BY LIVE SOUND STAFF 14 EQUIPMENT 8 LOADING DOCK New Microphones, Loudspeakers, Mixers, Wireless Systems, and More

THE JOURNAL FOR LIVE EVENT TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS MARCH 2016 | PROSOUNDWEB.COM

DIGITAL CONSOLE DUAL EXPANSION OPTIONS UNDERSTANDING PURPOSE SPEC SHEETS

INSIDE A Versatile Audio Approach REAL WORLD GEAR: At Toronto’s Sony Centre COLUMN LOUDSPEAKERS STAGE ESSENTIALS

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In creating the X Series, we brought all of the experience gained in designing the K2 to bear on a new series of reference coaxials. Optimized design, ergonomics, acoustical performance and weight make the X Series the most advanced coaxials on the market. Four distinct enclosures with format, bandwidth, SPL and coverage angles perfectly adapted to short throw rental or install applications, the X Series offers studio monitor sound quality, compact design, consistent tonal balance, no minimum listening distance and exceptional feedback rejection. www.l-acoustics.com

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BottleRock, Napa Valley In This Issue MARCH 2016 | VOL. 25, NO. 3

FEATURES COVER STORY 14 DUAL PURPOSE A versatile sound reinforcement approach at Toronto’s Sony Centre. BY SAM McLEAN

26 SAM I AM Noted acoustic designer and Smaart creator Sam Berkow, in profile. BY KEVIN YOUNG

42 BEAUTY FROM RESTRAINT The sound design for the first-ever performance of a 17th-century opera. BY KIRSTY GILLMORE

50 FULL SPEED AHEAD Audio technology in service of a diverse docket of recent applications. BY LIVE SOUND STAFF 14 EQUIPMENT 8 LOADING DOCK New microphones, loudspeakers, mixers, wireless systems, and more.

32 SHOWCASE Options for growing the capabilities of digital consoles. BY CRAIG LEERMAN

54 ROAD TEST Evaluating the iSEMcon ISEMic 725TR measurement microphone. BY CRAIG LEERMAN

56 REAL WORLD GEAR Column loudspeaker principles and the latest models. BY LIVE SOUND STAFF 38 56 DEPARTMENTS 12 OUTLOOK To what end? Ruminations on “audio gear elitism.” BY KARL WINKLER 50

18 THE VAULT What do the charts and graphs really mean? BY PAT BROWN

22 HANDS ON Keeping track of wireless system hardware during the show. BY IKE ZIMBEL

36 IN FOCUS The value of charting the mix. BY JONAH ALTROVE

38 SPOTLIGHT A primer on getting started with plugins. BY JOE SHAMBRO

46 SOUND ADVICE Not all 1/4-inch jacks are created equal. BY MIKE SOKOL

Live Sound International (ISSN 1079-0888) (USPS 011-619), Vol. 25 No. 3, is published monthly by EH Publishing, 111 Speen Street, Suite 200, Framingham, MA 01701 USA. US/Canada/Mexico IN EVERY ISSUE subscriptions are $60 per year. For all other countries subscriptions are $140 per year, airmail. All subscriptions are payable by Visa, Master Card, American Express, or Discover Card only. Send 6 FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK all subscription inquiries to: Live Sound International, 111 Speen Street, Suite 200, Framingham, MA 01701 USA. Canada Subscriptions: Canada Post Agreement Number 40612608. Send changes 62 NEWSBYTES of address information and blocks of undeliverable copies to Pitney Bowes International, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Live Sound International, PO 64 BACK PAGE Box 989, Framingham, MA 01701. Periodical Postage paid at Framingham, MA and additional mailing offices. Reproduction of this magazine in whole or part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Live Sound International® is a registered trademark of EH Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. 2016 EH Publishing. Check us out on the web at http://www.prosoundweb.com.

4 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com

From the Editor’s Desk

WRITING PROFILES of interesting people is tricky business. It’s that “interesting” part that represents the biggest challenge MARCH 2016 | VOL. 25, NO. 3 — how to translate someone’s unique worldview, their way of Live Sound International thinking, accomplishments, and approach to life and business, 111 Speen Street, Suite 200, Framingham, MA 01701 into an accurate (and hopefully entertaining) narrative? 800.375.8015 | www.livesoundint.com With that in mind, I encourage you to check out Kevin Young’s discussion with Sam Berkow in this issue. Kevin’s got a certain knack for PUBLISHER Kevin McPherson, [email protected] capturing the nature and essence of EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Keith Clark, [email protected] exceptional people in our industry, SENIOR EDITOR M. Erik Matlock, [email protected] and he’s hit the mark again with his SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Craig Leerman [email protected] look at one of the more noteworthy CHURCH SOUND EDITOR Mike Sessler individuals working in pro audio. [email protected] Elsewhere in the issue, Ike Zim- TECHNICAL CONSULTANT Pat Brown, [email protected] bel steps up with a load of valuable ART DIRECTOR Katie Stockham, [email protected] advice on managing wireless systems CONTRIBUTORS: Kirsty Gillmore | Ike Zimbel | Joe Shambro at hectic shows and events, while Mike Sokol | Kevin Young | Jonah Altrove first-time contributor Joe Shambro (welcome aboard!) offers a primer on stepping into the realm of plugins. Kirsty Gillmore ProSoundWeb.com also shares her unique experiences in putting together a sound EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Keith Clark, [email protected] design for a 17th-century opera production. SENIOR EDITOR M. Erik Matlock, [email protected] And if you missed it the first time (a dozen years ago), we’re PRODUCT SPECIALIST Craig Leerman, pleased to re-present Pat Brown’s excellent article on better [email protected] understanding specification sheets as the celebration of LSI’s WEBMASTER Guy Caiola, [email protected] 25th anniversary continues. Pat’s been a valued contributor to this publication (and ProSoundWeb) for many (very many) ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jeffrey Turner years now, and we’re truly so much better for his considerable [email protected] | 415.455.8301 | Fax: 801.640.1731 (and continuing) involvement. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ONLINE Mark Shemet And as always, there’s much more. Enjoy the issue. [email protected] | 603.532.4608 | Fax: 603.532.5855 AD PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Manuela Rosengard [email protected] | 508.663.1500 x226 AD PRODUCTION MANAGER Jason Litchfield [email protected] | 508.663.1500 x252 CLIENT SERVICES MANAGER Jeffrey Miller Keith Clark [email protected] | 508.663.1500 x253 Editor In Chief, Live Sound International/ProSoundWeb JR. PRODUCTION DESIGNER Rachel Felson, [email protected] [email protected] Circulation and Customer Service inquiries should be made to: Live Sound Customer Service EH PUBLISHING Phone: 800-375-8015, ext 294 (Outside the U.S.: 508.663.1500 x294) Fax: 508.663.1599 [email protected] 111 Speen Street, Suite 200 Framingham, MA 01701

EDITORIAL AND READER SERVICE RELATED EMAIL ADDRESSES Circulation & Subscriptions | [email protected] Loading Dock Submissions | [email protected] World Wide Web Inquiries | [email protected] Advertising Rate Information | [email protected]

REPRINTS: Wrights Reprints ON THE COVER: [email protected] | 877.652.5295 New full-range and subwoofer arrays in place in a dynamic new system at the Sony Centre in Toronto.

Loading Dock PRODUCTS FRESH OFF THE TRUCK

Audio-Technica ATM230 Shure Microflex Advance A hypercardioid dynamic instru- A portfolio of Dante-networked microphones, ment microphone for toms, audio interfaces, and control software for A/V snare and other percus- conferencing. The Microflex Advance Ceiling sion instruments. Array microphone can be mounted alongside The proprietary standard ceiling tiles, while the Microflex capsule is Advance Table Array microphone has a “toroid” designed for ring-shaped pattern to reject unwanted arti- high SPL appli- facts from overhead, such as HVAC or projector cations, with the fans. The four available audio interfaces are available in standard XLR (mic/ polar pattern reducing the line) and block (mic/line) connector versions that include LED and mute switch pick-up of sounds from the pins for logic-enabled analog microphones. All include a single Ethernet port sides and rear to improve isolation of the desired for Dante audio routing and a browser-based software for control of connec- sound source. A compact, low-profile footprint tivity and monitoring. The enhanced IntelliMix digital signal processing suite provides flexible placement options. Frequency includes proprietary Steerable Coverage technology to enable accurate control response is stated as 20 Hz to 12 kHz. Accessories of audio capture. All hardware includes built-in control software that simplifies include the AT8665 drum mount and a soft pro- the process of adjusting mic attributes, such as configuration of presets, tem- tective pouch. Also available is the ATM230PK pack plates, and polar patterns. Microflex Advance is also designed to integrate with with three ATM230s. www.audio-technica.com third-party controllers. www.shure.com

Mackie ProDX Series Bose Professional F1 Model 812 Two compact digital A passive full-range model joining the Flexi- mixers (four-chan- ble Array Loudspeaker line offering a choice nel ProDX4 and of four different output patterns for opti- eight-channel mizing coverage. It incorporates an array of ProDX8) with wire- eight proprietary 2.25-inch drivers, 100-degree less streaming horizontal waveguides, and a 12-inch woofer. and control, Included are M8 top and rear hang points, processing, along with three dedicated brackets for flexi- and MixerCon- ble mounting. Pan and tilt, yoke and U bracket nect control options are also available. The full-range model can also be used with the app for iOS optional F1 subwoofer that includes an integrated mounting stand (with cable and Android. Both mixers are equipped with channels) for the loudspeaker, and both units have ergonomic handles for the company’s Wide-Z mic preamps with combo easy transport. http://pro.bose.com inputs that allow connection of mic, line and instruments, and require no gain adjustment. Using the control app, users unlock processing NEXO DTDAMP4x0.7 & DTDAMP4x1.3 and wireless control plus the ability to wireless- Two 4-channel, 1RU power amplifiers avail- ly play back music or backing tracks from any able in 700- and 1,300-watt models (4 Bluetooth capable device. Built-in hardware also x 4 ohms), each weighing 16.5 pounds. provides control of any channel and output via Both offer a switch-mode power a single knob. Mix tools include three-band EQ supply, and channels can be inde- with sweepable mid, low-cut, and compression pendently bridged (2 x 2). Four inputs per channel. The ReadyFX engine offers a choice are available via XLR, with four outputs on NL4. DTDAMPS can be of 16 effects. A graphic EQ on all outputs fosters used as generic gain blocks, and when combined with the new DTD Controller, fine tuning of the overall mix. Users can save they are matched companions for NEXO PS loudspeakers, LS subwoofers, the mixes for later recall. Main outputs are TRS, new ID24, and small-format GEO M6 systems. There are two versions of the joined by an aux send (two on the ProDX8), and DTD Controller, one for touring and the other for installations, each available both models have a 1/8-inch stereo aux input for with the option to add a Dante input. Both versions are housed in the same connecting a media player as well as a head- low-depth rack-mount case with a universal power supply. phone output. www.mackie.com http://www.yamahaca.com

8 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com Focusrite RedNet A16R A 16-channel analog I/O that’s the latest addition to the RedNet range of Dante-based Audix Performance Series audio-over-IP inter- A wireless system available in 40 Series and 60 Se- faces. It provides 16 channels of network-connected 24-bit, 192 kHz A/D-D/A ries models, both with a two-step process of “Scan conversion as well as line-level analog audio in and out with full network and and Sync.” With the press of a hot key on the receiv- power supply redundancy. Analog inputs and outputs are accessed via four er, the system selects an available frequency from rear-panel DB25 connectors wired to AES59 specification, while two XLR con- a grid of pre-coordinated internal frequencies. The nectors provide additional AES 3/AES 11 (digital audio/DARS) I/O connectivity. transmitter is then placed next to the sync light on Word clock I/O connections are made via BNC sockets and permit switchable the receiver, and within 1-2 seconds, it locks to the termination. Dual network connections are provided on locking etherCON con- receiver. The 40 Series is a diversity system with 32 nectors, and the dual PSU power inputs include cable-retaining clips. Sample MHz of spectrum and 106 pre-coordinated frequen- rate and operating levels are selected remotely via host computer software. cies available that will take into account the region Front panel indicators include triple-color LED level indication along with and number of other systems in use. Eight systems sample rate, clock source, PSU, and network status indicators. The RedNet A16R (conservatively) can be used simultaneously. The 60 is specified as providing a dynamic range of 119 dB A-weighted, A/D and D/A, Series is a dual-channel system with true diversity with a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz (±0.15 dB). www.focusrite.com receivers and 64 MHz of extended spectrum. There are 207 pre-coordinated frequencies available for auto scan and sync purposes. In addition, there are JBL Professional 2,560 individual frequencies available for manual tuning. Sixteen systems (conservatively) can be used EON208P A portable PA that includes simultaneously. Performance Series handheld and two loudspeakers suitable for bodypack transmitters are both 64 MHz in frequen- ground stacking or pole mount- cy spectrum, so all transmitters will work with all ing housed in a suitcase-style receivers. www.audixusa.com enclosure. Each loudspeaker has an 8-inch woofer and 1-inch neodymium dome tweeter powered by a 320-watt power amplifier section. There’s also an integrated 8-channel mixer. Channels 1-4 can accept either a 1/4-inch instrument cable or an XLR cable and offer volume, reverb, treble and bass controls. In addition, channels 1-3 allow for both phantom power and Hi-Z input. Channels 5 and 6 can accept either a stereo pair of 1/4-inch TRS plugs or stereo RCA cables, and channels 7 and 8 accept a stereo 3.5 mm input for mobile devices such as phones and tablets. In addition, users can connect Bluetooth-enabled devices directly via Renkus-Heinz Autodesk the pair button. The output section has separate channels to run monitors, Revit Capability headphones and a subwoofer channel simultaneously. A 36 mm pole socket Expanded avenues for system designers to specify facilitates loudspeaker mounting. The enclosure also offers space to store the Renkus-Heinz Iconyx Gen5 and VARIAi loudspeak- included power and cables. www.jblpro.com ers using Autodesk Revit software. Specifically, Revit now quickly accesses files for both loudspeaker series using Autodesk Seek, a web service CAD Audio D88 that enables designers to discover, preview and A dynamic supercardioid microphone designed download Building Information Modeling (BIM) primarily for kick drum applications. A profiles, models, drawings, and product specifications prietary TrueFlex diaphragm is powered with for their active design sessions. Integrating Ren- a PowerGap neodymium magnet to provide a kus-Heinz technologies into 3D models created “hotter” signal. Frequency response is stated as 20 Hz to with Revit provides clients with a more complete 17 kHz, maximum SPL is >150 dB, impedance is 80 ohms, and picture of the end result. www.renkus-heinz.com sensitivity is -65 dBv (mV @ 1Pa). www.cadaudio.com

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 9 LOADING DOCK

Lab.gruppen E Series Two four-channel models, the E 10:4 and E 5:4, as well as the two-channel E 2:2 join the E Series of 1RU power amplifiers designed primarily for install applications. The E 10:4 produces 1,000 watts of maximum total output at 4, 8, and 16 ohms, or into 70 volts, while the E 5:4 supplies 500 PreSonus StudioLive AVB watts max total output and the E 2:2 offers 200 watts max total output. With Mix systems that combine one or two Studi- proprietary asymmetric power loading capability, one channel can supply oLive RM-series rack mixers, a StudioLive CS18AI output beyond the nominal maximum when other channels have lower power Ethernet/AVB control surface, and integrated requirements. Each channel can be individually optimized to drive either a control, recording, and production software. Four low-impedance or a 70-volt load. An IDEEA (IntelliDrive Energy Efficient Ampli- options are available: StudioLive AVB 16AI with fier) output stage lowers power consumption and heat emission, while a pro- one StudioLive RM16AI mixer; StudioLive AVB 32AI prietary Rail Switching Limiter circuit optimizes the output for instantaneous with one StudioLive RM32AI mixer; StudioLive AVB load conditions. Also included are detachable screw terminal blocks for input 48AI with one of each RM model cascaded to form (balanced) and output connections, 50 Hz high-pass filter (switchable per a 48-input, 64-channel system; and StudioLive channel), auto power on/off functionality, GPI facility for external control, and AVB 64AI with two cascaded StudioLive RM32AIs more. www.labgruppen.com for a 64-input system. There’s also the option to start with a single-mixer AVB Mix System and expand it later by cascading a second RM-series HK Audio LUCAS NANO 608i mixer. Both mixers in a cascaded AVB mix system A compact PA with iPad-enabled wireless mixer can be controlled from the StudioLive CS18AI and offering eight channels, seven reverb programs, from UC Surface touch-control software. CS18AI EQ and compressor functions, and Bluetooth and RM mixers connect to the network with Cat-5e streaming. The system includes two full-range or Cat-6 Ethernet cable. An associated firmware loudspeakers, each with 4.5-inch cone drivers update for RM-series mixers adds a new Stage Box and a 1-inch tweeter, as well as a 10-inch mode that fosters the use of StudioLive RM-series subwoofer in a low-resonance bass en- mixers as simple I/O devices in conjunction with closure. The onboard power amplifier StudioLive AI-series consoles. www.presonus.com delivers up to 460 watts for all components. The system can be set and optimized with the free LUCAS NANO Klark Teknik KT-USB & app (downloadable from the App Store), with key functions also accessible KT-AES50 via controls on the sub. There’s an Easy Mode option for novice users, and all Two network settings can be saved as presets. http://hkaudio.com modules compatible with the company’s RF Venue OPTIX DN9650 and The next generation of the company’s RF-over- DN9652 network fiber platform that allows the remote placement bridges as well as the Midas NEUTRON-NB expan- of wireless audio antennas using single-mode sion module. The KT-USB is class-compliant USB fiber optic cable. OPTIX consists of two modules: 2.0 module, requiring a single USB cable to con- a transmitter placed at the remote antenna nect to either a Mac or PC running any industry site, and a receiver at the rack or front of house standard DAW software. Forty-eight bidirectional location. The revised OPTIX offers female BNC channels are available at 48 kHz, and 24 bidirec- connectors for all RF/antenna connections and tional channels are available 96 kHz. The KT-AES50 ST/UPC optical connectors for fiber-optic cable provides a dual-port AES50 interface that operates connections. Both modules include DC power from the incoming AES50 clock or an external supplies and are mounted in enclosures of identical proportions for addition- clock. It supplies up to 48 bidirectional channels al flexibility in rack deployments. A package is available that includes two of and operates at 96 kHz and 48 kHz sample rates. each module for the distribution of diversity antenna systems. www.music-group.com/brand/klarkteknik/home www.rfvenue.com

