With its purchase of am Allen & Heath dLive S Class digital mixing system, South Korea rental company, Blessway now counts models from the entire A&H mixer catalogue in its hire inventory.

Located in Daejeon, Blessway recent invested in a dLive S7000 Surface and DM48 MixRack, fitted with a Waves V3 card extending its use of Allen & Heath mixers from the compact Qu to the flagship dLive. ‘Our first digital purchase was the GLD-80,’ says Blessway CEO, Jongyul Lee. ‘I liked A&H’s unique warm sound, high-quality effects, and fully customisable fader strips. We invested in a Qu-16 to use at small events, and to coincide with the acquisition of a new PA system to cover larger venues, we bought dLive.

‘I think dLive’s most powerful strength is its ability to grow through firmware updates, and its immensely powerful FPGA processing core in support,’ he adds. ‘dLive is the ultimate digital mixer with remarkable design aesthetics.’

More: www.allen-heath.com

Hosting visiting artists as well as its own Masters of Fine Arts programme in theatre sound and design, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has invested in an Avid Venue S6L live mixing system. The console gives the university’s students access to current technology and provides a concert system that is accepted by visint artists and engineers.

The Krannert Center houses four indoor theatres, five indoor stages and an outdoor amphitheatre. After renting an Avid Venue Profile System for several years, the centre decided to invest in a Venue S6L, acquired through Chicago-based audio equipment provider, TC Furlong.

Ranked high Japan’s most successful pop singers, Kyosuke Himuro’s farewell live show at the Tokyo Dome proved an emotional experience for the 50,000 Japanese pop fans attending. The sold-out show was a fitting end to a distinguished live career.

A series of shows billed as Kyosuke Himuro Last Gigs concluded at the Tokyo Dome, with the main audio system supplied by Japanese rental companies Hibino Sound and Tokyo Sanko, who supplied an L-Acoustics K1 systems with the new L-Acoustics KS28 subwoofers for the tour.

‘Hibino had to deliver every breath of Kyosuke Himuro’s performance perfectly, as it was an experience which none of the audience would ever have again – we wanted it to be a memory that would last a lifetime,’ says Bestec Audio MD, Takayuki Ozaki, L-Acoustics’ Japanese distributor. He had previously introduced the KS28 to Akitsugu Kemmotsu of Measurement Works Co. Ltd, who designed and specified the system for the show.

The Tokyo Dome is unusual in that it has an air-supported roof, with weight restrictions that can make designing PAs for such large shows a challenge. The audio system was designed by system engineer Mitsunari ‘Saiji’ Gengoromaru, in consultation with Measurement Works Co Ltd and Himuro’s FOH engineer, Kevin Elson. Saiji has worked as a system engineer on many arena and stadium tours and has found controlling the bandwidth of subwoofers a particular problem. For this show he proposed flying the L-Acoustics KS28 subs, carefully balanced with complimentary groundstacked units, which had never been done at Tokyo Dome before. Using Soundvision simulation, it was predicted that this would achieve a very even coverage pattern, a prediction confirmed when the system was rigged in the venue.

‘I had never experienced such an even pattern and sound pressure throughout the entire bandwidth in this venue,’ Kemmotsu says. ‘I really appreciated the excellent system,’ adds Elson.

The full system for the show comprised main flown LR arrays of 20 L-Acoustics K1 and four K2, plus another flown array of 12 KS28 and 16 ground-stacked SB28. Further flown arrays of 16 K1 and eight K2 per side covered the sides of the arena, with fills comprising six-strong flown arrays of Kara and three per side. The entire system was driven by L-Acoustics LA12X and LA8 amplified controllers.

‘One of the reasons that it was possible to fly the KS28 arrays is because each unit weighs only 79kg, allowing it to be flown at venues where flying subs was previously impossible. In fact, flying subwoofers is not yet common in Japan, due to very stringent standards being imposed because of the frequency of earthquakes here, but the KS28 has demonstrated that it can deliver many advantages, reducing weight loadings for the overall stage design, which in turn greatly influences the total cost of the system.’

And, by using the LA12X amplifier, each KS28 can produce 3dB extra SPL than the SB28. Together, these benefits meant that no delays were needed, and even the back of the audience, 160m away, still experienced remarkably tight sub-bass sound.

‘The KS28’s mid and low-frequency reproduction has been further improved by the new switched-mode power supply (SMPS) with DSP-controlled Power Factor Correction (PFC) of the LA12X, which can maintain the maximum sound pressure level over a longer time, even at 100V,’ Ozaki says.

