With some of the biggest names in rap and hip-hop on the bill, the Rolling Loud Festival in Mana Wynwood looked to LPS Production Services and DAS Audio to deliver high SPLs.

Handling lighting, sound, video and staging, LPS managed the audio logistics for this year’s festival, with company president Jose Laria specifying the DAS Audio systems.

‘This was a big, outdoor concert event, so we needed to ensure that the system we assembled had excellent music reproduction and speech intelligibility, and even coverage across the area,’ he says. ‘Our setup included 16 DAS Aero 50 large-format line array elements – with eight enclosures each for the left and right main hangs. These were augmented by four Aero 12A mid-high line array modules – two enclosures per side that served as down fills. For low frequency, we arranged 12 DAS UX-221A subwoofers stacked two-high across the front of stage.’

‘For side fills, we used six Aero 20A compact line array elements – three enclosures each for left and right – and coupled these with four LX-218A subwoofers, which were positioned two enclosures per side. We also used another four DAS Aero 20A enclosures for front fill. The stage monitor set-up consisted of four Road 15A stage monitors while, for the DJ monitor setup, we used two Vantec 215A enclosures with two Vantec 18A subwoofers. These loudspeakers were arranged one stack per side.

‘With a lot of hip-hop shows, it’s difficult to get a consistent level of vocal intelligibility while maintaining the amount of bass the audience expects,’ he continues. ‘I was pleasantly surprised by the performance both these loudspeakers delivered – all without any drawbacks. Further, the amount of air moved by the UX-221 is very impressive. My techs were actually taking videos of how the air was making our tent flap in the wind like a kite, and this was all the way out from the stage at the front of house position. The UX-221 is very impressive in its ability to reproduce frequencies you can’t get with a double 18-inch subwoofer and they’re very fast and clean for such a large driver.’

For large productions of this nature, modelling the system to ensure optimum performance and other aspects of system design are crucial to the success of the event: ‘I was very pleased to see the level of support we received from the U.S. office in Miami,’ Laria reports. ‘The DAS staff actually came on-site to help set up, tune, and even strike the system. We couldn’t have asked for better support.’

‘If the audience enjoys the sound and lights, and the promoter is pleased with the results, then I’ve done my job,’ he adds. ‘This year’s show delivered phenomenal sound and the energy of the event could literally be felt throughout the entire audience area. Those UX-221 subs really helped make the difference.’