10 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com Clear-Com DX410 A two-channel 2.4 GHz digital wireless intercom system with 7 kHz wideband audio. Each BS410 base station can support up to 15 registered BP410 wireless beltpacks and/or WH410 “all-in-one” wireless headsets. In a single-channel operation, Yamaha CIS Additions any four beltpack users can engage in simultaneous, full-du- VXS3F, VXS3FW, VXS3FT and VXS3FTW surface-mount loud- plex (talk-listen) communication, while three users may be in speakers as well as MA2120 and PA2120 power amplifiers full-duplex mode in a dual-channel operation. The BP410 and have joined the company’s Commercial Installation Solu- WH410 have reinforced casings and long-lasting keypads with tions Series. VXS Series F models offer a more compact no mechanical switch. Li-Ion batteries provide up to 12 hours enclosure than previous models, and in a curved form. Low- of battery life. The DX410 also offers 2-wire and 4-wire bridging and high-impedance versions are available. Both amplifiers and 2-wire auto-nulling. The bridging capability allows the are class D designs with intelligent protection, are capable option for combining the 2-wire and 4-wire ports together on of controlling input sources for applications with two either channel A or B, while the 2-wire auto-nulling enables different zones, and are also available in low- and high-im- fast and accurate integration with Clear-Com or TW wired par- pedance versions. The MA2120 is equipped with six mic/ tyline systems. www.clearcom.com line inputs and two stereo inputs with mixing capability. The mic inputs have 24-volt capability, and input 5 and 6 can be mono summed. Also onboard is a range of DSP functions as well as stereo source EQ with an enhancer function for input 7 and 8, output EQ for the two output channels, optimized EQ settings for VXS/VXC loudspeakers, and selectable HPF/ LPF settings. www.yamahaca.com dbx Professional Di & CT Both existing series have been expanded, including Di4, Di1 and DJdi direct injection (DI) boxes as well as CT3 and CT2 cable testing accessories. The Di4 is a four-channel DI that converts unbalanced signals into balanced output, and it also can function as a multi-channel stereo line mixer. The Di1 active DI has a level and impedance matching function, signal pass-thru, phantom power, and ground lift. The two-channel DJdi passive DI offers a continu- ously variable input signal attenuator that can accommodate a wide range of signal levels. The CT3 can be used to evaluate a wide variety of cables, offering a split design to test at the plug-in source. The CT2 accommodates testing cables with different connectors at each end. www.dbxpro.com

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 11 Outlook

any differences at all. Another factor is a “feel” or “comfort factor” that comes TO WHAT END? with employing gear that we like and/or use a majority of time. Perhaps we came to use said gear early on and just want to keep Ruminations on on keepin’ on with it. Or perhaps it better fits our style and sensibilities (good or bad). Certain mics (or outboard gear or “audio gear elitism.” consoles) just sound “right” to us, technical issues be damned. by Karl Winkler APPROPRIATE TOOLS Another factor is the suitability of particular gear for the job. Over the past 20 years or so, studio-type gear has increasingly ’ll start by saying that “elitism” is something that I’m encroached on the sound reinforcement realm. Some of this is as guilty of as many working in pro audio. While blind good and some isn’t. I A/B/X testing is a great tool, I think there’s also some- When it comes to cheaper mixing consoles designed for thing to be said for at least some of the esoteric claims made home studio use making their way into live sound situations, by audiophiles. The basis of my reasoning: when we spend a lot it’s problematic. For one thing, they’re not built to withstand of time with particular audio devices (or fine wines or superbly the abuse of the road or even a busy club. Perhaps more impor- crafted musical instruments), our perception changes. Our tantly, they’re not designed for the specific kinds of workflow threshold shifts either up or down, depending. and operations required in our world. Now, let’s flip it around. Some very good things have come out of the studio world and are relatively standard in live sound. Exhibit A: condenser microphones. Now that models are far more rugged, as well as exhibiting uniform pattern control and providing suitable sensitivity, we love them for certain applications. The concept of the “vocal chain” comes from the studio, i.e., deploying a high-end mic, preamp, compressor, etc., ahead of the console. We see numerous tours take this approach for the “money channel.” There can be a lot of validity in thinking equipment is not up to our personal standards. But I think that sometimes it comes from the wrong place. Just because we’ve never personally used certain gear doesn’t mean it’s not right for the job. To reject something just because we’re unfamiliar or may not know how to make it work right likely says more about us than it does about the equipment.

MAKING IT MAKE SENSE Another factor is lack of context. Sure, high bit and sample rates make a difference – to a point. We definitely want to For example, if we don’t regularly drink wine costing more than use the highest sample rate possible, within reason, and the $10 per bottle, we’re probably not qualified to judge the taste of largest bit depth. wine costing $100 per bottle. Likewise, if the only microphones Around the year 2000, I was involved with a demo in the we’ve ever used are run-of-the-mill dynamics (not that there’s Washington DC area utilizing high-end converters and a Senn- anything wrong with that), then perhaps we’re not well-qualified heiser MKH800 microphone with a bandwidth specification up to judge a Telefunken ELA M 251 or a Neumann M249. to 50 kHz. The goal was to expose a roomful of engineers to the On the other hand, if we’ve spent countless hours using differences of sample rate within a controlled environment. We those types of higher end (some say esoteric) mics on hundreds were able to compare a live mic feed, 16 bit/44.1 kHz sampling of vocalists over many years, then perhaps we might know (the Red Book CD standard), and 24 bit/96 kHz sampling. something about which M249s are really good and which ones Most people in the room were confident that they could hear aren’t. Even then, there may be those among us who are par- the difference. ticularly talented (i.e. “golden ears”) to pick out even the most Interestingly, as good as the 24/96 sampling proved to be, subtle differences, and those who may not be able to identify it still wasn’t up to par with the live mic feed. So, what does

12 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com this all mean? Was the 16/44.1 sampling terrible? Certainly the tradeoff of additional latency. Besides, what’s the point? If not. It actually sounded very good, with only subtle differ- the signal ends up as 24/48, then any advantages of running ences between it and the other formats. Perhaps the highs any part of the system at rates higher than that are subtle at were slightly “grainy” or the best, and certainly lost in the overall picture. dynamic gradations weren’t One way to as smooth. Maybe the ambi- BACK TO BASICS ent detail was not quite as look at it is that I’ve previously expressed the view that we need to focus on smoothly incorporated into there’s probably a getting the midrange right before worrying about the extremes. the direct sound. But would I’d like to go even further by adding that in terms of sound rein- these kinds of differences be “lowest common forcement systems, we need to first get the basics right, such as evident in a PA situation? denominator” power, grounding, gain structure and sample rate consistency. In addition, there are By doing so, the rest of the job gets much easier. questions of workflow, somewhere in Rather than focusing on how the latest gear has FPGAs run- cost, and potential technical the system. ning at PetaFLOP speeds, let’s put our efforts toward getting downsides. One way to look the most out of the gear available. As has probably been said at it is that there’s probably a “lowest common denominator” thousands of times in this business, if we can’t get it right with somewhere in the system. Perhaps it’s a mixing console, a drive staple consoles, microphones and loudspeakers, should we really rack, or an outboard A/D converter with a native conversion be calling ourselves professional live sound engineers? LSI rate of “only” 24 bits and 48 kHz. Does it make sense to run everything else at 24/96 or even higher? Karl Winkler serves as vice president of sales/service at Lectro- Not to me it doesn’t. Any connections between equipment at sonics and has worked in professional audio for more than 25 years. different sample rates necessitates sample rate conversion, with Reach him at [email protected].

MI-909 Digital Wireless Stereo IEM System Digital crystal-clear sound quality, unparalleled RF reliability and digital encryption protection. MIPRO’s MI-909, featuring the industry’s smallest bodypack receiver, operates across 64MHz of bandwidth with multiple presets allowing 16 channel operations. With innovative digital technology offering a frequency response from 20Hz to 15kHz, 112dB of dynamic range, onboard DSP, and digital diversity reception, MIPRO’s MI-909 system boasts unmatched features, digital audio clarity and functions that easily surpass the competition.

Distributed in USA by Avlex Corporation 6655 Troost Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64131 | Tel: 816-581-9103 | Fax: 816-581-9104 | Email: [email protected] | www.avlex.com

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 13 Cover Story

DUAL PURPOSE shared by senior management, includ- A versatile sound reinforcement ing CEO Mark Hammond and director of operations Matt Farrell, who helped approach at Toronto’s Sony Centre. make sure the resources were available to invest in premium equipment. by Sam McLean “The existing system was not designed for a diverse program schedule,” explains Farrell. “It was older and becoming more OCATED IN THE HEART the Sony Centre recently unveiling new and more unreliable. Groups began coming of Toronto, the Sony Centre dual-purpose sound reinforcement systems through and requesting better coverage for the Performing Arts has to support a varied and busy schedule that and commenting on the quality. We knew hosted a variety of interna- sees upcoming dates by Patti LaBelle, Iggy it was time to look for a replacement.” L tional attractions and stars Pop, and Paul Simon joined by a variety of since opening its doors as the O’Keefe Cen- dance and theatrical productions and other COLLABORATIVE PROCESS tre in 1960, featuring Alexander H. Cohen’s live events. Currently Canada’s largest soft- Farrell worked closely with head of audio production of the pre-Broadway premiere of seat theatre, the venue was designated a Ross Tuskey in seeking a solution, with Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot starring Rich- heritage building by the city in 2008, and an overall goal of dramatically improved ard Burton and Julie Andrews. Its stage has shortly after, closed for renovations to sonic quality and coverage combined with also hosted a who’s who of music legends restore its iconic features as well as upgrade touring rider acceptance. Following an such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, the audience area and lobby. extensive review process that included Diana Ross, and Tom Jones. The advancement of sound reinforce- demonstrations of multiple loudspeaker The mantra of presenting top-shelf live ment quality was another top priority, systems and approaches, Adamson Sys- performances has never been stronger, with and it’s now been realized. It was a goal tems emerged as the final choice.

14 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com Farrell and Tuskey then collaborated with the design team at Adamson, headed up by applications engineer Jeremiah Karni and director of loudspeaker development Ben Cabot, to finalize the design. The theatre is a fan-shaped room with seating for 2,000 in the orchestra level and another 1,200 in a single balcony. The décor includes coffered side wall panels of solid cherry paneling, plaster ceilings, fully carpeted floors and padded seating. Tuskey adds that the room has an RT 60 of approximately 1.3 seconds. “During our discussions it became clear that they needed a system that was very flexible,” Karni notes. “The venue hosts everything from dance companies, sym- phonies and choirs to touring musicals, concerts and corporate events. We ultimately created two systems that can work (OPPOSITE) A view of the Sony Centre from a corner of the balcony, with the new main separately or together to provide them loudspeakers highlighted with lighting. (ABOVE) A closer view of the Adamson arrays with the flexibility they require.” at left, center, and right of the stage proscenium. (BELOW) One of the Adamson E15/ The primary main system incorporates S10 full-range arrays joined by E119 subwoofer array. line arrays flown to the left and right of the stage proscenium, each made up of 11 Adamson E15 enclosures with two under- hung S10 compact elements to cover the closest seating areas. The full-range arrays are flanked by flown arrays consisting of six Adamson E119 subwoofers. “We had the opportunity to hear a number of different manufacturers’ products, but the first time we listened to the E15 and S10 boxes, we were sold,” Tuskey states. “As you move laterally across the room, the tonal character and coherence of the sound is extremely smooth. You don’t experience the ever-changing spectrum that so many horn designs create.” Furthering the system are three groundstacked S10 elements per side to handle the transitional area beneath the arrays and help with imaging and intensity at the orchestra level, especially for louder shows. In addition to the flown subs, there are two more ground stacked E119s per side to provide a “floor-coupled character” to the lower end of the spectrum. It’s not unusual for certain productions to utilize the entire 60-foot-wide proscenium opening, in addition to deploying large upstage projection screens, full orchestras, and/or larger set and scenic elements. In these situations, the main line arrays become a visual obstruction, which is

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 15 COVER STORY

latest version 6.3 Lake Controller release, along with Dante networking. “These amps set the benchmark for powered loudspeaker management systems,” Tuskey asserts. “The system never feels like it’s low on headroom or acquires that choked sound. The Lake front end allows total integration of all devices – including networking, audio I/O, signal processing, amplifiers, power supply and connected mains supply – for complete control and monitoring of the entire platform. “The console to amplifier path has triple redundant data transfer with the output of the console in AES and analog with two Lake LM 26 processors adding Dante Adamson Blueprint AV modeling of the new system in the Sony Centre showing pre- to the network. It’s very impressive.” dicted A-weighted full-range coverage. PLM amplifiers are also driving the new stage monitoring system, which includes where the second system comes into play. balcony ceiling, time delayed in relation 16 Adamson M12 monitors, with a more “Ben Cabot from Adamson – who has to the mains, with Tuskey noting, “When powerful M212 (dual 12-inch) wedge paired been an amazing resource right from the used judiciously they add that extra level with an S119 cardioid sub for “heavy lifting” design stage onward – designed an elegant of intelligibility all the way to the last row.” at the drum riser. A stereo side wash array solution to this problem,” Tuskey explains. All loudspeakers are powered by Lab. consists of two S119 cardioid subs with “Because the shows that need the arrays gruppen amplifiers, which are rack- three S10 elements pinned on top. removed are invariably less ‘SPL hungry,’ mounted in a climate-controlled room we combine all five of the S10s per side in the backstage area. PLM 12K44s drive A NEW LEVEL into small, ground stacked arrays. all full-range models with the exception SSL Live L300 digital consoles are the “Then we add an S10 flown array made of the subwoofers, which are powered choice for both house and monitors, with up of eight enclosures, flown centrally by larger PLM 20K44s that are rated the purchase managed by the new office of above the proscenium, to help with bal- to deliver 4,400 watts per channel at 4 Solotech Toronto. As with the loudspeakers, cony coverage. The E119 subs on the deck ohms. The amplifiers have an extended the console selection followed an audition stay in place, and we have a great-sound- four-in, four-out configuration together process of multiple options by Tuskey and ing, full-range alternative that gives the with twice the processing power via the full-time monitor engineer Zsolt Kota. space real flexibility.”

ADDITIONAL FACETS Like many performing arts venues, the Sony Centre also has a small crescent of seats in the first two rows that can be a challenge to cover. Four Adamson Point 8 loudspeakers placed along the lip of the stage do the job nicely. “They’re surprisingly robust little passive boxes that really share the same tonal color that all the Adamson boxes share,” he says. “Moving between coverage areas of the different boxes becomes very coherent and smooth.” Located under the balcony and 130 feet from the main arrays, front of house is well past the optimum direct/reflective zone. To rectify that, an additional eight Point 8 The front of house position is built around a new SSL Live L300 console, with Lake LM boxes are flown halfway from the under- 26 system processors at far left.

16 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com team on site to provide support. “Provid- ple notice the difference – even folks that ing balanced, well thought-out systems for don’t have a trained or sophisticated ear. touring shows was essential, and our team The room sounds better. The coverage is has delivered on that,” Tuskey concludes. fantastic without gaps or holes. Everything “Hopefully this install will allow visiting is crisp and clean, no drops. It’s a noticeable mixers to come in and get right down to a and remarkable improvement.” LSI refined level without worrying about the quality of the gear.” Sam McLean is a long-time writer working Director of operations Farrell adds, “Peo- in pro audio, based in the U.S.

Rack-mounted Lab.gruppen power am- pliﬁers that drive all loudspeakers.

