A popular outdoor event for UK classical enthusiasts, Proms in the Park returned to Bedford Park and local sound specialists JAP Sound. The combination of a line-up and good weather meant that this year’s event attracted a record number of people.
Centre of the was production was a Roland Systems Group M-480 cascade and REAC solution: ‘We chose Roland because it is a scalable package and we have the options of using one or two desks or cascading two desks together,’ says Jason Price, owner of JAP Sound. ‘We also have all the Digital Snake stageboxes to choose from. Once you’ve set up the desk, you just plug in the stageboxes and they find each other – there is no complicated programming required as the desk recognises each one as you connect it. That saves us time and money.’
JAP Sound took full advantage of the system’s flexibility and scalability, putting together a fully digital set-up using two M-480 digital consoles and Digital Snakes networked over REAC (Roland Ethernet Audio Communication). Using the M-480s in a cascade gave JAP Sound a large-format mixing system, in this case with 96 mixing channels. Easy to configure, a cascade connection facilitates data communication between two M-480 consoles via a single Cat5e/Cat6 cable which is connected to the REAC ports on the console.
REAC is Roland’s technology for low latency, high-quality digital audio, transferring up to 40 channels of audio in each direction at 96kHz/24 bits including control messages over a single Cat5e/6 cable or optical link. Feeding everything into the console, the integrity of the audio signal is maintained throughout the system path.
The two M-480 live consoles were used at FOH for the main stage, which saw performances from Aled Jones and Natasha Marsh and the London Gala Orchestra – in all, it accommodated around 40 musicians and 40 choir members at the same time.
On the stage, an S-4000S Digital Snake rack was configured with 40 inputs using ten SIAD-4 four-channel analogue input module cards which were connected to the REAC B port of the M-480 Cascade Master console.
Also on the main stage, JAP installed an S-4000M REAC Merge Unit to REAC A on the M-480 Cascade Slave to merge the stream of the three S-0808 (8 x 8 I/O Unit) and one S-1608 Stage Unit providing an additional 40 inputs. The S-4000M also provided REAC Embedded Power to each of the S-0808 stage boxes reducing the need to run mains distribution.
A separate S-0816 FOH Unit took care of the sends to the PA system and monitor mixes connected as a split from REAC B of the M-480 Cascade Master console via a S-4000D Splitter and Power Distribution unit.
‘The Roland solution is great – it’s a gig in a box,’ says Price. ‘The weight is minimal and we use Cat5 cable. Setting it all up is easy but breaking it down is even easier.
‘We were very pleased with the sound quality and also received good comments from our client– the quality is more than comparable with more expensive products and we will happily use this set-up again’.
More: www.rolandsg.co.uk