‘Flying KS28 and K1 arrays next to each other produced a very powerful, evenly-phased system. Despite the audience being 50,000-strong, it delivered very clear low frequencies throughout, which had never been experienced in the Tokyo Dome before. The whole stadium experienced a true ‘rock sound’, which helped to ensure the audience was “as one” with the artist throughout the show.

‘Without the many other advantages of L-Acoustics systems, including light weight, ease of rigging, audio quality and accurate Soundvision simulation, the show would have had to use a conventional system, which would have delivered a noticeably poorer experience for the audience.’

Special Event Services (SES) recently put its L-Acoustics K1 and K2 sound reinforcement systems into action on an extensive North American outing with The Avett Brothers.

The Avett Brothers combine bluegrass, country, punk, pop, folk, rock, indie, honkytonk and ragtime to produce a unique sound that can be a challenge to reinforce in a concert setting...

Currently out on their Wild World tour, British indie pop band Bastille Day are being served by an L-Acoustics K1/K2 system supplied by SSE Audio. At FOH is Paul ‘Coop’ Cooper…

‘As Coop is a local lad to SSE one of the guys that works in our fabrications department knew him from the club scene in Birmingham,’ says SSE’s Dan Bennett. ‘They said he was working with a band that just might have something about them. At SSE we have a policy of supporting emerging talent, so I got in touch with Coop to see how we could help and it all started from there.’

Taking their name from vocalist Dan Smith’s birthday, the band have two number one albums under their collective belt and, on this latest tour, have sold out arenas around the UK and Northern Europe, including London’s 20,000-seat O2 Arena. ‘They did the summer festival run, which went really well,’ Bennett says. ‘They loaded out of SSE for the Wild World tour in October and now they’re going back out for a short run in Europe and then on to the US.’

‘My use of L-Acoustics stems from installs at venues and at festivals all over the world,’ Cooper offers. ‘As soon as it was down to me to choose a system, I had no hesitation. My first production tour was completed on V-Dosc and dV-Dosc. The K1 system was a wonderful step forward and, with the addition of K2s, we have a fully scalable rig for any occasion.’

SSE has supplied L-Acoustics K1 elements for the main hangs, with K2 under hangs. Side hangs are also K1 elements. K1-SB subs are flown behind the K1s, with KS28 subs positioned on floor, all powered by LAX12 amplifiers.

‘We’re using this combination partly because it’s the newest L-Acoustics system, but also because the fidelity of the K2 is incredible and K1 has all the benefits that you need for doing arena-sized rooms,’ Bennett says. ‘I think it really suits Bastille’s music and Coop mixes very dynamically, so he’s using the whole PA to its full capacity.’

‘With the aid of my systems tech, Pertu Korteniemi and Soundvision software, we can ensure everyone in the venue is getting the air moved correctly for the mix they should be hearing,’ says Cooper. ‘For the low end, we’ve been carrying KS28s and K1SB. There’s also been some Kara and ARCs with us for the odd infill and side area.

‘The brackets and mountings of the system means it’s simple to have a group of K2 dealing with the down hangs at larger venues. Their blend with the K1 is just right, plus K2’s variable directivity gives us extra coverage capacity up to 110°, which allows for wider horizontal coverage in the close- field when flown under K1.

‘SSE has been wonderful at providing the system for us, and adding extra bits such as delays for the much larger rooms – for example The O2 in London. Dan Bennett has been looking after us since Day One.

‘We’re about to head out on our first production tour for the US since 2014. Solotech are providing our package, which currently consists of 24 K1, 32 K2, 12 KS28, 12 K1SB and all the extras. Paul Owen over there has been looking after us and we’re sure it will be just as successful as the European leg.’

Two of the most prestigious venues in Istanbul have recently installed L-Acoustics loudspeaker systems as the centre of their sound reinforcement.

Opened in 2014, the Volkswagen Arena is a multipurpose venue, which has primarily hosted live music and sports events. Since 2015, it has been the venue for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague matches played by the city’s Darüşşafaka Doğuş basketball team. Because of the venue’s busy programme of events, the change from an end-on concert hall to in-the-round basketball arena and back had to be possible within a day, yet needed to deliver the most comfortable and enjoyable spectator experience for basketball fans.

