Recent UK tours by the Arctic Monkeys and Example allowed engineers from hire company SSE to put the company’s new Lake LM 44 digital audio system processors through their paces.
‘We used both our existing LM 26s and the new LM 44s on The Arctic Monkeys tour,’ SSE Technical Manager Simon Gladstone elaborates. ‘In the past, we would normally have used our old Dolby DLPs for such big gigs, but having the LM 44 allowed us to leave these out, which is testament to the capabilities of the new units.’
The LM 44 provides four analogue inputs and four analogue outputs, in contrast to the LM 26’s 2-input/6-output format. In addition, the LM 44 accommodates 8-input/8-output AES3 and 4-input/8-output Dante digital audio transport with dual redundancy, while the devices are ‘stackable’ for larger multiples of analogue I/O. The LM 44 benefits from the latest implementation of Lake’s Mesa EQ configuration, using four Mesa modules, each with an independent input mixer and output signal processing chain.
With this configuration, the LM 44 is suited to a wider number of different FOH applications, including as a mix-matrix and full system EQ – sitting between a mixer and any high-end performance loudspeaker system – switching between consoles on large events, inserted EQ for monitor systems, FOH to stage digital transmission, line driver for self-powered systems, and as a Dante break-in/breakout box.
SSE’s engineer on the Arctic Monkeys tour, Mark Pantlin, had an LM 44 out front taking AES from an Avid Venue Profile digital console, and clocking externally from an Antelope Isochrone OCX. The audio was then transmitted via Dante to two LM 26s either side of the stage, over SSE’s bespoke Cisco/Neutrik fibre-optic digital returns system, with an analogue backup in place. This set-up was used to drive an L-Acoustics K1 loudspeaker system.
‘One challenge we did have was when the Profile was removed and an analogue playback was used, the Dante master would change,’ Gladstone reports. ‘This was a bit of a worry for us, but the crossover happened seamlessly, with no break in the audio. That’s thanks to the technology that is packed into Lake’s LM Series.
‘The Lake Processors are in a league of their own,’ he continues. ‘Number one is the sound quality, but then there’s the flexibility of the product, and also, to have such a good graphical interface that is really intuitive to end-users is a big selling point. One of the best things about Lake for us is that the units are so modular. So we can piece together a system using different processors, and if we need more output on one side, we can add another unit and link them all together with Dante, so it really does give us an added flexibility that is vital.’
After the success of the Arctic Monkeys tour, SSE sent the same system out with rapper Example in conjunction with an L-Acoustics V-Dosc speaker system.
More: www.sseaudiogroup.com
More: www.lakeprocessing.com
