Great audio probably wasn’t a top reason why people tuned in to Victoria’s Secret recent CBS TV Special. However, the audio expertise from New York’s ADI Group and the Euphonix System 5 digital console brought out the best in live sound for the event.

Billed by CBS as “the sexiest night on television,” Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show not only included top supermodels on the runway in some very provocative outfits but a wealth of musical entertainment as well. Live bands, including Marc Anthony, Destiny's Child and Phil Collins, and the host’s comments, rock band Sugar Ray’s singer Mark McGrath, were all carefully mixed for audience and the millions tuning in.

System 5 FOH console at the Victoria's Secret
Fashion Show

ADI Group was hired by Victoria’s Secret to create the live sound design. ADI chose the Euphonix System 5 digital console for the front of house mixing to pull all the elements together.

“The flexibility of the Euphonix System 5 is why I chose to use it on the Victoria’s Secret event. It has everything, including great sound, it integrates seamlessly with Pro Tools and live sound systems and it’s so easy to operate,” said David Shapiro, ADI’s project manager for the event. “A multifaceted show like this has so many live audio cues; to get great sound with as few moves as possible is the trick. The System 5 shines when it comes to setups and snapshots. We had everything very well planned out. I’ve successfully used the System 5 on other events and it worked equally well on the Victoria’s Secret show,” concluded Shapiro.

Brian Ruggles was the FOH engineer for the event mixing on the System 5. Ruggles is well known in rock circles for his live front of house mixing for Billy Joel, and is a close New York associate of ADI and Shapiro. Ruggles was assisted by FOH playback engineer Erich Bechtel, and Randy Hansen was the sound designer with Duncan Edwards co-designing.