Elit Light/Sound Technologies was chosen to design and supply the technical infrastructure, which included portable telescopic bleachers to allow match audiences of up to 5,000. A bespoke audio system was required for announcements and playback at matches, for which Elit chose L-Acoustics. Maintaining sightlines for all seats was a priority, so six arrays of L-Acoustics ARCS Wide and ARCS Focus constant curvature line source loudspeakers, plus SB18M clusters, were flown from the venue roof. With an L-Case placed on top of each speaker tower to afford additional protection for the LA4X amplifier controllers that power the system, this solution delivers high-quality audio to all seats.

Elit Light/Sound Technologies also chose an L-Acoustics audio system for Babylon, a leading Turkish digital arts and culture organisation owned by live entertainment marketing company Pozitif Live, which runs three venues – Çeşme, Kilyos and the new Bomonti, a music, theatre and cinema venue created in Istanbul’s restored Bomonti brewery.

Designed as a ‘creative cultural campus’, the brief for Bomonti’s audio system was to deliver exceptional sound reinforcement, but not to aesthetically detract from the building’s historic internal fabric. Elit chose an L-Acoustics system comprising flown ARCS Focus and ARCS Wide, with floor-stacked SB28 subs plus 5XTs for fills. Stage monitors comprise L-Acoustics P series 112P and SB15P self-powered loudspeakers.

‘ARCS WiFo is the right choice for us, allowing us to provide a consistent sound level for the entire audience,’ says Ozan Murat, Technical Production Manager/sound engineer for Pozitif Live. ‘As with previous ARCS products, ARCS WiFo delivers high power for medium throw applications. But the most important feature of WiFo for me is its musical detail and outstanding dynamics for all genres of music. This makes L-Acoustics the only choice for us.’

‘L-Acoustics WiFo has provided excellent solutions for two very different venues,’ adds Elit’s Emre Defne. ‘The ease of set up and surprising power of this compact system make it extremely versatile. In fact, we have had very good results with WiFo in every type of venue we have worked with; it can solve any medium throw venue needs.’

More: www.l-acoustics.com

Serving UK music TV productions including Strictly Come Dancing, X-Factorand The Voice, Plus 4 Audio has recently purchased an L-Acoustics K2 variable curvature line source loudspeaker system to serve a rising number of arena shows for television.

Plus 4 owner Stewart Chaney’s history with L-Acoustics dates back to the 1990s, when he first heard the company’s V-Dosc system: ‘Adding the K2 means we’ve got pretty much every L-Acoustics product – from the small coaxial boxes, and smaller line arrays, up to and including K2,’ he says. ‘I was system engineer with it out in Spain for the first time and I think like most people when it was first on the market, I was amazed at what I was hearing.’

Stewart’s history with television also goes to when dV-Dosc was launched; using it for live-to-air shows seemed obvious: ‘No one else was doing it,’ he says. ‘Everyone was still using column speakers and all sorts of other things in TV studios for music shows. It seemed odd that we were not trying to do this properly; bringing a concert experience for the TV audience watching a band on stage whilst being sympathetic to the needs of lighting and set design. It would give a great reaction for TV and control the sound in a much better way, with less spill onto the stage and much more focused audio. The advantages were multiple; it seemed strange not to try it.

‘When K2 came out I honestly thought it was too big for our usual environment,’ he continues. ‘But we soon understood that it does make sense as we were seeing a general rise in the number of arena shows for television. We were sub hiring systems in for these shows but it just didn’t make business sense to keep doing that, we needed to look at investing in a long-term product with a good lifespan. K2 was the right choice as it’s well-suited to broadcast and music projects as well as being very popular in the dry hire market making it a great investment. ‘

Since taking delivery, Plus 4 has used K2 on projects including the Royal Variety Performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall and Sports Personality of the Year in Belfast: ‘Last time we did the Royal Variety Performance we used a Kara system,’ says Stewart. ‘This time, with Sir Elton John and Jeff Lynne’s ELO on the bill, along with a fully live orchestra, we knew we needed more headroom and more control of the room. K2 was absolutely the right choice for that.

For Sports Personality, the challenge was the orchestra being out in front of the PA . This is where the Panflex directivity comes into its own; by using this unique horizontal steering technology, which combines mechanically adjustable L-Fins with DSP algorithms effective from 300Hz, Stewart was able to direct the sound where it was needed and away from the orchestra microphones.

As a result, he also chose to use it on the recent National Television Awards at London’s O2 Arena. ‘Having K2 completes our L-Acoustics inventory and has opened up new project opportunities for us,’ he reflects.

