all of the different players in the game is really, really nice.”

“The support is pretty impressive, we were doing a show in Minneapolis and needed some help,” Butera ends. “Matt Larson, Group One Vice President was travelling home at just the right moment and he jumped off the plane to come straight to us. The commitment is amazing, the DiGiCo team just can’t get enough!”