Enjoying a recent growth spurt – especially post-pandemic – Cheshire-based dBS Solutions has invested heavily in new sound equipment, becoming principally a Martin Audio house.
The full-service provider delivers bespoke audio, lighting and production services across a broad range of clients and industries, with a diverse portfolio of work that live performance, seasonal events, touring UK and International theatre, visual artists and numerous festivals.
‘Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen a major increase in demand for our audio services, in particular for larger projects and that’s led to a significant expansion in our sound equipment inventory,’ says company MD, Chris Bogg. ‘We had been looking for some time for a device that we could use for system alignment and overall EQ, when one of our freelance engineers brought his own Newton to a dBS job. That gave us the chance to see one in action and we were immediately taken with it - its flexibility, its ability to handle multiple formats simultaneously, its scalability and its input/output options made it clear that we’d found the unit we’d been looking for.’
The company subsequently purchased a unit from UK distributor CUK Audio (who also provided a demonstration and training on the unit) and it has since been at the heart of numerous audio systems supplied by dBS for, among others, Cory Wong, the Liverpool Gospel Music Festival and the Arrow Stage at Camper Calling in Warwickshire.
‘Using the Newton as the central controller, especially for larger distributed systems, has really made a difference to the way we work – the workflow is so easy, all our engineers now want a Newton on every job,’ Bogg reports. ‘Being able to handle multiple clocks and broadcast feeds, while also handling digital console switching just makes life that much easier. The Smaart integration is also a big plus in terms of system alignment and tuning, while the multiple failsafe options (given how much this unit does and how much we rely on it) give us the backup we need.
‘It’s interesting too that the functionality and safety of Newton and the reputation it’s now enjoying actually makes it easier to charge for on a hire invoice. Clients are used to paying for brightly-lit mixing consoles and huge arrays of loudspeakers but the bits in the middle - the things that actually make PA systems perform their best are often regarded as mysterious black boxes with no specific cost or obvious function. Newton’s role as the ultimate multi-purpose hub delivers real commercial value.
‘We still use the manufacturer presets in the DSP-equipped amplifiers of course, but using our Newton for system alignment and its WFIR filters for overall EQ just brings it all together somehow and it’s really noticeable,’ he adds. ‘We choose our sound equipment because we think it sounds great, but using our Newton for overall system control has definitely moved everything up a gear.’