An extensive tour of Europe arena at the end of 2016, saw Czech rental company High Lite supply a combination of L-Acoustics K1, K2 and Kara systems for  the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Having first worked with the band in 2011, High Lite  has been their chosen European PA supplier ever since: ‘We cooperated on a few projects with Narci Martinez, RHCP’s Production Manager, in 2010 and he experienced our hardworking approach and how seriously we take our responsibilities,’ says High Lite’s Michal Siska. ‘We were delighted that Narci chose us as PA supplier for their 2011 tour and that he has continued to put his trust in us.’

The annual Global Citizen Festival (GCF) recently took over New York City’s Central Park for a concert headlined by Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Ellie Goulding, Metallica, Demi Lovato, Major Lazer. Broadcast live on MSNBC, the event aims to help reduce world hunger, poverty and other pandemic social issues.

Using an L-Acoustics K1/K2 PA system for the stage on the Great Lawn for the first time, concert sound provider Firehouse Productions served the 60,000-strong audience and also got to see guest appearances by Usher, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Yandel, Yusuf/Cat Stevens and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, creative director and curator of the festival, which is organised by the Global Poverty Project.

According to Firehouse system tech Jamie Pollock, ‘I had not done this show in previous years, and it already had a format, so when I got involved I tried not to shuffle things up too much. However, I knew that I wanted to use L-Acoustics products to take advantage of their long throw benefits and overall consistency that they can deliver for such a large-scale event.

‘The main hang was 14 K1 with four K1-SBs above, on each side. We had 24 of the new KS28 subs set up as a line in the centre and an additional 16 SB28s used for the sides, plus 12 Kara in three stacks of four as front fill in the centre. The delays were all K2; we had two lines of delays that were 12 boxes per hang for a total of 48 K2s.’

Pollock describes the production as both demanding and challenging: ‘I knew it was going to be one of those shows where we needed every bit of resources we could get. We were limited to where we could put things on the Great Lawn and had to work within those guidelines. The PA was carefully calculated in Soundvision before installation, and when performing the system tuning onsite, I found my measurements translated nicely to what had been predicted. The system tools in LA Network Manager are invaluable and offer a resolution that helped me deliver very even homogenous coverage.

‘I’ve used the new KS28 subs on a handful of shows since being put into the Firehouse inventory and they’re very impressive,’ he continues. ‘We didn’t have many options for sub placement due to the set design but came up with a very effective formula in Soundvision to use the additional resources of the KS28s to extend farther down the length of the field. One of the biggest challenges that I faced was that the front-of-house position had to be set way off-axis due to the sensitivity of putting things on the lawn. This position was not ideal, but with the help of additional stacks of SB28s set wider we were able to specifically focus more energy to this area and help the engineers translate their mixes better.’

The set design, which accommodated both the needs of the television broadcast as well as the positioning of massive IMAG video screens on either side of the stage for the audience, was both a help and a hindrance. ‘The main hangs had to be spaced very wide apart because of the set, which resulted in a small hole in coverage in the centre of the audience. There was also a large space between the downstage edge and barricade line for an access road and TV elements. This space helped me in achieving optimum placement for the Kara stacks to fill the centre area, and also allowed me to keep the main PA flatter to achieve a more constant SPL throughout the array.

‘The positioning of the delays was also limited as they could not be located on the grass,’ he continues. ‘They didn’t want anything on the lawn, so the delay towers had to go on the dirt where the baseball diamonds are. It was a little less than ideal placement in some locations, but using Soundvision helped fine tune the overlap between the towers and choosing when to use the different combinations of horizontal directivity patterns on the K2. As we’ve come to expect with L-Acoustics, it all performed very well.’

L-Acoustics has launched the Kiva II ultra-compact modular line source, adding 6dB max SPL over its predecessor, maximised amplifier density with 16Ω impedance, and a new rugged enclosure material

Despite its ultra-compact format, the Kiva II features the company’s proprietary Wavefront Sculpture Technology (WST), giving it a long-throw capability and allowing high SPL from the front to the back of the audience. Its coplanar transducer arrangement and new K-shaped coplanar transducer configuration generate a symmetric horizontal coverage of 100° without secondary lobes over the entire frequency range.  

Weighing 14kg (31lbs.), its lines and flush-fitted rigging allow it to be unobtrusive in a wide range of architectural settings, suiting it to installation in performing arts centres and use at special events requiring minimum visual obtrusion, and especially in L-ISA multichannel configuration installations.

