Makuhari Messe, in t he Japanese city of Chiba, recently hosted the first two days of uP!!! Special Live Holic extra 2022 in its huge complex. The event featured an impressive cast of 16 key Japanese rock bands, including Androp, Straightener, Blue Encount and Orange Range.

The audio contractor for the event was Try Audio Japan, who fielded an Outline sound system comprising two main hangs of 12 Outline GTO, plus three Mantas per side for down fill, with side hangs consisting of 16 Outline Butterfly per side. Low frequency support was added by a centre subwoofer system of 20 Outline DBS 18-2 dual 18-inch enclosures. Lip fill was provided by four LIPF-082. This powerhouse set-up featured a combination of Outline’s T-Eleven and T-Seven power amplifiers.

The FOH mixing consoles at the bands’ disposal were a DiGiCo Quantum7, DiGiCo SD8, Yamaha CL5 and SSL Six, while monitoring featured a Yamaha CL5 and a Midas Pro1.

Try Audio Japan’s Tokihiko ‘Toku’ Tokuda was system engineer at the Makuhari Messe shows and explains his reasons for the Outline equipment: ‘We chose Outline because it delivers a sound that can be clearly identified even in a large venue with considerable reverb, such as the Makuhari Messe hall. It’s also very “musical” and easy to mix, which makes it the ideal system for live performances, and this ease of mixing was also greatly appreciated by the bands’ FOH engineers.’

Since the FOH consoles were 60m distant from the stage, Tokuda focused his attention on how to make the mixing work from such a distance, and the important factor of ensuring a perfect balance between main and side hangs.

‘We used Outline’s OpenArray 3D software to simulate the difference in sound between the front and the rear of the auditorium and, in my opinion, this enabled us to achieve a great result,’ he explains. ‘The client was also very satisfied with the results and after the event commissioned another job from us. The engineers also complimented me on the fact that they’d never been so easy to mix so well at the venue.’

Try Audio is a well-known Japanese PA company supporting festivals and artists with their concert sound, not only in Japan, but also overseas.

More: www.outline.it