“The musicality and fidelity of the audio these desks provide is at a new level,” Tus- key says. “I know that many engineers who work exclusively in live audio have heard studio mixers throw around adjectives like ‘sparkle,’ ‘air,’ ‘transparency,’ and so on for years. SSL has been arguably the player in that world for decades and has now brought their collective knowledge in console design to the live world. “I don’t have ‘adjective envy,’ but it’s so refreshing to hear things in this room that have not been available since our move into the digital console era.” Two 32-channel racks of SSL Super- Analogue mic preamps are located on stage, linked to the L300s via MADI BNC. “The SSL clocks lock in, and I think are responsible for a big part of the fidelity,” Tuskey continues. “We’ve even taken our guest console – which was never known for its clock stability – and run it through the SSL and the improvement in the final audio was significant.” Also available are 32 analog outputs that serve primarily as monitor mix outs. And, an RME MADIfaceXT with optical I/O provides 64-track recording capability, all at 96 kHz. All of the new gear was installed by Tus- key, Zsolt and members of local 58 IATSE Toronto, with members of the Adamson www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 17 The Vault

UNDERSTANDING SPECIFICATION SHEETS

How page 1 of this What do the charts and article looked in the graphs really mean? May 2004 issue. by Pat Brown What will change are your moment-to- EDITOR’S NOTE: This fine article was featured in the May 2004 moment activities. These events repre- issue, authored by one of the most respected and prolific contrib- sent a dependent vari- utors in the history of Live Sound International. We reprint it able. They depend on here in celebration of our 25th anniversary. time. If you look at a page in your day plan- or the majority of humans, there is nothing simpler ner, you are looking than listening to sound. You simply, well, listen. When at a plot of activities F it becomes necessary to describe the listening expe- vs. time. rience analytically, however, a host of complex equations Time is the inde- and diagrams are required to describe even the simplest of pendent variable. It is the same on every page of the planner. sonic events. The scheduled events are the dependent variables, because The benefit of mathematical analysis is that it can yield where you go and what you do depends on what time it is. insights that are not apparent through intuition alone. Acoustic Most graphs show the relationship between dependent and signals are easily measured, and the audio components that independent variables. produce them have characteristics that can be measured. We Now let’s look at a variation on the theme. Let time be do not expect specifications to tell us how a product sounds. the independent variable (it usually is) and let the loudness This is what listening is for. of the sound system during a show be The main purpose of specifications is to the dependent variable. The plot might allow us to make sure that we have the right look something like Figure 1. tool for the job, and this information is The horizontal axis represents time most often presented in the form of charts (the independent variable) and the ver- and graphs. But what does this information tical axis represents loudness (the depen- really mean? dent variable). We will call the horizontal axis the x-axis and the vertical axis the VARIABLES y-axis, although any two letters would The heart of understanding the specification do. The values on each axis are usually sheets that describe audio products is the discrete, meaning that they are individ- understanding of dependent and indepen- ual samples, points, or measured values dent variables. The concept is one that most called data points. people use every day, though often without The fact that most graphs look like realization. squiggly lines just means that after An independent variable is one that many data points were taken, they were describes a series that has a fixed value. joined with a line to make it easier to For example, the time of day in the city read. Such two-dimensional plots are that you live in is an independent variable. The superb cover of the May 2004 issue, found on virtually every good specifi- Regardless of what happens tomorrow, time designed by Jimi Gianetti. cation sheet in existence. They simply will progress like it did today. answer the question “What is the value

18 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com valuable because they give us some visual feedback regarding trends in the data. For instance, a glance at Figure 3 (later in this article) shows that the loudspeaker’s on-axis directivity is increasing as a function of frequency. This means that everyone in the room might hear the low-frequency events, like a bass guitar, but only those in front of the loudspeaker will hear the high-frequency events, like the crash of a cymbal. It’s clear why we would want the directivity of a sound reinforcement loudspeaker to be “frequency-independent.” The directivity of such a device would be a straight horizontal line. Figure 1: In this example, time is the independent variable while It’s also important to consider the resolution of the graphed loudness is the dependent variable. data. The closer together we place the points on the x-axis, the less likely it will be that we missed a significant data point when we measured. For example, we could take the page of a of y when the value of x is this?” Some examples of two-di- day planner and break the time axis down into hours, minutes, mensional plots found in audio engineering include: seconds, or even fractions of a second. Obviously, there is a point of diminishing return on resolu- Y-Axis X-Axis tion. It must always be appropriate for the data being plotted. Amplitude Frequency If you were plotting the arrival time of the tweeter in the main Impedance Frequency array to the back of the balcony, then one millisecond resolu- Directivity Frequency tion would be meaningful. But that same resolution would be Phase Frequency extreme overkill for plotting your daily schedule. What time Amplitude Time resolution do I need? Again, it depends! Level Time Following are some examples of common plots found on data sheets, with plain English descriptions of what each one means. Each plot shows the value of y for a given value of x. Pretty After digesting each, download some data sheets from various cool. In math-speak, in each case it can be said that y is a function manufacturers and attempt to interpret them. Use them to of x. (We sound smarter when we say it like this.) form an understanding of the product, what it does, and how From this example, it can be seen that frequency is a very it might compare to a similar product. common independent variable in the world of audio and acous- Remember that to fully describe the performance of a tics. The y parameters are said to be frequency-dependent. In product, and infinite number of graphs would be required. audio and acoustics, almost all parameters that we care to know Most “one-number” ratings in audio and acoustics have little anything about are frequency-dependent. This means that the meaning. They usually over-simplify something that is much answer to virtually any question regarding any of the y param- too complex to specify with a single number. eters is “it depends.” Y depends on x. An example of a frequency-dependent parameter is the setting of a graphic equalizer. In fact, it’s a really good example because it is basically an xy plot of the type that we have been describing. The x variable is frequency, and the y variable is relative level. The y value depends on the x value. When you look at the front panel of a graphic equalizer, you are looking at an xy graph, which is why it’s called a graphic equalizer.

WHAT TIME IS IT? Another common independent variable is time. Many parameters in audio and acoustics are time-dependent. Examples include loudness, temperature and background noise, just to Figure 2: The frequency response plot answers the question, name a few. “What is the relative on-axis level change of the device-un- Note that Figure 1 just gives us values. It’s still up to us to der-test regarding frequency?” know what they mean and how to apply them. Graphs are

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 19 THE VAULT

Unfortunately, many people base their gear-buying decisions on this meaningless data, and then wonder why the gear does not live up to their expectations. A graph is much better, but even graphs can’t tell the whole story. We live in an amazingly complex world!

WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY? In Figure 2, the independent variable is frequency. The dependent variable is level. The frequency response plot answers the question “What is the relative on-axis level change of the device-under-test regarding frequency?” For a device that produces the same level at every frequency, the plot would be a straight, horizontal line. A Figure 4: The impedance plot shows the opposition produced real-world loudspeaker response is also shown. Some would by the loudspeaker to current flowing from the amplifier as a consider a flat line response to be the best possible loud- function of frequency. speaker; however, a spectrum plot alone does not tell the whole story. Now, let’s return to Figure 3. Again, the independent variable Turning our attention to Figure 4, once again the indepen- is frequency, while the dependent variable is the on-axis direc- dent variable is frequency. The dependent variable is imped- tivity. The directivity plot answers the question “What is the ance. The impedance plot shows the opposition produced by ratio between the sound the loudspeaker to current flowing from the amplifier as a intensity on-axis to the function of frequency. total radiated sound Always remember A large peak on the curve means that less current is drawn intensity as a function to use specification at the frequency of the peak. This can happen at frequen- of frequency?” cies where the loudspeaker system is resonant, i.e., vibrates Q = 1 means that sheets for what naturally. the device is omnidi- they’re intended. Other frequencies require much more current to produce the rectional, where Q = same sound pressure level. Low spots on the curve represent 10 means that the intensity on-axis is 10 times the average frequencies where maximum current is drawn from the amplifier, radiated intensity. Q = 100 means that the axial intensity is i.e. where the amplifier is under a greater load. The low values 100 times the average intensity. should be used when determining the required gauge of loud- Another way of describing the same thing is to use the speaker wire that should be used, or how many loudspeakers directivity index, which is the Q rating converted into decibels can be run in parallel. with the formula DI = 10logQ. It yields the same informa- Impedance is also required to calculate how much tion in decibels, giving the loudness advantage produced by amplifier power is delivered to the loudspeaker, which in controlling the sound radiation. DI and Q are often found turn allows the loudspeaker’s power handling limits to be on the same plot. assessed. This is a good example of where a single number impedance rating (often called the nominal impedance) serves as little more than a guideline. The impedance plot paints a much better picture of impedance and the other ratings that come from it. Always remember to use specification sheets for what they’re intended – determining the suitability of a product for an application. They are not a substitution for listening and measurement when evaluating products and should not be the final word in the buying decision. A famous physicist once said, “The data on a spec sheet may be the best data they ever took or the only data they ever took!” LSI

Figure 3: At a glance, we can see that the loudspeaker’s on-axis Pat & Brenda Brown lead SynAudCon, conducting audio seminars directivity is increasing as a function of frequency. and workshops online and around the world. For more information go to www.synaudcon.com.

20 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com Visit us Booth C7233

INTELLIGENT NETWORKS FOR ANY FORMAT

MEDIORNET TANGO TNG-200 ACROBAT Real-time media network Network based intercom Digital wireless intercom application www.riedel.net Hands On

EYES ON THE MICS Keeping track of wireless system hardware during the show. by Ike Zimbel

o, you’ve done your scan, frequency coordination, antenna S placement, walk-around and war-gaming tests, and everything works. Marian Greksa All of your wireless transmitters are rest- generated by a frequency coordination Figure 1: There should be a suitable area ing comfortably in their metal trays, the program (or sent out to the network by set up to organize wireless hardware. batteries are good and line check has ver- a management program like Shure Wire- ified that all of your units are sending less Workbench 6 or Sennheiser Wireless audio where they’re supposed to. What System Manager) will – hopefully – have a unit being dropped). else can go wrong? the transmitters in order from lowest to Second, it helps to avoid the situation Well, for one, a presenter or performer highest. (The author discussed this topic where a mic or mics have to “travel” can end up with the wrong transmitter in more fully in the January 2016 issue.) quickly from place-to-place to make the his/her hand at a critical moment. Wireless Once you’re on site, making sure that next cue, as in situations where, say, a microphones, being, well, wireless, have a there’s a suitable tech area to lay out and presenter walks off stage left with a mic much greater chance of ending up in the label all of the hardware is vital. This is while the next presenter is in the wings, wrong place than a mic that’s tethered to a typically a table with an area marked out stage right, waiting for that same mic. certain spot on the stage via its cable. (Not for each transmitter and its correspond- Third, there’s sufficient opportunity that I haven’t seen this as well, in the bad ing tray (Figure 1). There should also to wipe down each mic with an alcohol old days of horrible, messed-up festival be enough space for one to two laptops, prep pad between use, partly for general stages where there could be a 50-foot mic spectrum analyzers, batteries, and above hygiene, partly as a courtesy to the talent cable stretched across a stage at 45-degree all, the script and/or show run-down. (which is even better if they see you do angle. But that’s another article...) The next step is allocating the mics. this), and partly because even though It’s really important to be on top of this I don’t own the gear, I treat it like I do LOGICAL PATH during rehearsals, as everyone is going because it’s quite likely that I’m going Ensuring that wireless hardware is to want to see the same mic(s) that an to end up using it again down the road. deployed correctly during an event starts act rehearsed with used during the show. Finally, this approach is better for the with pre-production. If you have control My technique is to work through the crew who are pre-setting musical acts back over the racking of the gear on the show order (i.e., first up RF-1, then RF-2, and stage, because they can set a whole act’s build, try to make sure that the equip- so on) like a baseball batting line-up. worth of inputs without having to wait ment is laid out in a logical manner. My There are several reasons for this. First, and run the vocal mics out during the preference is to start with the lowest fre- it helps in making sure that each trans- changeover. On that front, keep in mind quency band gear in the top of the rack mitter gets about an equal amount of that the people you are handing the mics and then work in sequence to higher bands use, rather than starting over at RF-1 off to for a band set-up (usually the patch as required so that “RF-1” is the top left for each act. This evens out battery con- techs) may not be the same folks who are unit, “RF-2” the top right, and so on. sumption and more evenly distributes striking the band risers during the show This ensures that any paperwork the possibility of handling mishaps (like (the stagehands), so occasionally you may

22 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com

HANDS ON

the battery out of the transmitter that’s not in use so that there’s zero chance that they’ll both be on at the same time.

CHARTING IT To keep track of “what mics went where” during rehearsals, I use a simple spread- sheet devised some years ago while working on a TV variety show. Figure 2 is a screenshot of this sheet from a past show. As you can see, all of the RF devices are listed down the left hand side, while the performances and their time slot and item number are listed across the top. Note that this particular sheet doesn’t show the mics moving around that much because the first two segments are the same act, up twice. Figure 2: Screenshot of the simple spread- back to home base. The grayed-out columns are my way sheet developed by the author to keep One other hardware note: in situations of indicating that the segment has been things organized. where there are two different transmitters and gone. Other features of the chart are on the same frequency, such as a belt pack an area on the far left to check off when have to find time to go and search struck and a handheld that get used at different batteries have been changed for the show band risers for mics that didn’t make it points in the show, it’s a good idea to pull and a “Notes” area on the far right for

24 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com any further useful information. By the way, this chart could just as easily be set up on a dry-erase board at a long-term installation like a church. Another common approach to keeping track of transmitters, especially with “traffic” (i.e., presenter) units is to make notes in your script, or more commonly your show run-down. (Most tech folks don’t want or need a script, which has way too much paper and detail most of the time, except in theatre, where it’s an essential.) The big challenge here is that these doc- uments almost always change a lot, sometimes several times a day and invariably with a new one on show day. So you either end up copying and re-copying your notes Shown Actual Weight. from one revision to the next, or picking a version and sticking with it and trying to keep track of the changes. I generally do a combination of the two, culminating in marking up the final version before the Of course the SSM bodypack transmitter is small - in fact, it is smaller show. I find this helps me review all of the than any other full-featured transmitter on the market. But you might moves while at the same time ensuring not know how light it is. At 2.3 oz. (65.2 g.) with battery, it is half the weight of the most popular alternative, making it easier to conceal that I end up using the version that the and less bothersome to the talent. Even still, the housing is all metal show runs to. so it is still just as rugged as any other Lectrosonics transmitter. Other One really important part of the wire- cool features include remote setting capable with a smartphone app, less tech gig is communication. For exam- superb audio quality with Digital Hybrid Wireless® and a 75 Mhz ple, last year I was the mic A-2 for the (3-block) tuning range. Check it out in person sometime soon - it’s Juno Awards (the Canadian Grammys, even smaller and lighter than it looks in the picture. a much smaller show than in the U.S., but hey, it sells the doughnuts). I spent a huge amount of my time on comm, on the radio, and just walking around to various mix positions saying “have you heard about this change at item 47?” “Did you get the note about item 63 now being Traffic 1, 2 and 3, along with the host’s mic?” and so on – just making sure that everyone was literally on the same page. It paid off. The show ran very smoothly without a single hiccup. And that’s the whole point, right? LSI

Ike Zimbel has worked in pro audio for 35-plus years, and during that time he has served as a wireless technician and coordi- nator, live engineer, studio technician, audio << Scan here to learn more about the SSM supervisor for TV broadcasts, and has also www.lectrosonics.com or 1-800-821-1121 managed manufacturing and production com- In Canada, call 877-753-2876 panies. He runs Zimbel Audio Productions Made in the USA by a Bunch of Fanatics. In Europe, call +33 (0) 78558-3735 (zimbelaudio.com) in Toronto, specializing in wireless frequency coordination.

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 25 In Profile SAM I AM Noted acoustic designer and Smaart creator Sam Berkow. by Kevin Young

OR SAM BERKOW, acoustical design, sound measurement, and audio in general are lifetime pas- F sions, the ones that ulti- and entrepreneur notes. “What all of our MAKING CONNECTIONS mately led him to found SIA Acoustics, projects have in common is that some- Born and raised in NYC and New Jersey, and later, SIA Software Company, the one involved believes sound is a critical Berkow first became interested in music creator and developer of the SMAART component,” he states. “It doesn’t matter via his musician neighbors, who intro- (now stylized as Smaart) tuning and if it’s a home studio or a multi-million duced him to the sounds of the Grate- measurement platform that’s had a tre- dollar concert hall, the desire to get the ful Dead. “Which is funny,” he notes, mendous impact on professional audio. best sound possible is exciting to me.” “because later I was involved with Don Over time, Berkow has plied his Berkow isn’t willing to do anything by Pearson (Ultrasound co-founder and design talents at iconic performing half measure. “In high school I wanted system engineer for the Grateful Dead arts and production facilities across a to be a musician. I liked playing guitar for 17 years), Derek Featherstone (the broad spectrum, among them SFJazz and bass in bands, but I felt I was never band’s front of house engineer), and the Center in San Francisco, AirShow Mas- going to be good enough. I could hear the Dead for years.” tering (Boulder, CO and Takoma Park, music in my head, but somehow it got lost He took a few music lessons and MD), Jazz Standard and Jazz at Lincoln between my head and my instrument,” learned from friends, but in what he Center in New York City, The Studios he laughs. So instead he took to mixing describes as “one of those light bulb at SST, eTown Hall in Boulder, and the local bands, which continued while he moments,” found his true calling and Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas, just as attended Hobart and William Smith Col- began to study acoustic measurement and a sampling. And recently, SIA Acoustics lege (Geneva, NY) to study physics in acoustical design. “During the mid-80s, work at the Allyworld Space at AirShow the early 1980s. “I was driven. I didn’t a friend was building a studio in his NYC Mastering was nominated for a 2016 want to do a job that I wasn’t going to be apartment. It wasn’t going well, didn’t NAMM TEC Award. good at, so audio was a good fit for me, sound good, and he was convinced it was What attracts him to a project isn’t the but back then it didn’t occur to me that the equipment,” Berkow explains, adding size or budget, the 53-year-old innovator doing sound could be a job.” that he thought otherwise. “I was lying on

26 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com my back underneath the console with a timing,” he states. Again he reached would buy it,” he says. “I wrote letters to voltage meter and realized that what was out to others, including Pearson, David people in acoustics saying I’m going to actually wrong was the room. So I went Griesinger (lead engineer at Lexicon) build this tool. I’m confident I can get it to to the library to find books on acoustics.” and Alexander Yuill-Thornton (a.k.a., work, can you send me a thousand dollars At that time, resources were hard to “Thorny,” system designer for Pavarotti and I’ll send you whatever I come up with. come by, but through a friend of a friend and the Three Tenors), all of whom were Surprisingly, people sent me money.” he reached out to Artec, noted architec- more than willing to lend assistance. There were bumps in the road along the tural acoustician Russell Johnson’s firm. way. For example, he’d been doing acous- “I said, ‘I’m interested in acoustics and PURSUING THE GOAL tical work for Bell Laboratories, where want to learn,’ and they replied, ‘Stop by.’ At first, building Smaart was a part-time he came in contact with some top-notch At the end of the day they asked me why project. While there were existing tech- programmers who seemed interested in I was still there and I told them, ‘I want niques at the time for achieving what was the project. “I’d say, ‘I need to an echo to stay. I’d like to get a job here.’ They envisioned, they weren’t readily available canceller and I need something that will informed me that I needed a graduate in software packages and didn’t allow measure impulse responses,’ and they’d degree, so I literally applied to grad school taking measurements over the necessary say ‘Sure, no problem’,” he says, adding the next day. Then I asked specifically what they needed and was told ‘someone who makes acoustic measurements,’ so that’s what I researched.” After completing a Masters degree in Engineering at Stevens Institute of Tech- nology (Hoboken, NJ), Berkow joined the team at Artec as an acoustical consultant. That job was “wildly important,” he continues. “You’ve never met people more dedicated to great sound. Russell Johnson was a visionary of concert hall design. He was inspiring, and I got to meet great musicians like Bob Marley, Simon Rattle, Nick Forster and Wynton Marsalis as well as so many great engineers/producers over the years.” At the same time, what the Artec organization felt was important to measure couldn’t be handled by existing technology. “There was a disconnect between measurements directly related to architecture that provided an understanding of what to build in order to achieve total balance, reflection distribution, intelligibility and loudspeaker measurement,” he notes. Eventually it led Berkow to create the Smaart (an acronym for Sound Measure- Berkow (left) in a construction coordination meeting with members of the Allyworld team. ment Acoustical Analysis Real Time tool) platform. “In my mind, tools for system setup and acoustic measurement went time periods and frequency ranges in a that unfortunately, those programmers hand in hand, and people were starting quick and effective manner. Still, Berkow had other priorities. “I wanted and to become interested in working on mea- didn’t envision the platform ever becom- needed people who were dedicated to surements geared towards sound system ing as pervasive as it has. building audio and acoustic tools.” equalization, gain structure, and delay “I thought a couple of dozen people A clarifying piece of advice from his

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 27 IN PROFILE

going, and looked over beta versions and told me what was missing,” he says. “And one of the guys from Blue Man Group let me use their theater as a test facility and didn’t charge me anything. People encouraged innovation and that’s always inspired me.” SIA (short for “Sam I Am”) Software Company was officially established in 1993, and soon after, JBL Professional was licensing the platform, bringing it international attention, with Berkow traveling the world to teach it to eager users. Still committed to his work with acoustical design rather than running a software company, he sold the company to EAW in 1997.