‘Kiva II retains the elegance of its predecessor but that’s where the comparison ends,’ explains Cédric Montrezor, director of application, Installation at L-Acoustics. ‘Delivering an extra 6dB, the new model offers an impressive peak SPL of 137db. With only a “1.5dB” price increase, Kiva ii is now the SPL-to-size ratio benchmark in its format category.

‘Beside the whopping SPL, we also bring reinforced weather resistance, a rigging visual safety check, and new rigging accessories to expand the range of applications.’

Kiva II will ship in Q4 2016.

More: www.l-acoustics.com

The Calgary Stampeders’ defeat of the Ottawa brought the Canadian Football League’s 2018 season to a close at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta. As well as a great game, fans in the stands of the largest open-air stadium in Canada (seating capacity of 55,819) were entertained by live music delivered by a uniquely deployed L-Acoustics K1 sound system, loaded on custom-fabricated carts that were brought onto the field for the performances, and then wheeled out during game play.

Brother-sister country duo The Reklaws got the audience fired up during the pre-kick-off show, and then Canadian songbird and Grammy Award-winner Alessia Cara rocked the half-time show. The sound system used by FM Systems ensured that all sounded fantastic.

‘The deployment was incredibly smooth,’ says Josh Burnett, General Manager at FM Systems, the Calgary, Alberta-based rental company and L-Acoustics Certified Provider distributor (CPd) that designed and handled the field and stage sound systems. ‘We had the aluminium carts custom made to be both strong and light, so we were not limited in terms of the amount of sound we could get on the field. We literally covered the stadium with K1.’

Each of the eight carts were loaded with five K1 enclosures, with a KS28 subwoofer placed vertically next to the K1 stack. These carts were towed into place for the opening and halftime entertainment events, four per side, along the venue’s sidelines. Each cart was connected to one L-Acoustics LA12X-loaded LA-Rak II amp rack via a multipin.

Control and signal distribution were handled at front-of-house by an L-Acoustics P1 processor, controlled via L-Acoustics Network Manager software. Signal to the amplifier racks was distributed to each side of the field via AVB over fibre.

Two Luminex GigaCore10 switches at front-of–house accepted AVB from the P1 processor and sent the audio to two additional GigaCore10 switches on each sideline to drive all of the LA-Rak II. Both the P1 and LA12X accept AVB natively, so there were no extra conversions needed.

One key reason the L-Acoustics system was chosen, along with its sonic qualities, was for reliability in the anticipated intense weather conditions during Canada’s version of the Super Bowl. The temperature at game time was reported to be a ‘balmy’ 30° F (-1°C). The LA12X amplified controllers were kept running continuously during the entire event, assuring that they were ready to roar for the music performances, and neither the performers nor the amplifiers skipped a beat.

‘The K1 system was the perfect solution for a critical game and entertainment event because it met so many of the requirements, including AVB compatibility, real-time monitoring, performance in cold weather, and SPL capability to cover the seating areas consistently,’ says Burnett, who was also the system tech onsite for FM Systems. ‘It performed perfectly.’

L-Group, holding company of L-Acoustics, has announced the acquisition of high-end amplified controller, DSP and audio network solutions manufacturer, Camco

Camco counts more than 25 years’ experience in the development of amplified controller technology, and holds several patents. Based in Wenden, Germany, the company has 50 employees and distributes its products in 60 countries around the globe, in addition to supplying components to the industry’s leading professional sound system manufacturers.

‘For more than a decade, Camco has been a key supply partner of L-Acoustics’, says L-Group  MD, Hervé Guillaume. ‘Its expertise in electronics for the professional sound industry has contributed to the success of the L-Acoustics amplified controllers. Welcoming it into the L-Group family of companies will allow both L-Acoustics and Camco to continue growing our research and development expertise. This merger will give us the tools to develop future products to better serve our clients and explore new markets.’

‘Our expertise in the design and manufacture of electronics, combined with L-Group’s excellence in the varied domains of sound reinforcement will allow us both to deepen our skills and enhance our ability to innovate,’ says Camco MD, Reiner Sassmann. ‘The united strength of our teams will open up multiple and exciting opportunities for mutual future growth.’

Camco will maintain its full team and headquarters in Germany and will continue to manufacture its signature i-series, Vortex, D-Power and Q-Power amplified controllers while also developing OEM solutions for L-Acoustics and other manufacturers. Camco will also keep its brand name and will become a sister company of L-Acoustics, woodworking manufacturer SIMEA and L-ISA, creator of immersive sound art solutions.

L-Group is an independent company owned and operated by the executive-partners of the Group and its subsidiaries.

