‘Based on the results we experienced during the system’s German tour and now with the Zac Brown Band tour in the US, we are even more convinced that MLA is a game-changing product,’ says Martin Audio R&D Director Jason Baird.
The claim comes ahead of the first general showing of the MLA Multicellular Loudspeaker Array at Plasa in September, where the UK manufacturer will present ‘the most Intelligent live sound system ever constructed’ with the assertion that it delivers coverage and consistency that is unachievable with traditional line arrays. The show comes at the end of a two-month stint which has seen the MLA system in action on the successful Fettes Brot tour (including the 15,000-seat Lanxess Arena in Cologne), in London at the prestigious iTunes Festival at the Roundhouse and then with Grammy Award winning country artists, The Zac Brown Band, in the US.
Combining Martin Audio’s touring legacy with proprietary optimisation software and a new cellular array design, MLA ‘is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced,’ according to Jeffrey Cox, VP of Martin Audio. ‘After spending three days on tour, and experiencing MLA’s amazing consistency in coverage, and what’s easily the broadest stereo image of anything out there, I can honestly say MLA changes everything – and is the new standard for live-sound performance and technology’.
The result of intensive R&D, MLA’s uses intelligent numerical optimisation of the array’s output based on a highly accurate acoustic model. A 24-enclosure array has 144 cells – too many to optimise manually or by ear. Martin Audio’s proprietary Display 2.0 system design software automatically calculates FIR DSP filters for each cell and a redundant-ring audio network (U-Net) downloads the settings into each array enclosure. Martin’s Vu-Net software provides real time control and monitoring of the system.
The system claims an ‘exceptionally even’ frequency response and SPL over audience areas; a 140dB peak output (per cabinet @1m); automatic optimisation of array, both physically (splay angles) and electronically (DSP); Computer control and monitoring of the entire system, and total control of sound system balance for engineers and sound technicians.
Additional features include 90° x 7.5° dispersion; a compact size 1136mm (44.7in) wide x 372mm (14.6in) high x 675mm (26.5in) deep), one-box-fits-all (festivals to theatres) application range and a global voltage, power factor corrected power supply.
‘Our primary aim was to take the guesswork out of daily system design and enable the engineer’s mix to be delivered throughout an audience with precision, consistency and repeatability,’ says Jason Baird.
More: www.martin-audio.com