DIFFERENT VIEWS After Artec was contracted to work on the Meyer Symphony Center in Dallas, Berkow began making regular trips there, meeting top architectural acousticians Russ Berger and Jack Wrightson of the Joiner-Rose Group. He ultimately relocated to Texas to work more closely with them, and it provided exposure to a wider range of projects. He realized that people weren’t Berkow at One Eye Studio in Ojai, CA with noted engineer/producer Bruce Botnick looking at room and sound system mea- and holding his high-res PonoPlayer that serves as a portable high-quality source for surements in the way he did, something critical listening. that helped inform Smaart development. “I wanted long impulse measurements, different frequencies and reflection struc- first wife, who had a business degree, simple: What are you going to do? Who’s tures, and to tie them back to geometric helped put things on the right path. “She going to pay for it? What’s it cost to get constructs; as well as the way rooms were said, ‘Start a company. Hire people who running and sustain? Who’s the market? shaped and how systems were behaving are interested, put up money, and write a How are you different? What type of mar- in them in terms of direct-to-reverberant business plan.’ It’s some of the best advice ket penetration is reasonable to expect sound, total balance and uniformity,” he I’ve ever gotten, by the way.” over some reasonable time? If you tell explains. He had little idea of how to actually me you’re going to hold 90 percent of any With the eventual dissolution of the do this, though. An uncle who’s a lawyer market in three months, it’s either not Joiner-Rose Group, Berkow founded SIA guided him through the business plan worth having or you’re full of it. Come up Acoustics to provide consultation, design process with some tough but invalu- with reasonable projections and answer and planning for performance venues able counsel. “I wrote it and sent it to those questions clearly.’” and recording facilities. Established and him, then called and asked, ‘What do Thorny also served as a partner in headquartered in NYC, the company also you think?’” He replied, ‘Paragraph 1, terms of both advising on the develop- has a satellite office in Los Angeles where sentence 1 – Why the heck do you think ment of Smaart in addition to supplying he now lives and works. that’s true? Sentence 2 – What does DSP financial support. Others, ranging from He and second wife Toby, who worked mean?’ I said everyone knows what it Pearson to Manfred R. Schroeder (noted in facility management at the time, had means. He said, ‘I don’t. Write it out. physicist and acoustician, and inventor initially headed to LA with the sole pur- Sentence 3 – Are you kidding me?’ of the voice-excited vocoder), were quite pose of finding an appropriate space for “Literally, by page two, I had tears generous with their time and input. “Don the satellite office. “While we were there running down my face, and he said, ‘It’s called every day and asked how it was she got a lead on a job, and on the plane

28 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com Reflect on the future: today‘s D20. www.dbaudio.com

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home she asked if I’d consider relocat- acoustics is less about defining what’s earlier this year, he established The Don ing and opening the LA office myself,” good than understanding what’s bad or and Fran Pearson Memorial AES Scholar- he explains. “My head said, ‘No. I’m from what to avoid. If you avoid a bunch of ship Fund to provide funding to individ- New York. I hate LA.’ But my mouth said bad things, you’re much closer to good.” uals doing audio and acoustics research ‘Let’s see if you get the job.’” through the Audio Engineering Society. Eleven weeks later, he was headed ADDED INTERESTS Further, the trust and encouragement west. “Moving was an adventure. We’d Presently, Berkow’s focus is also going into he’s received from so many over the years just had a baby and LA turned out to be personal pursuits: more time with his son, is being honored by teaching at various great place to live; kid friendly, super rekindling an interest in photography, and institutions, including the Clive Davis fun, lots of great audio people, and poker mixing records, including the recent mix Department of Recorded Music at New is legal.” and production of an album for drumming York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Speaking of poker, Berkow’s also pas- great Ali Jackson. In addition, he’s working and at Stevens Institute of Technology. sionate about the game and has enjoyed on three separate books, including one on “When people ask questions I answer and notable success playing it at a competi- acoustics, another on the process of build- try to help. Whatever I know I’m happy tive level. “Tournament poker is really about risk/reward, statistical analysis and understanding the person across the table from you, which is the same as working with a building committee or negotiating a contract or fighting for your part of a project,” he explains. “You have to understand what’s important to them and what you’re willing to put at risk. I enjoy it a lot.” He translates that further as it relates to the way SIA Acoustics approaches projects: “Whenever possible we want to work for the owner, not the architect. The things that make concert halls great are total balance, uniformity of sound, diffusion, reverberation, intelligibility and envelopment. We understand how to create them both electronically and architecturally.” The trick is convincing people to do what’s necessary, or as Berkow states, “To come up with something that meets building codes and the architect’s vision, is structurally sound and within budget. But other times, I don’t have to negotiate at all, I write a spec and the owner and architect say, ‘Agreed. Done.’” He remains actively involved in a wide The victor and his spoils following a win at a No Limit Hold’em poker tournament at range of projects with differing levels of Aria in Las Vegas. complexity and time commitments, from multi-million dollar facilities to studios ing concert halls, and a fiction project. to share,” he concludes. “If someone can in personal homes and garages. Still, He’s also taken up hiking and continues to do something with the details better than he notes, “The idea is to have a unified enjoy the action at the poker table. I can, it forces me to up my game. And approach to understanding what you’re In the fall of 2015, he joined the board if I can help someone up their game, it trying to achieve acoustically and how of directors eTown to help guide the makes us both better.” LSI to get there architecturally; looking at future of that nonprofit multimedia and the measurements and asking, ‘What do events production organization which Based in Toronto, Kevin Young is a free- the rooms we like and the ones we don’t has a mission of educating and inspiring lance music and tech writer, professional like have in common?’ Understanding through music and conversation. And musician and composer.

30 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com Total Mix Control.

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INTELLIGENT EXPANSION Options for growing the capabilities of digital consoles. by Craig Leerman

oday’s digital consoles have an enormous amount In addition to TWINLANe cards, the HY slots (four on the of features already built in, but that’s not the end DSP engine and two slots on the I/O racks) can also accept HY T of the story. Many can be expanded even further Dante cards that offer 144 channels of I/O at 96 kHz. Each unit with additional I/O (input and outputs) via stage boxes as also sports two MY option card slots that accept the more than well as networking with various other devices like monitor 30 Mini-YGDAI cards Yamaha offers, including processing as well consoles, personal monitoring systems, and recording/ as analog and digital connectivity. Available network protocols broadcast trucks. In addition, there’s often basic (at least) include Aviom, CobraNet, EtherSound, MADI, Dante, Optocore, recording to USB onboard, various ways to interface with Pivitec, and RockNet100 and RockNet300. digital audio workstations (DAW) and recording units, The recently unveiled Allen & Heath DLive Series provides and more. three sizes of surfaces, including the S3000 with 20 faders, 120 All of this scalability allows configuring a system depending channel strips and a touch screen, the S5000 with 28 faders, on the specific needs of the application. It also makes our 168 channel strips and two screens, and the S7000 with 36 jobs easier and provides those of us who own and rent gear faders, 216 channel strips and two screens. Three sizes of a better return on investment because our equipment can MixRacks are also available, all outfitted with the same mix grow and change as needs change, rather than becoming engine and differing only in the number of analog I/O (from obsolete after a few years. With that in mind, let’s take a 32 to 64 inputs). look at options for expansion for a variety of current mixing systems.

Yamaha RIVAGE PM10 Allen & Heath dLive

The new flagship RIVAGE PM10 from Yamaha consists of the The DX32 Expander is a modular I/O unit that provides four CS-R10 control surface and DSP-R10 DSP engine. The surface 8-channel slots for analog or digital I/O. Up to two DX32s can be offers 38 faders and two 15-inch touch screens, and it links to connected to the MixRack, and a further DX32 can be connected the DSP engine via a dedicated Cat-5e ring “console network.” to a surface. In addition, each surface has dual 128-channel I/O In turn, the engine connects to the RPio622 I/O rack(s) via the ports while MixRacks offer three 128-channel ports. Network HY card slot, with the Yamaha TWINLANe network capable of connectivity can be made via Allen & Heath ACE, Dante, MADI, handling up to 400 audio channels at distances of up to 300 EtherSound, Waves and SoundGrid. meters from device to device via multi-mode fiber cable. Up to While a MixRack is typically connected to a surface, it can eight RPio racks and two DSP engines can be connected in a also be controlled at the same time (or even without a surface) single ring. The system can handle 144 input channels and 72 using a laptop or iPad, Allen & Heath IP remotes, or third-party mix buses, with future upgrades will allowing the DSP engines controllers via TCP/IP. The DLive Series is also fully compatible to cascade for a total of 288 channels. with the Allen & Heath ME personal mixing system.

32 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com Soundcraft has seven consoles to choose from in the Vi can be connected together to create either larger mixing Series, with the largest, the Vi7000, providing 44 faders and systems, or multiple discrete mixing consoles can share a five Vistonics II touch screens. It can mix up to 128 inputs. common resource of networked and distributed I/O inter- The new Local Rack delivers 384 I/O channels and provides faces. Remote access of key control functions and metering multiple card slots that allow simultaneous use with two can be accomplished with the MIXTENDER app for iPad. Vi Stageboxes, two recording cards, and the Realtime Rack PRO X is compatible with all PRO Series digital I/O units MADI interface. as well as any 96 kHz enabled AES50-equipped devices. Each Stagebox can remotely locate 64 mic/line inputs and More than 10 stage boxes are available from Midas, with 32 outputs. Optional AES/EBU, CobraNet, EtherSound, Aviom the largest, the DL351, supplying eight card slots and up A-Net, Blu Link, MADI and Dante cards can expand network to 64 inputs and 64 outputs. connectivity, with 128 recording channels available via a The VENUE | S6L, the new flagship mix system from Avid, is MADI or Dante interface. The ViSi Remote app for iPad allows expressly designed to be modular and scalable. The S6L control surface is available in three configurations, including the S6L- 24 with 24 + 2 faders and a touch screen, the S6L-24D with the same plus two integrated channel touch modules, and the S6L-32D with 32 + 2 faders, a touch screen and three integrated channel touch modules. The E6L engine is available in two configurations, the E6L- 192 with 192 processing channels, 96 mix buses plus LCR main outputs, and the E6L-144 with 144 processing channels, 64 mix buses, plus LCR main outputs. The engine uses two processors, with one dedicated to handling all routing, channel and mixing functions and the second managing all AAX plug-in processing. Remote I/O is obtained by using a single or multiple modular Stage 64 racks that can be loaded with analog or digital strips providing up to 64 inputs and 32 outputs. Additional connectivity can be accomplished by using optional interface cards for Ethernet AVB, Dante, MADI and Thunderbolt. The S6L system offers integrated live recording capabilities providing seamless Pro Tools recording and playback. Last year, PreSonus debuted the StudioLive CS18AI surface that offers hardware control of up to 64 channels and all mixer features of StudioLive AI Rack Mount (RM) mixers. They’re available in two sizes: RM16AI with 16 inputs and 25 buses, and RM32AI with 32 inputs and 25 buses. Recently announced software updates allow any two RM mixers to be cascaded via PreSonus StudioLive CS18AI. AVB to combine their channel counts. This update also adds a new Stage Box mode, in addition to the existing Remote I/O + Monitor-Mixer mode. remote control of console mix functions. The Realtime Rack Additional connectivity is provided via FireWire, AVB, or brings Universal Audio UAD plugins to the Soundcraft plat- Dante option cards. Recording and playback are accomplished form, with Ultimate Live providing 74 plugins and Core Live using the built-in 54 x 34 multi-track recording interface to a supplying 14 plugins. computer running the included Capture software or over the The PRO X-CC-IP from Midas offers 29 faders and two Dante network. Engineers can also mix wirelessly or over a daylight viewable TFT displays, and it can control up to 168 wired network using UC Surface touch-control software for Mac, input channels and 99 mix buses. The PRO X HyperMAC Windows, and iPad. Performers control their monitor mixes router provides a dual redundant snake connection to the with the QMix-AI app for iPhone and iPod Touch. NEUTRON Audio System Engine over optical fiber and The recently launched DiGiCo S21 offers a compact foot- copper for 192 bidirectional channels of 96 kHz digital print, with 20 faders in two fader banks of 10 with four layers audio. HyperMac and AES50 networking foster up to 288 available, along with two touch screens. Forty Flexi (stereo or inputs and 294 outputs. Multiple PRO Series consoles mono) channels and 16 Flexi buses are provided, along with

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 33 SHOWCASE

a 10 x 8 matrix and two stereo or mono solo buses. A pair of auxiliary, matrix bus or output, and can be configured as DMI card slots offer up to 64 I/O per slot and can accept option stereo or mono and the mains can be set up as LR, LCR (with cards for analog, Dante, MADI, Waves SoundGrid, Optocore, or without center panning), or 5.1 surround mixing with 5.1 and Calrec’s Hydra 2 network. monitoring. I/O expansion is accomplished with the D Rack, which pro- Remote I/O is available with Roland digital snakes that are vides up to 32 inputs and 16 outputs, as well as interfacing available in 8 x 8, 16 x 16 output, 24 x 16, 8 x 32, and 32 x 8 with an SD-Rack, SD-Mini Rack and SD-NANO Rack (optics formats. Two expansion slots accept option cards for Dante, only). The S21 has an integrated USB2 audio I/O interface for MADI, additional REAC ports, and SoundGrid. The REAC net- recording and playback of up to 48 channels. Waves plugins work can also integrate with the Roland M-48 personal mixing can easily integrate with the S21 via the DiGiCo SoundGrid system, R-1000 multi-track recorder and MADI Bridge. A 16 module. x16 USB port allows recording to a computer DAW. Remote Another recent DiGiCo development is the Orange Box inter- control is via the M-5000 Remote app for iPad and the M-5000 face, a rack-mount box that has two DMI slots that accept RCS program for Mac and PC. any of the 10 available interface cards to convert from one Solid State Logic recently released new V3 software that format to another. This is handy for interfacing a console with introduces more than 40 new software and hardware features a recording unit or DAW, as well as being able to connect to for the SSL Live range (L500 and smaller L300). The software almost any network. update increases the L500 from 192 mix paths to 256, in addi- Mackie just introduced AXIS, which pairs the new DC16 tion to a doubling of effects processing power (depending on control surface with the DL32R rack-mount mixer. The compact the effects selected). The L300 increases from 128 to 192 mix

Mackie AXIS and DL32R Roland Pro AV M-5000

DC16 has 17 faders, and in addition to the color TFT screens paths. Some of the other new features included in V3 include built into the surface, can interface with up to three iPads placed remote control software, console expander mode, new effects, in the SmartBridge (including charging) to serve as additional enhancements to the solo system, user interface changes, and screens, controllers, or recording/playback devices. The DC16 optional Dante card. incorporates two Dante ports for connectivity. Both the “mix Interconnect between console and stage remotes is via MADI engine” and “stage box” for AXIS is the DL32R, offering 32 and remote connectivity includes analog, AES/EBU and MADI. inputs and 18 mix buses. Additional inputs and outputs can The ML 32.32 stage box offers up to 32 x 32 analog and another be accessed via Dante. 32 optional split outputs, while the D 32.32 digital stage box The DL32R offers 32 x 32 channels of recording/playback provides 16 AES/EBU ins and outs. The MADI-Bridge enables direct to USB 2.0 and 32 x 32 direct recording/playback to Mac bi-directional format conversion between MADI and Dante. or PC. In addition, the DL32R fosters simultaneous record- Multiple stage boxes can be used simultaneously. ing over Dante using the included Dante Virtual Soundcard For high channel count systems, proprietary Blacklight software. And, performers can do their own personal monitor II high bandwidth multiplexed MADI can used to reduce the mixing on up to 20 iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch devices, with number of interconnecting cables. Blacklight II carries 256 at mix engineers accessing complete control of all parameters 96 kHz audio signals, equivalent to eight MADI connections, using the Master Fader app. bi-directionally down a single multimode fiber. The BL II.D The Roland Pro AV M-5000 console was recently joined Blacklight II MADI Concentrator box has a redundant pair of by the more compact M-5000C. Other than surface size and Blacklight II connectors (which can be expanded to two pairs) fader count (the M-5000C has 16 + 4 faders while the M-5000 and eight redundant pairs of coaxial MADI connectors (which has 24 + 4 faders), both are identical, with a single large touch can be expanded to 16 pairs). LSI screen and operating on the O.H.R.C.A. (Open High Resolution Configurable Architecture) platform that allows configuration Senior contributing editor Craig Leerman is the owner of Tech of up to 128 audio paths. Each path can be an input, subgroup, Works, a production company based in Las Vegas.