The ninth year of the London Winter Concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall (RFH) featured the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, conducted by Paul Bateman, and had a line-up led by tenor Joseph Calleja, with special guests soprano He Wu and young singing talent Beau Dermott perform in aid of the Prince’s Trust charity. Although the Winter Concert is long-established in the RFH calendar, this year saw a it take new approach to audio production, with L-ISA Hyperreal Sound delivering an extra frisson to proceedings.

Reactor Group has been supplying production management, sound design and its implementation to the Huawei Technologies’ sponsored event for the past three years and, as Technical Director for the event, Reactor’s Jim Pollard explains, they wanted to improve on its previous two, highly successful years.

‘At Reactor, we don’t like sticking with something because “it was fine last time”,’ he says. ‘Internal discussions with Martin Dineley, FOH engineer for the event, and Craig Harvey, L-Acoustic Application Engineer, convinced me that using L-Isa would offer an even more qualitative experience. What a great decision it was! Honestly, I was blown away and I’ve never heard quite so much positive feedback about audio on any show I’ve ever worked on.’

‘This was my second year looking after the audio for the Winter Concert,’ adds Dineley. ‘Last year, we used a standard stereo system and it worked really well, but at about the same time I was working on my first large-scale L-ISA event, the 46^th UAE National Day in Abu Dhabi, so its capabilities were fresh in my mind. I had sat during rehearsals at the RFH last year thinking, ‘This would really lend itself to L-ISA, we could really improve it.’ This year, I was able to put those ambitions into practice and it really changed things. Not only does it allow the vast majority of the audience to perceive wide and deep spatialised audio, L-Isa also completely changes your priorities and your expectations when you’re at the mixing console. The benefit, particularly for an orchestra, is its natural presentation and the fact that each instrument now has real space in the mix.’

A proscenium Scene system was designed in L-Acoustics 3D acoustical simulation programme, Soundvision, comprising five hangs of nine Kiva II supplemented by two hangs of two SB18s (one either side of the centre hang). Six X8 were mounted on the stage lip to provide front fill, with the centre two X8 split either side of the conductor’s platform, while four X12 provided foldback for the soloists. All speakers were driven by LA12X amplified controllers and a DiGiCo SD7 console was used to mix the show, with each of its two engines having its own L-Isa Processor.

With the RFH being a relatively narrow room, the configuration delivered realistic localisation of the audio and good coverage in all areas, with an L-Isa zone achieved for the majority of the audience.

Dineley notes there were additional advantages over the stereo systems they had used previously: L-Isa can achieve the same coverage and SPL as a stereo system, but with less cabinets per hang, allowing the truss to be in a lower position without compromising the lighting or projection positions. This lower position also meant that the sound reached under the balcony, which had the double advantage of dispensing with the inconvenience of having to use under balcony fills, while maintaining L-ISA coverage throughout the venue.

With an extremely tight schedule – in, show, and out in just 25 hours – there was no time to waste and Dineley was appreciative of the help given to him by the L-ISA team in advance of the show.

‘L-Acoustics was on board all the way,’ he says. ‘I was given time in the L-Isa studio in London with guru Sherif El Barbari and all the backup I needed – which wasn’t much because I found the system pretty intuitive. On the day, everything went as predicted thanks to a great team before and during the event.

Pollard states that the results from L-Isa were a huge improvement on previous years, giving more even coverage to much more of the venue, and with a clarity he had not heard before from an orchestra of that size; while Dineley is proud of what the audio team produced.

‘The entire day felt controlled and good humoured, without any upset or worry and, on the evening, we produced a show we all could say had moved expectations even higher for the next event,’ he confirms. ‘The audience at the RFH are an extremely discerning and knowledgeable bunch, so it was particularly gratifying that we received so many compliments. Not everyone knew why it sounded so much better this year, but almost all agreed that it did. I was only too happy to take those pats on the back.’

More: www.l-acoustics.com

For the past six years, the French city of Nantes has been treated to a performance from a 1,000-strong choir of local singers aged from seven to 89 each July. Spectacular in itself, this year’s experience was enhanced with the use of a L-Isa Live, sound reinforcement concept introduced by L-Acoustics founder Christian Heil.

UrbanVoices is a multifaceted project organied by the association of the Cité Monde [World City], which takes place over several months and is open to the entire city of Nantes. Karim Ammour is Artistic Director and creator of the project, entitled The City is Beautiful, and also its composer and conductor. It offers an eclectic programme that honours mankind and nature, and features compositions that range from reggae, soul, pop and gospel to RnB, with the singers accompanied by a singer/guitarist, three beatboxers, a percussionist and DJ.

With 40 singing rehearsals spread over eight weeks in 18 different locations, UrbanVoices is a musical adventure that culminates in the Grand Collective Urban Nantais in the 2,000-seat Grand Auditorium of La Cité Des Congrès Nantes.

Klaus Blasquiz, a renowned musician best known for his band Magma and musical director of UrbanVoices, had approached L-Acoustics with his wish to provide something special and more immersive for this year’s event: ‘He visited our L-Isa auditorium in Paris together with Karim Ammour,’ says Sherif el Barbari, Head of Application at L-Isa. ‘We introduced them both to the capabilities of our L-Isa Live concept, which immediately convinced them to be very suitable for what they wanted to achieve.’

The team produced a design for an L-Isa Live set-up for UrbanVoices comprising five L-Acoustics Kara arrays of six elements each for the scene area, plus two 12XT per side for extended panoramic expansion. This front system was complemented by two flown SB18 per side for low frequency extension and stacked SB28s on the stage floor for ultralow frequency content. Front fill was handled by six 8XT speakers along the downstage edge.

‘The choir was divided into two groups of 500, alternating throughout the six performances over the weekend,’ el Barbari says. ‘The beatbox performers produced unbelievably low frequency content, which justified the use of large subwoofers to handle their signal.

‘The massive choir provided the basis for a very wide immersive experience which really benefitted from the L-Isa configuration, while the localisation of Karim’s vocal and the instruments was maintained for every seat in the audience and with a clarity that is usually missed in a conventional LR approach.’

‘L-Isa Live connects the sound with the visual image of the artists performing on the stage,’ adds Mickaël Sourisseau, Technical Manager of La Cité des Congrés. ‘It gives every member of the audience the optimum sound and consistency with what they are seeing, not just those in the seats located in the central axis of the scene.

‘It was a great opportunity to deploy the L-Acoustics system – acquired two years ago during an upgrade to the Citè’s PA – in a new configuration, that introduces the audience to a truly immersive experience.’

L-Isa live claims hyper-realistic localisation, connecting what is seen and what is heard. Acoustical events are perceived as if they were emerging from the source, completely focusing the listener’s attention on the performance. It requires the placement of a front speaker system, consisting of at least five arrays/loudspeakers, along with an L-Isa Processor that provides an object-orientated mixing through L-Isa Controller software. To achieve optimum results, loudspeakers need to be installed in suitable spots to provide the desired localisation.

More: http://l-isa-music.com

A concert showcasing the most famous Disney film melodies was recently staged by the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin at the Berlin Waldbühne open-air concert venue.

PLaying its part in the Disney in Concert all-star event was L-Acoustics’ new L-ISA live lousdpeaker system, which is billed as a ‘breakthrough in sound reinforcement technology that offers an immersive experience of hyper-realistic sound localisation’.

A relatively new venue in Paris, La Seine Musicale is set on a small island in the Seine. From its opening, it was envisaged that the venue would have studio recording and rehearsing space facilities as well as its ability to host concerts, musicals, ballets, comedy and corporate events. Now, the studio has been added…

Easy connectivity from every potential recording space to the control room is served by a building-wide network of Ethernet cables and connection ports. An IP audio solution was a must and, following careful consideration, the team chose Audinate’s Dante protocol. ‘The implementation of a Dante Network was decided upon as soon as the building was conceptualised in full. All studios, rooms and concert halls needed to be linked through Ethernet,’ explains Arnaud Kalmes, head engineer at Riffx Studios at La Seine Musicale.

‘The Dante protocol simply seemed to be the ideal solution, as it would allow us to record in any room or concert hall in the building via a single Ethernet cable,’ he continues. ‘If we had chosen a fully analogue configuration, it would not only have been much harder, but also more expensive to be able to offer the same possibilities for our clients.’

To support the completely networked infrastructure, two rolling racks were put together, each holding a DAD AX32 and XLR connector panels, making each rack a portable stagebox with high-quality mic preamps and A/D conversion, as well as the link to the Dante network. These racks can be moved to any room or hall in which a recording session is scheduled. No matter what the location, these racks connect to a network port in the wall and all of the channels are routed to the control room in which another AX32 unit gathers the audio streams and interfaces to the DAW.