34 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com HDL50-A

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CHARTING THE MIX The value of peeking under the hood of a pop song. by Jonah Altrove

s sound engineers, we’re tasked with shaping the sound of the A artist’s performance. When we’re running our consoles, we’re literally “putting together the pieces” of a song into the product that the audience hears. I’ve found that gaining an understanding of how a song “works” – how different sounds play different roles in the arrangement – help my chances of relating the song to the audience in a way that’s enjoyable and engaging. An awareness of how different instrumental parts define the sections of a song the different sections of a song. I was By forcing myself to listen all the way will hopefully help those ideas translate to list the sections of the song’s form through a song while focusing just on thorough our mixes. (Intro, Verse 1, Prechorus, Chorus, etc.) what the lead guitar was doing, then When I was about 13, my music teacher across the top of the page, then down restarting the track and focusing just on lent me a MIDI sound module and some the keyboard part, and so on, I learned rudimentary sequencing software. I how to listen critically to what was hap- hooked up my Casio keyboard to my par- The ability to listen pening in the mix, and the roles that ents’ Gateway PC and started sequenc- each of the parts played in defining the ing my own MIDI tracks. I learned how I critically can bring song’s section. My teacher was trying could program 16 channels of MIDI data us to another level of to teach me arranging skills, but this to control various instrument sounds, also relates directly to what we do when and quickly realized that a game plan was “awareness” about we’re mixing. required in order to prevent sonic chaos. what we’re perceiving. The 16 musical parts had to be arranged, DISTINCT PARTS almost choreographed, to fit with each I decided to revisit the exercise using other in a pleasing way, and it was better the left side, making an “inventory” of what is, in my opinion, one of the sim- if there were some changes throughout all the instruments I could discern in the plest arrangements I could think of: Carly the duration of the song, to make it more mix. Then I would fill in colored bars to Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.” To those of interesting to listen to. show which instruments were playing you who haven’t immediately flipped to a My teacher showed me an exercise he in which section. The result looked very different article, I’ll admit I was surprised called an “Arrangement Inventory,” which similar to the regions of multitrack data at the results of my Arrangement Inven- is a graphical representation of which in a digital audio workstation’s “Timeline” tory. I was able to identify 16 distinct instrument parts are playing throughout or “Arrange” view. elements in the mix that played various

36 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com Intro 1 Verse 1 Pre-chorus Chorus 1 Riff Intro 2 Verse 2 Pre-chorus Chorus Post-chorus Breakdown Chorus 3 Post-chorus

Little Kick Glitch Kit Big Kick Techno Kit Disco Hats 808 Clap 4th Strings

Plucky Synth Lead Strings Clav/Thing Picked Guitar Lead Spoony Clicks

Acoustic Guitar Vox Double Vox Harmony Power Chord Guitar roles at different points in the song, an ond half adds more “sonic goodies” like Charting the various elements making up unexpected coincidence that gave me a disco-style hi-hat buzzes on the upbeats “Call Me Maybe.” (fleeting) urge to try to program the song and distorted guitar power chords that on an old MIDI module. reinforce the main string riff. This is a I then focused on each mix element popular Top 40 pop production tech- MULTITASKING LISTENING in turn and charted the song section nique that helps maintain interest and Of course, we’re live engineers, not in which they played. This gave me a energy throughout the chorus, and studio producers, so we have limit- graphical representation of how the you’ll hear it put to good use on tracks ed-to-nonexistent control over the arrangement and mix changed as the like Kesha’s “Tik Tok” and Katy Perry’s musical arrangement, but this exercise song progressed. (Astute readers will “Teenage Dream.” taught me to “multitask” my listening deduce that this means I listened to The song’s final chorus, however, really – to be more aware of individual parts “Call Me Maybe” 17 times in a row, the surprised me. Instead of ending the song and how they interact in a mix – and to long-term effects of which have not with a double chorus (See: every NSYNC better understand how all this affects been studied. It’s too soon to declare song), the final chorus is only half-length me as a listener. any lasting consequences, although I compared to the previous ones, with the The ability to listen critically can bring experienced both an inexplicable sensa- “goodies” present the whole time. This us to another level of “awareness” about tion of joy and an overwhelming craving helps contribute to the song’s light and what we’re perceiving. (On the ump- for bubble gum.) quick feel, and keeps it from overstaying teenth listen, I discovered an acoustic its welcome. guitar part mixed way down and panned OBSERVATIONS: hard right during the second verse.). I’m h The song uses two kick drums, which h There’s a lot of empty space in this mix. sure this will help me to do a better job I took to calling “Little Kick” and “Big This is welcome at a time when the pop building my mixes in the future. Kick.” Little Kick plays during the verses genre is struggling with issues like over This exercise proved to be eye-opening and pre-choruses, and is light and compression, lack of dynamic range and and also was a lot of fun, and I’d encour- non-obtrusive. Big Kick comes in for the the “loudness wars,” as they’re called. age others to give it a shot. Just make choruses to create that punchy, dance feel (Luckily, this hasn’t been as serious on sure you can live with your song selection, that we would expect from this genre. The the live end of things, although we’re as it might be stuck in your head for a change-up keeps the constant pounding certainly not immune.) Combine a mix while. Maybe. LSI of a kick drum from being overbearing that’s a breath of fresh air with one of the or fatiguing. catchiest choruses since Tommy Tutone, Jonah Altrove is a veteran live audio pro- and it’s easy to see why the song enjoyed fessional on a constant quest to discover h The chorus is split in half, and the sec- such a huge amount of success. more about the craft.

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 37 Spotlight

GETTING STARTED A primer on plugins, along with some mix tips. by Joe Shambro

ave you thought about just how much processing power we, as mix engineers of the digital age, carry around H in our live rigs, even in the most simple setups – and what that processing power would look like representaed in outboard gear? A few years ago, adding any level of expanded capability, let alone having the luxury of adding “flavor” to a console, involved a great deal of effort. You’d need to carefully select the amount of outboard gear to be carried and then deal with the collateral of multiple outboard racks requiring power, patching, and maintenance throughout a tour. Building racks was (and still is) an art form, a well-stocked selection being something which any good audio engineer can recognize from a mile away. Having started my professional career at the very tail end space reasons. (For the record, my limited carry-on space of analog desks and outboard processing being the standard was dedicated to a pair of dbx 160 compressors and a good (my first tour in 2003, mixing the first of two openers, spoiled EQ for lead vocal.) me with a Midas XL4, though I only had access to the last six Fortunately, those limitations are virtually gone with digital channels and a couple groups’ worth of comps), I was taught consoles and plugins replacing analog gear, and the cost of very early on the importance of carefully selecting outboard plugin licenses for most major platforms continues to drop. gear. In most situations, I wouldn’t have the rows upon rows So if you’ve been considering adding some plugins to your of rack space that most of the engineers I was looking up toolkit, now’s a great time. It’s never been easier and more to at the time had with them on the road; I needed to be a cost-effective to acquire a basic plugin library that can be lot more careful with my choices for both budgetary and used to help build mixes with a substantial amount of extra character. Let’s take a look at the basics of putting together a small but useful collection of plugins (even if you’re on a relatively tight budget), as well as mixing with them. It can be surprising just how inexpensive and easy it is to get up and running. I’ll be talking about Waves a lot, mainly because it’s the biggest name in the plugin market and the one that’s utilized most frequently. However, there are some equally great plugins and packages out there from sources such as Universal Audio and McDSP.

MAKING SELECTIONS We’ve come a long way since 1992, the year the first audio plugin was introduced (Waves Q10). Back then audio software A rack of analog outboard components. wasn’t considered nearly as serious a product as the hardware counterparts it was trying hard to emulate. Modeling of both

38 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com effects and processing had a ways to go. Now, technology has console input channel EQ, it provides a silky, warm vintage improved dramatically so that it’s not even a remote concern compression/EQ combo that upstages most basic channel strip – even less expensive plugins can offer stellar performance, functions. This is my go-to combination when I want a warm, favorably comparable to lower-quality analog gear available round sound with flexible options, especially on drum and in the same price range. vocal groups. One skill quickly learned “back in the day” was carefully selecting and pairing available outboard gear to achieve a cer- NATIVE OR SERVER? tain sonic character. Once experienced enough in the matter, Many Avid consoles, such as the VENUE Series (including the any good engineer would easily be able to throw together a new S6L), can run plugins – just install, insert the license key, rack that combined multiple characteristics – the warmth of and it’s good to go. The plugins are easily insertable throughout a particular compressor tied to the character of a particular the channel strips and outputs. EQ, for example. However, many consoles require the support of Native or Keeping this philosophy in mind helps when assembling Server configurations. Native utilizes a computer’s CPU, so plugins on a limited budget, and while I could list hundreds of the number of plug-ins that can be run, as well as the overall excellent combinations, it’s up to you to take a listen and make system latency, is dependent upon the CPU and sound driver a determination of what you want/need in general and/or for capabilities of the computer. a particular project. Further, even with numerous options in Waves MultiRack, for example, is a Native approach that has terms of bundles readily available, it still often makes more sense four basic components: individual plug-ins, racks of plug-ins, to choose a unique flavor combination of individual plugins. snapshots that store plug-in and rack settings, and sessions Bundles are more pricey and much of what’s in them may go that store the settings for all plug-ins, racks, and snapshots. largely unused. It relies on a host computer to process the audio, linked to the While the answer to the question “What’s the best?” is often console via an interface. This is especially easy to set up on very subjective, a few basic, affordable plugins that every engi- consoles such as the Behringer X32, Midas M32, and DiGiCo neer should consider carrying in their virtual outboard rack S21, which can act as their own interface via a low-latency includes the following: USB connection. Waves C6 Multiband Compressor. A “magic” plugin Even if there’s not an interface, easy I/O can still be that makes life so much easier. The C6 has the ability to attained with, for example, devices like a DiGiCo UB-MADI focus in on six frequency bands and introduce frequen- for MADI-enabled consoles. In some instances, you’ll see cy-dependent compression on each frequency “zone.” This engineers using an external multi-channel interface to do makes it a very powerful tool because it allows you to correct analog I/O; in fact, it’s not unheard of for some engineers to problems in key elements of the mix while maintaining as have a MultiRack system feeding inserts to an analog desk. much frequency response integrity as possible. Primary Server configurations, on the other hand, use a dedicated applications, among many, include curing the inevitable DSP server to power the plugins, enabling low latency and cupped-mic hip-hop vocal as well as optimizing podium or high plug-in counts without taxing a computer. It’s common lav mics in corporate settings. to see Waves SoundGrid DSP server versions of MultiRack in Waves Renaissance Vox. Part of the inexpensive Musi- situations where the heavy load of the plugins used would far cian’s Bundle, R-Vox can help get you out of some very sticky situations. Combining gating and compression/limiting, it’s a first choice for vocal tracks or vocal groups. As a limited-setting plugin, there aren’t tons of options for customization, but don’t be fooled by the simplicity; R-Vox is a popular tool for very good reason. SPL Transient Designer. I find that it cleans up a mix better than anything else I’ve come across. Based on the hardware Transient Designer rack, with one-knob access it removes or increases sustain and attack from a track or group. It can be used to make kick, snare, and toms jump out of a mix, as well as help with key-heavy or track-heavy mixes. In short, it assists in fixing problems that would normally take a combination of EQ and compression. A rack of digital outboard components housed in Waves Multi- Waves Kramer PIE & HLS Channel. Part of the Signature Rack. Series and based on the vintage Pye compressor and Helios

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 39 SPOTLIGHT

exceed what an off-the-shelf laptop could do, or on consoles that require external host capability, such as some models from DiGiCo, Yamaha, and Allen & Heath. Further, more sophisticated SoundGrid servers take the DSP processing power of multiple computers and link to the console via a built-in networking connection. It puts the plugin interface on the console surface, as is the case for DiGiCo plugin integration.

MIXING EFFICIENTLY Mixing with plugins is generally a bit different than mixing on a completely stock digital desk. Most plugins are modeled after famous analog units, with very distinct characteristics on their input and output stages. Those distinct characteristics also depend on an analog-like signal chain, which, you guessed it, meters differently. Quality parametric EQ plugins are considered a superior alterna- Therefore, keeping an eye on gain structure through the signal tive to onboard EQ. path can help a lot. Make good use of input and output trims on plugins as well; they can help keep you in the “sweet spot” while also avoiding the overdriving of various stages. out a preamp channel patched, and assign it to the L+R Next, latency is an issue in just about every utilization of mix, dry group, and processed group. Seeing this channel plugins. Depending on how they get their processing power and assigned to all the buses will make the delay compensation how thin that power is spread, it can be extremely low (around align the groups together with the L+R bus, compensating 1 ms) or extremely high (~100 ms). The general rule is that the properly for the latency introduced by the plugins in the processed group. That said, what if you’re in a situation where you don’t want to have automatic delay compensation (such as mixing monitors)? Right-clicking on any plugin process will tell you the total amount of latency going on behind any plugin, and using this information, you can build parallel compression groups that are time-aligned without using delay compensation. Simply calculate the total latency of the processed group by finding the total process delay time (that number you found when right-clicking on a plugin process), and then insert an instance of Time Adjuster on the dry group. Right-click on Time Adjuster to find it’s native delay time, subtract that from Plugins provide a lot of flexibility and control, just keep latency the processed group’s number, and adjust the time that many in mind. samples. Now the buses are aligned. Mixing with plugins is incredibly rewarding, especially as more limited the DSP, the more latency. you learn how to use them more efficiently. Quality plugins When using MultiRack, you’re able to create processing can take an otherwise very capable console and transform groups, and then turn on automatic group latency compensation it into a completely different-sounding desk with expanded in the Group Properties screen. This automatically aligns the capabilities. members of the group, such as a drum or vocal group, allowing And a final note, regarding housekeeping: if you’re sending a for more processing on some channels than others without the desk back to a shop from a rental or company show after using a latency becoming audible. Avid consoles provide automatic lot of plugins, do the people checking it in a favor and deactivate delay compensation. It kicks in on individual channel inserts any plug-in instances that you used that aren’t licensed on the and can also be used when building parallel compression buses console. This helps avoid someone having to stand there and (where a dry group and processed group are brought into the click “cancel” a hundred times. The shop staff will thank you! LSI mix together). In order to build a proper compression bus with delay Joe Shambro is a free-lance live sound engineer and audio tech- compensation enabled, find a spare empty channel with- nology writer based in St. Louis.

40 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com POINT-AND-SHOOT MIXING

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PULLING BEAUTY FROM RESTRAINT Inside the sound design for a baroque opera. by Kirsty Gillmore

OES AN OPERA need sound design?” a Hospital). The libretto, set in a mental asylum/hospital, was writ- lighting designer colleague queried when ten by 17th-century Italian poet Antonio Abadi; the composer was I told her about my latest job as the sound unknown. Matsumoto suggested the work to baroque collective designer for a re-discovered baroque opera Solomon’s Knot in the UK in 2008, and they developed the opera “D staged in a 19th-century music hall. It’s a through multiple workshops over several years. fair question. How do the elements of sound design, specifically By the time I became involved with the production in October amplification and pre-recorded soundscapes, fit with a tradi- last year, the opera had been set in a run-down 21st century tionally amplification-free musical production? dystopian mental institution with an intentionally immersive Pre-recorded sound effects have been used in opera for feel. The stage area was thrust (open on three sides) and in the decades, especially in large dramatic works, as recorded sound stalls (ground floor), with the ensemble on the raised physical FX replaced practical effects like people shaking thunder sheets stage of the venue. (Editor’s note: All of the photos appearing with for Wagner and thumping church bells backstage for Puccini. this article show the production, set, and audio gear.) Modern opera has also embraced contemporary sound design The director and musical director (MD) wanted the sound design techniques alongside other high-tech elements. to reinforce the contemporary setting and bridge the gap between Amplification has also started to creep in as opera moves out- the baroque score and the modern design. As well as a pre-show side of traditional opera houses and into larger modern spaces soundscape, I needed to produce a pre-recorded prologue and epi- designed with amplification in mind. However, the opera that logue, in English, of a modern-day Minister of Health presenting I faced was neither grand nor modern. My job was to create a his theory on health reforms (to replace Abati’s original speeches sound design for the first-ever performance of a 17th-century by the “God of Health.”) We also decided to underscore some of the dramma burlesco opera, performed by an early music ensemble key moments in the opera, including two unaccompanied madrigals, playing period instruments, set in a run-down modern mental a “mad” scene, and what the stage manager charmingly termed asylum and staged in a 19th-century music hall. the “urine ballet” scene, where one of the characters submits a It was a unique challenge. urine sample after submitting to his fate of staying in the hospital. For musicals, the paramount concern for the sound team is A LOST MANUSCRIPT & A DYSTOPIAN VISION that every line (sung or spoken) is distinct. In opera, the music Back in 2003, musicologist Naomi Matsumoto found a forgotten in its entirety is the central concern, and everything else in the 17th-century manuscript score with the title “l’Ospedale” (The production comes a distant second. So it made sense for me to

42 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com start my job with where the music would be heard (the space), and how (acoustic or otherwise). After seeing a few runs of the entire opera in rehearsals, my next stop was a site visit and chat with the musical director.

THE VENUE & INSTRUMENTS Wilton’s Music Hall in East London is the world’s oldest surviving music hall, built in a time when live performance was a primary form of entertainment and amplification was something you did if you shouted loudly. As soon as I walked into the main space and performed a few initial clap tests to assess the RT60, I knew the venue would do most of the work for me regarding being able to hear the music. As The Arts Desk review of the production put it, the acoustic is, “studio-clean for solo singing, while ensemble passages ring with church-like resonance. Those 19th-century builders really knew what they were about.“ There was only one harpsichord used as accompaniment in rehearsals, and I wouldn’t hear the full ensemble until the dress rehearsals. I had to, therefore, call on my knowledge of (and happily, degree in) Baroque & Renaissance music, and the advice of the MD, to assess whether the musicians would need amplification. The ensemble consisted of two harpsichords, viola de gamba (a baroque version of a cello), violone (baroque double bass), baroque guitar, and a lute.

REHEARSALS Given the musicians would be elevated and behind the singers, I initially thought I would need to close mic the quieter string instruments (lute and guitar) to make them heard above the singers and the harpsichords. When budget constraints pre- vented this, I trusted that the timbre of the instruments would make them easily audible in the mix of sound, and thankfully, I was proved right. In fact, miking the lute and guitar would have added nothing to the performance. Proving that sometimes the easiest solution is the best one! With the venue assessed and the ensemble requirements scoped, my next task was to introduce the pre-recorded elements of the sound design and decide on speaker placement.