‘We have four studios where we record daily, but we can also record in other studios and concert halls of La Seine Musicale,’ Arnaud Kalmes explains. ‘Every space is linked to the network which lets us record in our control room from any location. We use several stage racks containing the AX32 on a daily basis. We simply roll the unit in the studio and patch it up to the wall.

‘We also use the DADman application to create presets for different recording sessions. This allows us to do very quick recalls between sessions and also save new settings that can be recalled at any time. That way, the sound engineers, who come in to work here, can save their own settings, leave for a year and find their entire setup when they come back. In short, all of our studios gravitate around the DAD AX32s. The routing options are unbelievable and the preamps and converters are excellent and the solution is as future-proof as it is flexible.’

More: www.digitalaudio.dk

The Windy City’s LakeShake music festival brought together more than 30 of country music’s biggest stars, including Lady Antebellum, Brooks & Dunn, Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean and Martina McBride. With such a line-up, Thunder Audio knew that the sound system was essential to performers and audience alike.

The chosen system relied on JBL VTX Series speakers and Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers, to serve the thousands of fans who assembled on the shores of Lake Michigan for three days of country music.

‘VTX has a great reputation in the country music industry,” says Thunder Audio Business Development Manager, Greg Snyder. ‘Many top touring acts include VTX on their rider because of the abundant power and clarity that the system provides. When it comes to country music events, VTX is our go-to choice.’

Thunder Audio has relied on JBL equipment for many years, recently using VTX for festivals and tours including Lollapalooza, Moogfest and Austin City Limits. The system used for LakeShake included main hangs of 16 VTX V25-II cabinets per side, side hangs of eight V25-II cabinets per side, flown arrays of five VTX S28 subwoofers, a horizontal cardioid array of 30 VTX S28 subwoofers in front of the stage and delay hangs of 12 VTX V20 per side. Using VTX V20s as the delay system enabled Thunder Audio to have a significantly larger and more even coverage area, with a small-format cabinet that exactly matches the tonality and performance of the V25-II main hangs, thanks to factory-standard V5 tunings.

The system was powered by racks of Crown I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager 2.0 software used to control and configure the entire system for best performance. The software dramatically reduces design time, simplifies networking and takes the complexity and guesswork out of system configuration.

‘We use Performance Manager for sound design, equalisation, amplifier programming and data – it’s our primary control for the audio system,’ Snyder says. ‘We find it to be a very accurate system that we can stand by.’

New Zealand’s Lampros Sound – specialists in sound, lighting, A/V and live streaming – recently added an Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing system to its hire stock in preparation for the Arise Conference, one of New Zealand’s largest Christian gatherings.

Based in Wellington, Lampros’ warehouse contains a number of other mixers from the Allen & Heath range, including a GLD-112 digital mixer, an iLive-T112 Surface with iDR-64 MixRack, a Qu-16 compact digital mixer, and an assortment of Zed compact analogue mixers. The new dLive system comprises the flagship S7000 Surface and DM64 MixRack.

Almost 50 years on stage and opening Live Aid in 1985, Status Quo are an inescapable part of rock history. They are also longstanding supporters of charities including The Prince’s Trust, the British Heart Foundation and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy.

In early 2016 the band announced their final electric tour, The Last Night of the Electrics, calling on Capital Sound for an Outline GTO C-12 rig for the main FOH rig. Long-standing FOH engineer Andy May agreed to use the system following a recommendation from Dave Roden (who used it for The Stereophonics during the summer) and has subsequently taken to it.

Lawo has appointed Radio Systems Inc as a new distributor of its radio products in the US.

Radio Systems will represent Lawo’s complete line of radio products in the US, including the Ruby and Crystal mixing consoles and Power Core mixing engine, touchscreen Crystal Clear mixer, Rǝlay virtual radio suite, and VisTool GUI builder software, offered in conjunction with technical and workflow consulting services.

‘Many of the world’s largest broadcasters depend on Lawo every day,’ says Radio Systems President, Dan Braverman. ‘The mixing consoles and AoIP systems are beautiful, flexible and amazingly powerful. Also, broadcasters are extremely interested in virtualisation, and Lawo is a pioneer in this area, having introduced the first true Virtual Radio Console several years ago. Our entire organisation is really looking forward to showing American broadcasters the benefits of advanced Lawo technology.’

‘It’s a real pleasure to welcome Radio Systems into the Lawo family,’ says Lawo Head of Sales for Radio, Jochen Richter. ‘The company knows and loves radio just as much as we do, and like us, is an innovator. With more than 40 years of broadcast experience, it is the perfect choice to represent Lawo radio products and software solutions in the US.’