THE DETAILS The bulk of my design centered around the opening of the show. My brief was to create an ambient hospital soundscape which extended to suggest the hospital outside of the physical space, built to a climax as the singers entered, changing to a gentler footsteps echoed in distant corridors, light bulbs flickered and version of the same soundscape which played under the first snatched pre-recorded bars of madrigals were heard briefly from unaccompanied madrigal. This then cross-faded into a pre-re- individual speakers, cut off by door slams. corded prologue of the Health Minister addressing modern-day Gauging levels for pre-show ambience is tricky. Too high and parliament, with raucous “hear hears” merging into the opening it becomes intimidating (unless that’s the effect you want), too chords of the opera. low and it risks being drowned out by the audience chatter. I Using the beautifully squalid set and stark lighting as inspira- don’t feel I ever got the levels quite right, but the intimidating tion, I built the pre-show soundscape around layers of ominous atmosphere of the hazy lighting state and “aggressively unlovely drones, electric hums and affected hospital sounds of ventilators, design” (The Arts Desk) helped. Having a show that looked and surgery and heartbeats. The world of the opera was virtually sounded like an apocalyptic asylum overrun by zombies did,

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 43 ALL ACCESS

at least, keep the sound of the pre-show audience down to a sessions specifically for the director to work on the acting direc- subdued murmur. tion with the singers, accompanied by piano (or in our case, Knowing that the heavy drones of the pre-show soundscape harpsichord) only, called Stage & Piano rehearsals. It will also would muddy the purity of the first unaccompanied madrigal, have different tech and dress rehearsal sessions for the musical I stripped back the layers to leave the gentle sound of dripping director to work with the full orchestra/ensemble and singers: water and a very low-level electrical hum to continue the sugges- Stage & Orchestra rehearsals. During these sessions, the tech- tion of a run-down institutional space. We solved the problem of nical teams are not allowed to stop any of the proceedings to how the first singer pitched the initial note by putting a pitched go over any technical issues. tone into the speaker nearest his entrance point. At the right I had to apply any changes to levels noted in the Stage & level, amongst the other interwoven drones and sounds, another Piano dress rehearsal on the fly during the Stage & Orchestra note was imperceptible to the audience and audible enough for sessions, often without hearing the result. I was most concerned the singer to pitch his first note. about how this would affect the Prologue and Epilogue, which were pre-recorded LOUDSPEAKER PLACEMENT speeches (in English) set to the sounds An immersive soundscape deserves an of a contemporary British parliament immersive physical design, or as immer- (House of Commons) sitting. sive a design as I could create given the Both of these speeches, and the accom- budget. I arranged the seven loudspeak- panying parliamentary sound effects, ers I had at my disposal accordingly. I were instrumental in establishing the placed four surrounds in the stalls (two context of the opera and aligning themes RCF compact models fed from a Yamaha of the 17th century libretto with the cur- P7000S amplifier, plus two active Yamaha rent political climate (and thus the mod- MSR400 loudspeakers). Two more loud- ern setting). They had to be heard clearly speakers covered the balcony (Eurolive above the music, without drowning it E1220s fed from a Yamaha P3500S amp), out. As I was urged by some of the pro- and there was one sub (RCF S8018). duction team to make the jeers louder, I My final loudspeaker (another Yamaha had to consider carefully the impact on MSR400) positioned behind a working the music and consider which was more vending machine to provide a steady important for the audience to hear. vending machine-type hum. By this time, some of my levels on Like many historical venues run by QLab (multimedia playback cue-based an independent charity, Wilton’s relies software designed for theatre) had crept on donated equipment and like many independently-funded lower and lower, and issues with gain structure became appar- productions, the budget for sound was limited. Aside from a ent. Having set the levels on the O2R too high, I now had a new audio interface, I worked with what the venue could supply. noticeable amount of hiss coming through the four surround The desk was a Yamaha O2R digital mixer, which I hadn’t used loudspeakers. Back I went to adjust levels painstakingly on the since the early 2000s and never outside of a studio, but at the desk and accordingly, all the levels in QLab. By the start of the end the day, signal flow is signal flow and it was nothing a few Stage & Orchestra dress rehearsal, I was taking my best guess, cables and logical patching couldn’t fix. trusting to my work so far and reminding myself that I could always fix things in previews. LEVELS & CHALLENGES I felt I spent most of my time on l’Ospedale filling in spaces At the first set of tech and dress rehearsals (read on for why with sound, then paring back until it was just present enough there was more than one set), I met my first challenge: to make to give a scene weight or context. I imagine with the kind of my layered sound design work sonically with the baroque music. opera that involves grandeur or significant visual or aural impact, Levels that I had set painstakingly in the Stage & Piano tech were the sound design might have a more central role. In this case, suddenly overbearing in the Stage & Piano dress rehearsal. And considering the subtlety of the music, allowing the sound design while I altered them, I had to bear in mind that we were setting to shine through would have reduced the impact of the perfor- the levels to work with one harpsichord and the six singers – but mance. It was enough for me that the modern soundscape added this was not the full ensemble. Would they work when we had to a baroque opera fitted so naturally as to be unnoticeable. LSI two harpsichords and another four musicians, plus the singers? Something that is specific to opera that lighting design col- Kirsty Gillmore (www.soundswilde.com) is a sound designer, leagues had warned me about is the double tech and dress engineer and voice artist based in the UK. Read more from her at rehearsal sessions. An opera will have tech and dress rehearsal SoundGirls.org.

44 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com For more information email or call: [email protected] | 800.431.2609 Sound Advice

SPEAKERS ON A SNAKE

Not all 1/4-inch jacks are Resistance Resistance AWG wire Diameter per 1000 ft per 1000 m size (solid) (inches) created equal. by Mike Sokol (ohms) (ohms)

24 0.0201 25.67 84.2 ere’s something I’ve seen in at least three churches over the last several months, so I know it happens. 22 0.0254 16.14 52.7 H Let’s suppose there’s a standard 100-foot audio snake 20 0.0320 10.15 33.2 from the console position running to the stage. But instead of putting the amp rack on the stage, maybe 18 0.0403 6.385 20.9 the facility is using a powered mixer at front of house, or the amp rack is already sitting next to the mixer. A look over at 16 0.0508 4.016 13.2 the audio snake shows XLR inputs from the microphones, but 14 0.0640 2.525 8.28 there are also two or four TRS 1/4-inch jacks that look just like the 1/4-inch loudspeaker jacks on the back of the powered 12 0.0808 1.588 5.21 mixer or amplifiers. Figure 1 shows a standard Hosa Technology snake with 10 0.1019 0.999 3.28 24-gauge wires for both the XLR mic inputs as well as TRS Figure 2: Cable/wire gauge resistance chart. 1/4-inch returns. Looks like you can plug the TRS fan-out end into the back of a power amp and passive stage monitors into those phone jacks on the stagebox, doesn’t it? Well, we know this “sort of” works, but there’s a certain amount of wattage 1,000 watts at 4 ohms. Also, let’s drive a pair of 8-ohm loss from the 100 feet of 24-gauge cable instead of 100 feet of passive monitors on each amplifier channel, which makes 12-gauge cable, which is industry recommended for this sort a load of 4 ohms. Assuming no loss in the cabling, that’s of loudspeaker run. 1,000 watts coming from the amp, which splits up to 500 Just how much loss will there be? Glad you asked… watts for each of the 8-ohm speakers. That’s exactly how it’s supposed to work. Now, instead of a heavier 12- or 10-gauge loud- As we can see speaker cable, let’s sub- Figure 1: Snake with 24-gauge from this example, stitute with the 100 feet cables for both XLR mic inputs of 24-gauge TRS returns just because and TRS 1/4-inch returns. between the amplifier something can and the monitors. Figure 2 provides a wire gauge be plugged into a resistance chart, which connector doesn’t shows us that 100 feet of 24-gauge copper wire has mean that it a resistance of just over should be. 2.5 ohms. And because we have to consider that there are two legs of this wire, it adds up to 200 feet and more than 5 ohms of resistance in series with the loudspeakers. DOING THE MATH Starting with the amplifier output, instead of driving a Let’s consider a standard situation where there’s a power 4-ohm load and producing 1,000 watts, it’s now driving a amplifier rated with an output of 500 watts at 8 ohms and 9-ohm load, which works out to less than 500 watts (the

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amplifier’s 8-ohm wattage output with a 9/8 impedance factor. loudspeaker load. There’s now only 430 watts coming out of the amp since it’s Finally, divide that 190 watts by 2 since there are two no longer driving a 4-ohm load. 8-ohm loudspeakers connected in parallel (Figure 3). It’s But it gets worse. We also have to factor in a voltage now down to less than 100 watts being delivered to each divider with 5 ohms of series resistance added to a 4-ohm loudspeaker instead of the 500 watts that was paid for and load. That’s 4/9 times the 430 watts of power, so it’s now expected. Yikes. down to 190 watts of power being delivered to the 4-ohm This shows that using a 24-gauge snake return to drive a pair of 4-ohm passive loudspeakers results in throwing away 80 percent of the amplifier power. A 1,000-watt amp is only delivering 200 watts to the loudspeakers. Adding to the picture is the fact that 5 ohms of series resistance will mess with the crossover points in the loudspeakers, which can change their frequency response in a bad way, adding feedback nodes.

THE WAY FORWARD So what to do? Well, either run a separate 12-gauge loudspeaker cable between the power amplifiers and loudspeakers on stage or utilize something called a “power snake” that has Figure 3: Graphic depiction of power loss to the loudspeakers. 1/4-inch inputs that use 14-gauge loudspeaker cable instead of 24-gauge microphone cable. For instance, Whirlwind makes a

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48 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com Power Series (Figure 4) of audio snakes ant things to know is all the types of future articles. LSI for just this type of circumstance. connectors that might be encountered While the 14-gauge cable will intro- on a live sound stage, and what signal Mike Sokol is lead trainer for Live Sound duce a small amount of loss compared types are likely to be on them. Oh yes, Co in Maryland, and lead writer of the Live to 12-gauge cable, the improved flexibil- and understanding the relationship Sound Advice blog (http://livesoundadvice. ity of the snake makes it a reasonable between voltage, resistance, current and com). He’s a veteran audio educator and is compromise. If you’re running a lot of wattage is really helpful for figuring out also an adjunct professor at Shenandoah power over very long runs, I still suggest this sort of thing. More about this in Conservatory in Winchester, VA. 12-gauge or even 10-gauge. A quick look at the chart and a little math shows us that 200 feet of 14-gauge will insert only 0.5 ohms in series with the loudspeakers, while 200 feet of 12-gauge adds up to only 0.3 ohms. So

Figure 4: Snake with 1/4-inch inputs that use 14-gauge cable suitable for power loudspeakers. these are much better options with very low wattage loss. I must admit that my first guess would have been losing maybe 20 percent or so of the amplifier wattage using 24-gauge rather then 12-gauge loudspeaker cable, but numbers don’t lie. Using TRS returns on a 100-foot snake to drive a pair of 8-ohm passive loudspeakers/monitors will result in a loss of about 80 percent of the amplifier output wattage due to series insertion loss plus impedance mis- matching. Thus it’s prudent to invest in heavier loudspeaker cables to get the most performance out of a sound system. As we can see from this example, just because something can be plugged into a connector doesn’t mean that it should be. And it’s why one of the most import- www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 49 World Stage FULL SPEED AHEAD Technology serving a diverse docket of recent applications. by Live Sound Staff

Davide Lombardi (left) and Ales- sandro Cestaro on tour with Will Young, with Outline Butterﬂy arrays ﬂying left-right behind them.

SYSTEM VERSATILITY IN ABUNDANCE The tour’s system engineer, Alessandro Cestaro, adds, “This FOR WILL YOUNG tour was a challenge due to the different size venues and acoustic considerations. I often had to adapt and modify the PA config- A recent 22-date UK tour by English singer-songwriter Will uration to accommodate the different room acoustics and cov- Young in support of his latest album 85% Proof saw Lon- erage needs. I found Butterfly was a great choice as it’s a simple don-based Britannia Row providing sound reinforcement headed and quick system to rig in different environments, and it’s also by Outline loudspeakers and amplifiers. Specifically, the main extremely reliable and precise in terms of coverage and throw. arrays incorporated up to 18 Butterfly modules, with six Mantas Since we had to set up in many different kinds of venues, from loudspeakers for fill and eight DBS 18-2 subwoofers. Outline smaller old theatres to bigger auditoriums to wide arena-style T-Nine amplifiers provided the audio power, working with Lake rooms, my goal was to give Davide the best balanced system to LM26 processors providing management and control. mix on without compromising the coverage of the room.” “When I was offered the Outline Butterfly system, I didn’t hesitate because I knew it could give me what I needed,” states 360-DEGREE COVERAGE FOR front of house engineer Davide Lombardi. “The physical size THE POPE IN MEXICO CITY of the box and the weight helped avoid problems with rigging and sight line issues, and yet it delivered a big sound without A recent appearance by Pope Francis at the Zocalo square in compromising dynamics or volume control.” Mexico City was supported by 360-degree sound reinforcement

50 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com NEXO STM arrays flown delivered by NEXO STM arrays, broadside cardioid array, with seven One of the Martin Audio left-right on all four serving the more than 40,000 in facing forward and three in reverse. DD12 compact loud- sides of the stage for the attendance in this pope’s first-ever “We also have a three-high cardi- speakers atop an MLX pope in Mexico City. visit to Mexico. The system deliv- oid stack of MLX rotated offstage at sub in support of Stereo- ered an address from the pontiff as 45 degrees, left and right as out fill phonic live. well as orchestras performing on the large-scale stage. subs,” explains system tech Toby The sound design by Sergio Zenteno used a total of 240 NEXO Donovan. “This keeps the delay times a bit shorter in the broadside cabinets. Each side of the stage was outfitted with left-right MLX array and also improves coverage in the side bleachers.” A arrays, each comprised of nine STM M46 main modules joined pair of DD12s follow a similar angle, positioned on the outflanking by nine B112 bass cabinets, with three M28 down fill modules subs, while the four central DD12s sit on the arrayed MLX boxes, beneath the line. angled into the audience on circular stands. Eighteen STM S118 subwoofers were groundstacked on each side to enhance low-end response, while NEXO PS15 loudspeak- EXTREME MIX CAPABILITIES ers supplied both front fill coverage and stage monitoring. All & MORE ON REBEL HEART loudspeakers were driven by 22 NEXO Universal Amp Racks (NUAR), each containing two NXAMP 4x4 units. Front of house engineer Andy Meyer and monitor engineer Matt Actidea, the technical services company for the Presidential Napier have been working with DiGiCo SD7 consoles on Madonna’s Bureau of Mexico, appointed Tecno Son Espectaculos of Mexico Rebel Heart Tour, with Napier adding an EX007 fader expansion City to provide the sound reinforcement gear and technical where monitor engineer Sean Spuehler mixes the lead performer’s support for the event. As it has done before, Tecno Son collab- vocals and effects. “Madonna likes her live sound to be as close orated with other NEXO STM rental houses ROA and Star to as possible to the album,” says Napier. “To accomplish this, Sean source the large inventory required for the event. focuses on mixing her vocal effects and Monitor engineers delays, which are then bused to the Sean Spuehler (left) NEW SONIC DIRECTION FOR front of house console so – in theory, and Matt Napier on the STEREOPHONIC ON TOUR at least – the audience hears exactly road with Madonna the same vocal sound that she does.” and DiGiCo SD7 with Having piloted the mix for every tour the Stereophonics have Stage personnel comprise four EX007 fader expansion. undertaken since they set out two decades ago, front of house musicians, two backing vocalists and engineer Dave Roden says he’s at ease with the Martin Audio MLA system provided for the most recent tour by touring company Capital Sound to replace the former W8L Longbow system. “I knew I’d backed a winning horse after being given the choice of which PA to move up to after Longbow. There were various options but I chose MLA and have had no regrets with that decision,” he says. The tour also deployed new Martin Audio DD12 loudspeakers for lip fill, which sat atop the MLX subwoofers on the ground, as well as Capital Sound’s new Dante network that was designed by audio crew chief Robin Conway. A show at O2 Arena in London utilized flown arrays comprised of 16 MLA modules and two MLD Downfill modules, with 13 MLA and an MLD Downfill as out fills. Ten MLX subs formed a

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 51 WORLD STAGE

20 dancers. All of the musicians are on in-ear monitors, with The system, installed by Montreal-based Sonotech, centers additional monitoring for musical director/keyboardist Kevin around three dedicated processing frames of the D-Mitri digital Antunes, a thumper for drummer Brian Frasier-Moore and side audio platform, which host the patented VRAS acoustical algo- fills for the dancers. Spuehler’s vocal group is bused into Napier’s rithms. Ambient acoustics are captured by 44 miniature micro- side of the SD7, where he adds it to the music mix in her monitors, phones and early reflections and reverberation are delivered by 143 as well as looking after the other musicians. In all, the monitor Stella-4 and eight Stella-4C installation loudspeakers, 67 UPM-1XP SD7 is set up with 118 input channels, 19 mono auxes, 22 stereo and 27 UP-4XP loudspeakers, and 16 MM-10XP subwoofers. auxes, six stereo groups, four mono groups, 10 matrix outputs Direct sound reinforcement is supplied by a Meyer Sound and 12 control groups. system of 20 M’elodie line array loudspeakers and eight 700-HP “We’ve kept the console running at 48 kHz, mainly because subwoofers, with drive and optimization by a Galileo Callisto we interface via MADI with the playback computers and all the loudspeaker management system with two Galileo Callisto 616 show sessions are at that sample rate,” says Antunes. “In addi- array processors. Four MJF-212A, six UM-1P, and six UM-100P tion to the playback, we also send record lines back to playback stage monitors provide artist foldback, and two CQ-1 loud- world. This means that in rehearsals the musicians can add speakers provide stage side fill. any overdubs, or additional parts, quickly and easily. A second MADI interface system connects via RME MADI Bridges to two Mac Pros running Apple Logic. This allows us to interface third-party plugins directly with the console.”

NEW ZEALAND FOLK FEST One of the Allen & MIX & MANAGEMENT Heath Qu32 mixers at front of house at the Allen & Heath Qu-32 compact digital Auckland Folk Festival in late January. mixers were deployed for the recent ENHANCED ACOUSTICS AT Driven by the Meyer Auckland Folk Festival in New Zealand, A CABARET IN MONTREAL Sound Constellation providing mix and management at all three of the event’s stages. platform, UPM-1XP This year, the new Village Stage joined the Festival and Mill loudspeakers lining a As an important part of a top-to-bot- Stages at the festival, which is held at the Kumeu Showground wall at Casino at Casi- tom renovation, the recently reopened northwest of Auckland and hosts top folk artists that this year no de Montreal. Cabaret du Casino at Casino de Mon- included Martin and Eliza Carthy, Donna Dean, Dan Walsh and treal is now equipped with a Meyer many others through its three-day run in late January. Sound Constellation acoustic system. It provides the 616-capacity Sound company SoundandLight.co.nz (based in Auckland) venue with enhanced acoustics for everything from evening dinner supplied the Qu-32 mixers for both front of house and monitors, shows and rock-style musicals to boxing matches, corporate events, accompanied by AR2412 and AR84 racks for additional remote and the upcoming World Series of Poker. I/O. “I’ve managed the folk festival for about 15 years. It requires All audio (as well as video, lighting, and theatrical automa- 14 hours of mixing a day, so reliability is key, which is why we’ve tion) systems for the Cabaret were designed and specified by always used A&H mixers,” states Dave Hodge, director and engi- Montreal-based Trizart Alliance consultants under the direction neer at SoundandLight.co.nz. “Due to the fabulous recall ability, of Luc Gélinas. “When we were told how the Cabaret wanted to we just use the compact QU-32 at FOH and monitors. expand its range of shows and other events, we immediately “Setup is so easy with scene recall for each band, song, individual recommended Constellation,” says Gélinas. “It allows the oper- instrument, and even a ‘just in case’ scenario, as acoustic groups ators to change the acoustics for the show about to happen, often bring on an additional guest player,” he continues. “Two iPads and it works quickly and efficiently. Wherever you are seated are also an integral part of my setup, one to control the matrixes, in the space, Constellation fully involves you in the emotion sub send and groups, and another to manage EFX sends/returns of the performance.” and stereo returns for MCs and background music.” LSI

52 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com 96kHz aS STandard

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www.digico.biz Exclusive US distribution: Group One Ltd. Toll Free 877 292 1623 www.g1limited.com Road Test VIA PROSOUNDWEB.COM iSEMcon iSEMic 725TR Evaluating included with each mic, and the data is ready for use with Rational Acoustics a versatile Smaart software. The 725TR base kit includes the mic, measurement SA-iBF adapter, and a windscreen, all housed in an aluminum case. The optional microphone. SA-SBF and SA-XBF adapters can store in the case as well. Other accessories include by Craig Leerman a shock-mount mic stand clip, extension rod, and cable assemblies. Opening the case, I was surprised at just how small this mic is. At only a quar- s an audio technician, my ears ter of an inch wide, it’s about the width of have the final say in how a a standard pencil. The mic and accessories A system is tuned, but with the both feel quite rugged and should easily passing of time, they’re not quite as reli- stand up to the rigors of the road. able as they used to be. As a result, I’m The mic attaches to the adapters with increasingly relying on measurement a snap-on SMB connector. It’s easy to systems to help with dialing in the PA. push in, and is held firmly in place until I also utilize SPL apps on my phone and a good tug is applied to release. After iPad to help monitor volume levels, and being snapped into the SA-iBF adapter that’s worked out well. The iSEMic 725TR measurement micro- for use with my phone, the mic ended up So when I first saw the iSEMic 725TR phone and accessories from iSEMcon. being about 4.75 inches long. I already measurement microphone from iSEM- keep my iPhone and iPads inside rug- con, it appeared to be a potentially great ged cases, and sometimes larger plugs tool for those like me who are utilizing connector on the end. It’s supplied with don’t fit into the headphone jacks of phones and tablets in their work. (By the an SA-iBF adapter for use with iPhone, these cases. But the thin SA-iBF adapter, way, it’s also compatible with computers iPad and other handheld devices that barely wider than the mic, had no prob- and hardware audio processors.) follow the CTIA/AHJ standard. lem fitting. Based in Viernheim, Germany with In addition, the SA-SBF adapter is My “go to” app on both devices is a marketing and sales office in Ohio, available as an option for application called RTA, a real-time analyzer that iSEMcon has two divisions: one manu- with smart phones and tablets that use can also measure SPL. The main problem factures capacitive proximity switches the OMTP standard for the headphone/ with it (and any app used with a phone and liquid level sensors, and the other mic jack. Another option is the SA-XBF or tablet) is the limitations of the mic designs and produces respected mea- adapter for XLR. Like the mic body, all of built into the devices. For example, while surement mics, sound calibrators, and the adapters are made of stainless steel. the mic in my iPhone is pretty good, it’s accessories. The stated frequency range of the limited to 105 dB, and further, Apple has 725TR is 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Sensitiv- placed a high-pass filter in the circuit THE PACKAGE ity is 3 mV/Pa, and it can handle high that rolls off the low end. As a result, The iSEMic 725TR has a compact stainless sound pressure levels, up to 125 dB it’s not really suitable for measurement steel body measuring 0.25 inches wide (SPL). Phantom power (12 to 52 volts) (or music recording for that matter). The and 3.75 inches long with an SMB male is required. Calibration data files are 725TR solves this limitation, and I found it to work quite well with the RTA app as well as my other apps.

FIRST APPLICATION A closer look at the 725TR mic. Normally with reviews, the gear is shipped to our shop where it’s unboxed

54 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com convenient to use the phone, and the mic is so small it can stay attached when putting the phone in a shirt’s breast pocket. If the phone is kept in a belt holster or pouch, the mic can easily be removed and placed in a pocket when not in use. Starting with this demo, my SPL measurement chores got a whole lot easier, and it was great to have a meter on my person whenever I wanted/needed one.

FOLLOWING UP Upon returning to the home base in Las Vegas, I deployed the 725TR at a corporate meeting. I normally place a measurement system at front of house to “see” what I’m hearing (and to help me see what I don’t hear anymore). But this time, I snapped on the SA-XBF XLR adapter so the mic would interface with my computer’s USB Everything ships in a roomy, durable metal case. I/O device, and it served as a standard measurement mic. The small size of the kit made it easy for me to find a place for it in and then taken to my test bench. There then proceeded to measure levels with my gig bag, and I really like the fact that I check it out and learn about all the fea- John throughout the event. I can use the mic both with my computer tures of the gear, in addition to making Rational Acoustics also deployed a and handheld devices. sure everything is working correctly. Only 10EaZy SPL measurement system in the I’ve taken the 725TR to every show after using this process do I take it out room, hooked up to a large video screen since. Digital consoles have made my for use at shows and events. that provided us (and the attendees) job easier because I can walk around the This time was different, however, with real-time level measurements. As room and make adjustments to the PA because my first opportunity to get my with my iPad. And now this mic helps hands on the 725TR was at the Live me out even more because I can quickly Sound Loudspeaker Demo held late last I really like the get a true SPL number no matter where year in Nashville at the Music City Cen- I’m standing in a room. Leaving the mic ter. The demo, which is an annual event, fact that I can use attached to my iPad, I just swap between has loudspeaker systems set up around a the mic both with the control and measurement apps when large perimeter within a trade show hall. I want to check levels. Attendees hear the same tracks played my computer and So if you’re looking for a rugged, through each different system in “round handheld devices. accurate, highly compact measurement robin” fashion. mic that won’t break the bank, keep the Because it’s a listening demo and not a result, we could compare what we were iSEMic 725TR in mind. But don’t take a volume war “shootout,” we establish seeing on our handheld devices with the my word for it – every audio person who (and abide by) a maximum sound pres- data provided by 10EaZy. The two plat- has seen this mic (in our shop and at sure level. To verify that all systems are forms were in sync in terms of measured shows) wants one. respecting this limit, we level-check each levels (accounting for somewhat differ- Pricing: The iSEMic 725TR package is one prior to the start of every demo ses- ent mic/measurement positions), so the available from the Rational Acoustics online sion. In Nashville, this was measured 725TR (and the phone and app) proved store (www.rationalacoustics.com) for $199 and verified by John Aldrich of Rational to be accurate. (USD). LSI Acoustics, using his phone outfitted with I’d always used standard SPL meters for a 725TR as his handheld SPL meter. I was this and hundreds of other gigs each year, Senior contributing editor Craig Leerman intrigued, and plugged an extra 725TR and in comparison to this new approach, is the owner of Tech Works, a production that was on hand into my phone, and they’re large and bulky. It’s so much more company based in Las Vegas.

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 55 Real World Gear

ATTRACTIVE OPTIONS

of some of the cones can reduce lobing. This can be achieved with Column loudspeaker passive filters in the cabinet or with active filters. It’s common for columns to be combined as multiple cabinets to achieve principles and the latest better performance as taller systems for bigger rooms. Longer columns provide pattern control reaching to lower frequencies. models. by Live Sound Staff A specialized version of the line source column is called “digitally steerable,” with individual amplification, delay and equalization for each driver, allowing the column’s vertical olumn loudspeakers continue to gain in popularity coverage to be tilted down (or up) and focused for short or because they offer a solution for those who need effi- long throws, though its horizontal coverage remains fixed. The C ciency in the vocal range combined with even coverage advantage is that the loudspeaker can be placed flat on a wall and a very slim, unobtrusive profile. The characteristics of line while its coverage can be tailored to a specific listening area. source columns – wide horizontal coverage, minimal vertical One advantage to digital steering is that the entire coverage coverage above and below the enclosure, and coherent sound pattern can be oriented downwards. in the vocal range – are all attractive for reverberant spaces. Applications requiring additional bandwidth and dynamic Driver spacing determines the highest frequency at which range have lead to 2-way designs that incorporate separate a column of identical drivers acts as a line source, while the high-frequency transducers in addition to the column of tightly height of the column determines the lowest frequency with spaced loudspeaker cones. Some systems have companion LF directivity. Column loudspeakers with 6.5-inch diameter cones, columns that employ long-excursion small-format woofers to when tightly-spaced, will couple up to about 1,000 Hz. Four-inch extend pattern control to lower frequencies. Alternately, tra- cones couple to about 1,600 Hz, and 2-inch cones to 3,300 Hz. ditional subwoofers can supplement a column’s LF response. Above these frequencies, top and bottom lobes appear in the Enjoy this Real World Gear look at the latest available column polar response; however, restricting the high-frequency response loudspeaker models. LSI

RCF TTL6-A JBL Professional CBT 70J-1 EAW DSA250Z http://rcf-usa.com www.jblpro.com www.eaw.com

Type: 3-Way Active Type: Coaxial column Type: Digitally steerable Line Source (proprietary Constant Drivers, LF: 8 x 4-in cone Components, LF: Beamwidth Technology) drivers 2 x 12-inch woofers Drivers, LF: 4 x 5-in cone Drivers, HF: 8 x 1-in domes Components, MF: 4 x 6.5- drivers (horn-loaded) inch cone drivers Drivers, HF: 16 x 1-in Frequency Range: 78 Hz – Components, HF: tweeters 15 kHz 1 x 2-inch compression Frequency Range: Dispersion: 120 degrees driver on a waveguide 60 Hz – 20 kHz horizontal, variable vertical Frequency Range: NA Dispersion: 150 degrees Power: Self-powered Dispersion: 90 degrees horizontal, horizontal, 25 or 45 Weight: 84 lbs 30 degrees vertical (asymmetrical: degrees vertical (selectable) Size (h x w x d): 50.8 x 9.3 x +5 degrees/-25 degrees) Power: 500 W (2,400 W peak) 9.3 in Power: Self-powered (dual class D Weight: 21 lbs Mounting: Wall-mount amplifiers), DSP, RDNet networking Size (h x w x d): 27.4 x 6.7 x 9.3 in hardware and control Mounting: Pan/tilt bracket, 10 threaded Companion: DSA230i LF extension Weight: 116.8 lbs points, optional stand-mount bracket (8 x 4-in) Size (h x w x d): 43.5 x 14.9 x 18.5 in Companion: CBT 70JE-1 extension Mounting: Pole-mount, flypoints (16 x 1-in, 8 x 5-in) Companion Subs: TTS18-A, TTS26-A Also: CBT 50LA-1, CBT 100LA-1

56 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com RWG Spotlight Listing

d&b audiotechnik 24C | www.dbaudio.com The slender 2-way passive xC-Series KEY SPECIFICATIONS: comprises the 16C, 24C and 24C-E column Model: 24C extender. This elegantly engineered system Type: Column (2-way) delivers exceptional speech intelligibility Drivers, LF: 6 x 4-in cone drivers with minimal visual disturbance in the most Drivers, HF: 6 x 1.1-in dome tweeters challenging acoustic and aesthetic environ- mounted in vertical horn array ments, including houses of worship, confer- Frequency Range: 110 Hz – 17 kHz ence halls, auditoriums and public spaces. Dispersion: 90 x 20 degrees; vertical The 24C features six 4-inch low/mid drivers aiming of LF/MF beam: -5 degrees; and six 1.1-inch dome tweeters mounted in vertical adjustment of HF section: a vertical HF array. The 24C-E is a passive 0 to -14 degrees extension for the 24C offering a further six Power: d&b D Series amplification 4-inch drivers. The smaller 16C comprises four 4-inch low/mid drivers Weight: 19.8 lbs and a CD horn. All xC cabinets are fitted with two continuous rails at the Size (h x w x d): 39.4 x 4.9 x 4.9 in rear, enabling the loudspeakers to be fitted as close and parallel to the Mounting: Adjustable wall-mount brackets wall as possible. The cabinets can also be specially color matched to Also: Series includes 16C and 24C-E interiors, or ordered in black or white as standard.

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: xC cabinets all incorporate 4-inch level distribution across the listening area while increasing drivers in a special design radiating through waveguide gain before feedback when working with open microphones. elements at the front and damped ports at the rear. The resulting cardioid dispersion pattern, along with a nominal COMPANION PRODUCT: The 24C achieves remarkable dispersion angle of no more than 90 degrees, minimizes vertical directivity control down to 370 Hz, which is increased side emissions caused by wall reflections in the low and by a complete octave when attached to the 24C-E column mid frequencies, eliminating cancellations and reducing the extender. The 24C-E fixes easily to the 24C, with no additional stimulation of the reverberant field. This results in balanced amplification or processing required.

dBTechnologies Ingenia IG4T Martin Audio OmniLine K-array KP102 www.dbtechnologies.com, www.martin-audio.com www.k-arrayamerica.com www.americanmusicandsound.com Type: 2-way micro-line array Type: Column (2-way) Type: 2-Way Active Line Source (deployed in multiples of Drivers: 12 x 3.15-in cone Drivers, LF: 4 x 6.5-inch cone 4 modules) drivers drivers Drivers, LF: 2 x 3.5-in cone Frequency Range: 100 Hz – Drivers, HF: 1 x 1.4-inch drivers (1 module) 20 kHz compression driver Drivers, HF: 5 x .55-in dome Dispersion: 90 degrees Frequency Range: tweeters (1 module) horizontal, 7 - 30 degrees 74 Hz – 20 kHz Frequency Range: 85 Hz – vertical (selectable) Dispersion: 110 degrees 20 kHz Power: K-array KA amplifiers horizontal, 90 degrees ver- Dispersion: 100 degrees with specific presets recom- tical (asymmetric +20/-70 horizontal, 5 degrees mended; 720W AES; 4-ohm/16- degrees) vertical (1 module) ohm impedance (selectable) Power: Self-powered (class D) Power: 50/200 W (AES/peak); Weight: 26.5 lbs 900/1,800 W (RMS/peak), DSP and recommended 100-200 W into 16 ohms Size (h x w x d): 39.4 x 3.5 x 4.6 in 48 kHz converters (1 module) (3.5” x 39.4” x 4.6”) Weight: 42.8 lbs Weight: 7.9 lbs (1 module) Mounting: Coupling hardware, flypoints, Size (h x w x d): 37.6 x 7.6 x 10.6 in Size (h x w x d): 4.5 x 9.7 x 7.8 in pole-mount Mounting: Pole-mount, flypoints (1 module; 4 modules: 18-in height) Companion Subs: KMT12, KMT18, KMT21, Also: IG3T, IG2T and IG1T Mounting: Captive inter-connecting KMT218 bracket assembly (0- to 5-degree an- Also: Multiple KP102s can be combined gles); 6 x M8 flypoints; optional brackets into larger system

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 57 REAL WORLD GEAR RWG Spotlight Listing

Tannoy QFlex Series | www.tannoy.com TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: QFlex receives/transports With advanced algorithms and digital audio via AES3 stream. A VNET/AES break-in dense physical spacing of trans- interface is available to allow the VNET network and ducers, QFlex provides true full- AES3 to be transported on the same Cat-5 cable. A range beam steering capabilities to networked solution is also available by way of a Dante deliver superior performance for network bridge. both vocal and music applications. Intensive research and develop- OF NOTE: Networkable with other Tannoy VNET products for complete full-range system control. The in- ment resulted in the proprietary tuitive BeamEngine GUI, integrated with EASE Focus v2, Regularized Least-Squares Multi- provides simple yet highly accurate modeling of arrays. channel Inversion algorithm that provides unmatched beam control capabilities. Steering control is KEY SPECIFICATIONS: an exceptional +/- 70 degrees to Model: QFlex 48 precisely match the needs of even Type: Digitally steerable the most challenging applications. Drivers, LF: 16 x 4-in cones & 16 x 3-in cones The QFlex Series is comprised for four basic modules (8-chan- Drivers, HF: 16 x 1-in titanium domes nel master/slave and 16-channel master/slave), and they’re the Frequency Range: 110 Hz – 20 kHz foundation for a wide range of configurations, ranging all the way Dispersion: 120 horizontal, up to a 64-channel array. +/- 70 degrees vertical Modules incorporate cutting-edge DSP utilizing the latest Power: Self-powered Class D w/Sharc DSP generation of SHARC processors, V-Net network control, and Weight: 113.5 lbs Class D multi-channel amplification that’s been designed from Size (h x w x d): 116.8 x 6.7 x 5.9 in the ground up for optimized performance. Users can even switch Mounting: Hinged brackets between two preset steering configurations for variable or Also: QFlex 8, 24, 32, 40 and 64 multi-purpose spaces.

FBT VERTUS CLA 604A Bose Professional Panaray MA12EX Outline CSA 85 http://fbtusa.com http://pro.bose.com www.outlinearray.com

Type: 2-way line source Type: Column (2-way) Type: Column (2-way) Components, LF: 6 x 4-in Drivers: 12 x 2.25-in cones Drivers, LF: 8 x 5-inch cone cone drivers Frequency Range: 75 Hz – drivers Components, HF: 4 x 13 kHz Drivers, HF: 1 x 1-inch 1-in dome tweeters on a Dispersion: 160 degrees compression driver waveguide horizontal, 20 degrees (horn-loaded) Frequency Range: 130 Hz – vertical Frequency Range: 20 kHz Power: 150/600 W power 120 Hz – 20 kHz Dispersion: 100 degrees handling (long-term/peak) Dispersion: 100 degrees horizontal, 20 degrees Weight: 21 lbs horizontal, 70 degrees vertical Size (h x w x d): 38.8 x 4.1 x 5.5 in vertical Power: Self-powered Mounting: 6 x M6 threaded Power: 1,600/240 W (LF/HF, peak) (class D) 400W/100W RMS inserts Weight: 52.9 lbs (LF/HF), DSP with 4 presets Companion Sub: MB4, MB12, and MB24 Size (h x w x d): 43.3 x 9.8 x 9.8 in Weight: 19.8 lbs Also: Panaray MA12 mid/high column Mounting: Proprietary “Fast Hanger” Size (h x w x d): 33.1 x 5.1 x 5.1 in rigging Mounting: Rapid latching system to Companion Sub: Eidos 218 S combine units Companion Sub: CLA 208SA

58 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com RWG Spotlight Listing

Meyer Sound Cal 64 | www.meyersound.com KEY SPECIFICATIONS: Meyer Sound CAL is a series of self-pow- Ty pe: Digitally steerable ered steerable column array loudspeak- Drivers, LF: 16 x 4-in cones ers that offer unprecedented vertical Drivers, HF: 48 x 20 mm tweeters coverage control and low-distortion Frequency Range: 100 Hz – 16 kHz sound to achieve intelligibility in highly Dispersion: 120 degrees horizontal, reverberant environments. Without sacri- variable vertical from 5 to 30 degrees ficing power and using pre-programmed Power: 64 amplifier channels presets, the vertical beam can be angled (1 channel per driver) up or down 30 degrees and can be con- Weight: 124 lbs (with mounting figured with beam widths from 5 to 60 hardware) degrees. Multiple or split beams can be Size (h x w x d): 87.7 x 7.7 x 9.9 in used to fit the application. Mounting: Adjustable wall-mount CAL loudspeakers incorporate powerful digital signal processing as brackets (included) found in the company’s D-Mitri digital audio platform. Each driver in Also: CAL 32, CAL 96 CAL is powered by a dedicated amplifier channel to accurately control the vertical behavior. Available in three versions of column lengths, CAL operates across a frequency range of 150 Hz to 10 kHz.

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: CAL loudspeakers include two AVB-en- OF NOTE: Discrete onboard class D amplifier channels, abled Ethernet ports for receiving AVB audio streams as processed by sophisticated algorithms, power each driver source signals. The ports also provide computer control of and tweeter. The amplitude and phase responses of each CAL via Meyer Sound’s Compass control software, allowing driver are engineered to produce interactions that yield beam control and RMS real-time monitoring of each loud- the desired vertical coverage. Available in black, white and speaker on the network. custom colors.

Community Professional Danley Sound Labs SBH-20 Carvin Audio TRx3903 ENTASYS-FR www.danleysoundlabs.com www.carvinaudio.com www.communitypro.com Type: Column (2-way) Type: Column (proprietary Type: Column (3-way) Drivers: 4 x 5-in coaxial, Constant Delivery Disper- Drivers, LF: 6 x 3.5-in cone drivers Paraline horn-loaded sion) Drivers, MF: 18 x 2.35-in drivers Frequency Range: 86 Hz – Drivers: 9 x 3-in drivers Drivers, HF: 42 x 1-in (planar- 15.8 kHz Frequency Range: 160 Hz – coupled Compact Ribbon Dispersion: 120 degrees 16 kHz Emulators) horizontal, 20 degrees Dispersion: 120 degrees Frequency Range: 200 Hz – 20 kHz vertical horizontal, 10 degrees Dispersion: 120 degrees Power: 600/2,400 W power vertical horizontal, 12 degrees vertical handling (continuous/ Power: 180/720 W power Power: 600/1,500 W peak) handling (continuous/peak) (RMS/program) Weight: 60 lbs Weight: 21 lbs Weight: 40 lbs Size (h x w x d): 30 x 9 x 9 in Size (h x w x d): 31.5 x 5 x 5.2 in Size (h x w x d): 44.5 x 5.5 x 7.4 in Mounting: Flypoints Mounting: U-bracket, 3/8-16 eyebolts Mounting: Integrated T-Bar Also: Self-powered version available (8), 5/8 shackle, pole-mount (top and mounting bracket; optional pan-tilt bottom) bracket, fly kit Companion Sub: TRx3018A Companion LF: ENTASYS-FR LF column, VLF SERIES Also: ENTASYS 200

www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 59 REAL WORLD GEAR RWG Spotlight Listing

Renkus-Heinz Iconyx IC Live ICL-R TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: All Gen5 Series models are also www.renkus-heinz.com available with (Audinate) Dante control, offering fully redundant operation while a single cable carries both Now incorporating Iconyx Dante and RHAON II control data for streamlined Gen5, IC Live just keeps connectivity. getting better. It’s the intelligent evolution of OF NOTE: RHAON II System Manager has been completely the small-format line redesigned using highly structured modular code for array, and the ICL-R is its greater stability and expandability. The result is a new, intrinsic core. Individual faster, and more robust technology. It’s fully compatible driver control means with both Gen5 and legacy Renkus-Heinz products. unsurpassed vertical pattern control – essential KEY SPECIFICATIONS: for delivering intelligible Ty pe: Digitally steerable speech in reverberant spaces. Drivers, LF: 5 x 6.5-in cone drivers Gen5 is outfitted with new UniBeam Technology for even Drivers, HF: 3 x 1-in titanium domes more uniform coverage, as well as increased output, faster Frequency Range: 80 Hz – 20 kHz setup and deployment, and more configurations. Advanced Dispersion: 150 x 20-30 degrees horizontal, digital beam steering puts IC Live output where it belongs: +/-30 degrees vertical on the audience and away from walls and ceilings. Power: Self-powered (RHAON II) Performance is extended further with completely rede- w/10 presets signed RHAON II networking software that delivers a new Weight: 20 lbs device-centric UI, streamlined workflow and faster operation. Size (h x w x d): 48 x 8 x 11.3 in The user defines the opening angles for as many as four Mounting: Mounts on IC2 15S-R sub, AeroQuip flytrack beams from each ICL-R array module (up to 8 beams when Companion: IC215S-R subwoofer (dual 15-in) stacked) and aims them up or down.

Grund Audio LC-9A Alcons Audio QR36 JBL Professional Intellivox www.grundaudio.com www.alconsaudio.com HP-DS370 www.jblpro.com Type: Active column (2-way) Type: Column (2-way) Drivers: 9 x 3.5-inch cone Drivers, LF: 6 x 6.5-in cone Type: Digitally steerable drivers drivers Drivers, LF: 14 x 6.5-in cone drivers Frequency Range: Drivers, HF: 2 x 18-in ribbons Drivers, HF: 2 x 1-in coaxial drivers 140 Hz – 20 kHz Frequency Range: 74 Hz – Frequency Range: 130 Hz – 18 kHz Dispersion: 120 degrees 20 kHz Dispersion: 100 degrees horizontal; horizontal, 10 degrees Dispersion: 90 degrees vertical defined by DDS algorithm vertical horizontal, vertical array Power: 16 x 100 W Power: Self-powered, length dependant Weight: 165 lbs 350/1,200 W (RMS/peak) Power: 780/6,000 W Size (h x w x d): 147.2 x 7.8 x 7.3 in Weight: 22 lbs (RMS/peak), recommend Alcons con- Mounting: Bracket attachment Size (h x w x d): 32.6 x 5.4 x troller-amplifier points 6.8 in Weight: 99 lbs Also: Intellivox DS115, DS180, Mounting: Pole-mount (top and bottom), Size (h x w x d): 39.6 x 14.4 x 9.3 in DS280, DS430, DS500, DS808 flypoints Mounting: Fork/swivel bracket, Note: Photo depicts half height of Companion Subs: LC-8SA, LC-5SA, LC-2SA stand-mount and flying hardware HP-DS370. Also: Passive version available (LC9) Companion Subs: QM36 LMF extension, QB363 LF extension Also: QR18, QR24

60 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com HK Audio Elements E 835 SLS Audio CDA300 One Systems OPALine www.hkaudio.com www.slsaudio.com www.onesystems.com

Type: Column (2-way) Type: Column (2-way) Type: Column (2-way) Drivers: 8 x 3.5-in cone drivers Drivers, LF: 6 x 5.25-in cone Drivers, LF: 4 x 4-inch cones Frequency Range: 140 Hz – drivers Drivers, HF: 2 x compression 20 kHz Drivers, HF: 3 x PRD250 ribbon drivers on waveguides Dispersion: 70 degrees drivers Frequency Range: 60 Hz – horizontal Freq. Range: 62 Hz – 20 kHz 20 kHz Power: 300 W (RMS), Dispersion: 90 degrees Dispersion: 90 degrees recommend HK Audio EA horizontal, 60 degrees horizontal, 40 degrees 600 amplifier vertical vertical Weight: 9.9 lbs Power: 600 W (power Power: 800/3,200 W Size (h x w x d): 29.3 x 4.3 x handling, at 8 ohms) (AES/peak) 4.7 in Weight: 32 lbs Weight: 86 lbs Mounting: Pole and stand mounts; Size (h x w x d): 32.3 x 7.5 x 8 in Size (h x w x d): 44.3 x 8 x 13.7 in optional install kit Mounting: Flying hardware, optional Mounting: Pole-mount, flypoints, Companion Subs: E 110 SUB, E 110 SUB A U-bracket and pole mount optional eye-bolt kits and pan/tilt (powered) and E 210 SUB AS (powered) Companion Sub: SP15 bracket Companion Sub: OPA-151SA (powered)

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www.ProSoundWeb.com MARCH 2016 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL 61 NewsBytes THE LATEST NEWS FROM PROSOUNDWEB.COM

Shure has promoted Ahren Hartman to associate vice president of engineering Clair Global and Scott Sullivan to associate Acquires Yamaha vice president Rivage PM10 Desks of global Clair Global (Lititz, PA) has taken product delivery of the first two Yamaha manage- Rivage PM10 digital consoles in the ment. U.S., and they’re currently being uti- Hartman led the team responsible for the lized by engineers Kirk “Eek” Sch- Axient Wireless Management Network, reiner (front of house) and Cam Beachley (monitors) on Carrie Underwood’s and he’s also contributed to the develop- The Storyteller Tour. The purchase continues the touring company’s long history ment of several wireless microphone with Yamaha consoles. lines and personal monitor systems. “We’re honored to have the first two consoles and introduce them on such a Sullivan, who joined the company in high-profile tour,” states Todd Hudson, VP of operations, Clair Global. “For years 1989, is focusing on future product we’ve been delivering Yamaha consoles to our clients; we trust their products.” planning and positioning, competitive “It’s super easy to get around on, intuitive, and sounds amazing,” adds Beachley, analysis, existing product line enhance- pictured at the PM10 he’s using on the tour. “With transformers on every chan- ments, and ongoing product evaluation. nel, you can definitely hear the difference. Not so much width as field of depth. “I congratulate Ahren and Scott on The band thinks the PM10 is absolutely amazing, with studio quality sounds.” their well-earned promotions,” says Chris Schyvinck, Shure president and RCF has named satile little piece of gear, and we just chief operating officer. “As a result of the Cower Market- ordered 13 additional units, so we have a strategic leadership and vision they bring ing’s John couple dozen now,” reports Mike Evans, to their respective areas, Shure has sig- Fedorko as its president of AV Matters, pictured here. nificantly expanded its product offerings 2015 Rep of the “I don’t know what we could use that and technological innovations.” Year. He handles the northern Texas and would be more flexible. They go out on Oklahoma region for Cowser. “John goes almost every event.” Marco Evangelista has above and beyond in not only sales, but his joined Renkus-Heinz skills and knowledge of our products, An open control and monitoring standard as sales and marketing always finding the opportunities to insert for professional audio and AV media net- assistant. He joined the our products into projects, providing solu- work devices has been officially standard- company in May 2015 tions for his RCF partners in the territory,” ized by the Audio Engineering Society and quickly worked his notes RCF national sales manager Tarik Standards Committee (AESSC) in the way up to the new position. Reporting to Solangi, pictured here with Fedorko and newly published AES70-2015 standard marketing manager Margie Kirby, he’s RCF USA president Roni Nevo. for audio applications of networks – Open responsible for creative content, including Control Architecture. graphics and video assets as well as other AV Matters (Orlando, FL) recently Originally proposed as a field-tested marketing communications materials. added an additional 13 QSC Touch specification by the OCA Alliance, the Mix-16 compact dig- standard has already seen successful CAD Audio has pro- ital mixers to its implementation in the field. moted Jeff Beck to the rental inventory. “AES70 represents another important position of vice presi- The company serves step towards the interoperable networked dent, sales, with respon- applications such as working environment that audio profes- sibility for overseeing corporate confer- sionals will rely on,” states Bruce Olson, and driving domestic, ences, sales meetings, business events, chair for the AESSC. LSI international and Internet sales for the com- theater, social galas and charity benefits. pany and all of its sub brands. He joined CAD Its corporate AV clients, including many ProSoundWeb provides all of in 2007 as an inside sales representative and Fortune 500 companies, producing the latest pro audio news, and was promoted to national sales manager in events all over the country and in the follow PSW on Facebook and Twitter – just 2009, later taking on responsibility for inter- Caribbean. go to prosoundweb.com and click on the national sales as well. “For us, TouchMix-16 is a great, ver- icons at the top of the page.

62 LIVE SOUND INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2016 www.ProSoundWeb.com “The LEO Family is the right choice for providing the best quality sound to our clients and their audiences. The Meyer Sound brand is the perfect match for Wigwam Acoustics, in terms of its reputation for quality.”

Chris Hill, Co-founder and Spencer Beard, Managing Director, Wigwam Acoustics

Read the full interview at meyersound.com/wigwam Back Page

ROAD STORIES #1 Don’t sweat the small stuff? Well, I’m just sayin’... by Ike Zimbel

n early 1986 I got a call to see if I was available to mix an up-and-coming young band for a gig at the local I art college. If it worked out, there were more gigs to come. I was indeed available, and subsequently arrived at the appointed hour to load in. The PA was, as things were at the time, made up of individual to have a look. He’d implemented the alternate wiring but components: bass bins, low-mid cabinets, mid-high horns, and (surprise!) without disconnecting the originals. I yanked these tweeters. I don’t remember what brand (or brands) they were out of one mix, and it immediately started working. After a bit or if they were home-built. In any case, we got it set up, and more time correcting the rest, we were finally ready for sound as I was getting ready to start sound check, there was a loud, check...which went fine. After the usual kick!…snare!…hat! and intermittent crackle coming from the horns. I brought it to the a few songs, the band headed off to the dressing room. attention of the tech, who was a nice guy but had misread the As show time approached, I wandered down to the dressing rock ‘n’ roll memo – the one that says “make it work no matter room to check in with the band. One of the guys told me that what.” Instead, his take on that memo was “if it doesn’t work, he had noticed a crack in his mic clip and was worried that it you’ll just have to do without!” and he proceeded to say brightly, would break during the show. I said “no problem” and headed “Well, we’ll just have to do the gig without horns!” up to the stage to change it. I wasn’t of the same opinion, and having isolated the problem But there was a problem...with the rushed sound check and to the 4-way crossover, phoned the Canadian distributor (from a everything else, I couldn’t remember what the guys looked like pay phone!) to see about finding a spare. No dice, especially since or who played what. So I walked up to the first mic stand I saw, these particular crossovers had custom EQ cards for whatever sys- looked at the clip, and sure enough, there was a hairline crack tem they were being used with. So I took the crossover out of the in it. Now the crack didn’t look that serious, I’ve seen hundreds rack, opened it up, and re-seated all of the chips and connectors. like it hang in there for years, but I thought, “This guy must have That solved the problem and we were ready to start sound X-ray vision, but if that’s what he wants...” and changed the clip. check...except that the monitors (which I was doing from front Twenty minutes later, the band appeared on stage, and the of house) were totally distorted, to the point of being unusable. guy who spoke to me, who turned out to be the leader, walks up When I pointed this out to the tech, he said, brightly, “Well, to the next mic stand over and says, “Hi, we’re...” and, CLUNK! we’ll just have to do the gig without monitors!” Again, I didn’t The mic rolls neatly out of the clip and hits the floor. I ran agree, so we started troubleshooting. up, changed that clip (which was in fact just barely hanging He informed me that the monitor racks were brand new and together), and the rest of the show was a success. proceeded to proudly show me the wiring inside. It was indeed I guess my troubleshooting skills in dealing with the major very beautiful, with neat 90-degree bends in the 20-gauge solid issues, and my mix, outweighed the “great mic clip screw-up” copper wire. I had a strong suspicion that this wire was the issue because I ended up working with the band for the next six and suggested he try some alternate wiring. He didn’t have any months or so, a period that included their first hotel room adaptors (of course) so I went back to FOH and pulled a couple of (another story...), album release (another story...), and first correct ones out of my kit, handed them over and asked that he cross-Canada tour (several other stories...). LSI make the changes while I talked through the wedges from FOH. He did so, but the monitors were still completely distorted. Ike Zimbel has worked in pro audio for 35-plus years, and runs This happened with all four mixes, so finally I went to the stage Zimbel Audio Productions (zimbelaudio.com) in Toronto.

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