Ad info:http:// foh.hotims.com News L-ACOUSTICS Revisits Tinseltown LOS ANGELES — Three seasons ago the Hollywood Bowl underwent both a complete rebuild of its band shell and installation of a full L-ACOUSTICS amplifier and loudspeaker system. This season the audio crew went back and refined the install, thanks to new data they got from Soundvision, L-ACOUSTICS 3D acoustical modeling software. According to Fred Vogler, sound designer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which has called the Hollywood Bowl its summer home since 1922, “Paul Freudenberg, L-ACOUSTICS vice president of sales and marketing, and I walked around and literally mapped the entire seating arrangement to the square foot last year, which gave us a more accurate depiction of the physical space in SOUNDVISION and enabled us to tailor the system’s coverage.” As a result, Vogler and Freudenberg altered the box count on the main left and right P.A. hangs to feature a decreased number of V-DOSC enclosures on the upper section of the array and an increased number of V-DOSC, yet decreased number of dV-DOSC, on the lower section. The new arrays now consist of eight V-DOSC at the EAW Hits the Books, and the Road WHITINSVILLE, MA — EAW has launched the B4 Roadshow, an education initiative encompassing both general audio training as well as focus on new EAW technologies and products. The B4 Roadshow kicks off with several dates in Europe in late April/early <strong>May</strong>, and will move to America at a later date. No American dates had been announced at press time. (The latest itinerary can be viewed at www. eaw.com/support/b4/.) The B4 Roadshow is based on EAW’s B3 (“Brains, Boxes & Beyond”) education sessions presented to hundreds of audio professionals in 2006. It will be conducted by EAW’s training and educational staff that offers decades of collective real-world pro audio experience. Each two- and three-day B4 event features a full day of Smaart School, focusing on the fundamentals of EAW Smaart and the new Smaart v.6 measurement and analysis software. Taught by EAW Smaart experts Jamie Anderson and Martyn “Ferrit” Rowe, the class will also include tips and techniques for large-scale system alignment and response optimization. This is followed by a day of “System Bootcamp” — led by EAW Training Manager Bernie Broderick — where attendees are provided MAY 2007 top, eight SB218 subs in the middle and another 10 V-DOSC with a four dV-DOSC downfill tail below. The revised box count also came with an increase in LA48a amplifiers supplied by North Hollywood-based US Audio & Lighting, which also assisted with the installation. “The guest mix position here at the Bowl is located 95 feet from the stage, as opposed to our fixed <strong>FOH</strong> position, which is 220 feet back,” says Vogler. “With so many tours coming through, the idea behind changing the box counts was to deliver a little more impact to the lower seating area via the larger V-DOSC boxes, as opposed to the smaller dV-DOSC. We also aimed the crossover point between the upper and lower arrays farther back behind the mix position. It evened out the coverage a little more and gave us a more accurate depiction of what the engineers and audience were hearing down closer to the stage.” Based on the Soundvision model, the L- ACOUSTICS and Bowl crew also opted to slightly tighten up the array angles and lower both of the hangs by approximately five feet. “By dropping the arrays, we are better able to blend with diverse live and installed audio coursework as well as a step-by-step overview of configuring, rigging, powering, processing and tuning a full-scale sound reinforcement system. Training is also being provided on new EAW products such as the UX8800 digital processor providing Gunness focusing for an evergrowing list of current EAW loudspeakers. Attendees will also be introduced to other new EAW developments including the UMX.96 digital live console, SB1002 flyable subwoofers, EAW Commercial CAM Series mixer/amplifiers and CXA Series power amplifiers, and more. It ends with a demonstration of EAW’s latest technologies and products in action, presented in a “Tradeshow” format. In addition, members of the EAW Application Support Group (ASG), sales team and product development group will be on hand to discuss products and answer questions. Pre-registration at www.eaw.com is required for the Smaart School course, at a cost of $300 (USD) that includes breakfast, lunch and all course-related materials. There is no cost for System Bootcamp and the Tradeshow, which are open to all interested audio professionals. www.fohonline.com the acoustic and electro-acoustic energies,” Vogler notes. “My experience over at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, where I also spend much of my time, has been that the more sound you can reproduce or amplify to the acoustic ensemble, the better — within reason, of course. If you want to properly blend the two, you have to fly the loudspeakers lower and closer to the ensemble. It can present some opportunity for feedback, but you definitely have a more realistic mixture if you can find that ideal proximity. “So the idea was that when people are listening to the L.A. Philharmonic, they don’t know how much is being amplified and how much is simply acoustic off the stage. This past summer was the most consistent and loudest season we’ve ever had — even the Philharmonic was up anywhere from six to 10 decibels from our prior summer. But that noticeable increase in level really engaged the audience. Even the purists were caught up in it — the same people that usually sit there and complain about orchestra amplification. We miked everything tighter and had much greater levels than ever before, and it really proved to be quite successful.” O t h e r s y s t e m r e v i s i o n s included removing the three 112XT loudspeakers that were originally flown off the catwalk and 17e n c l o s u r e d V - D O S C center array A tech adjusts the L-ACOUSTICS array hung from at the Hollywood Bowl. the peak of the proscenium, replacing them with a mini center array of nine dV-DOSC flown from the leading arc of the “halo” over the stage. “The lower center hang of dV-DOSC nicely gives us the ability to fill to soloists and ‘smear’ some of the strings and other elements that I want to blend across the proscenium so people get the sense that they’re not just hearing sound from one side,” Vogler notes. Getting Rich and Famous in Vegas John Meanor in monitor world LAS VEGAS — When it gets done it Vegas it tends to get done big — some might say bigger than need be, but we will leave that for others to argue. The Green Valley Ranch Resort, a highend off-Strip property that caters to upper-class locals is opening a new club called Ovation this month. The 500 capacity room includes a 20-box L-ACOUSTICS KUDO system with five custommade JBL dual-18 subs, plus 14 L-ACOUSTICS wedges and two subs onstage, plus — are you sitting down? — TWO Midas XL8 digital consoles feeding a veritable farm of Crown iTech amps. We’re talking headroom in every sense of the word here. The room was previewed recently with the introduction of the house band Rich and Famous. Official opening is <strong>May</strong> 18 with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Install was handled by AVDV out of Phoenix who also recently put in the only other XL8 installed in the U.S. in a house of worship in California. A full story is in the works. Hopping Over Wireless Problems continued from cover transition is completed in early 2009. Those used to operating wireless equipment in the 500 to 600MHz portion of the UHF band will find that spectrum crowded with UHF DTV transmissions. The 700MHz band will not offer relief because those frequencies are scheduled for auction to new users later in 2009. (And for a full rundown on all the problems this is expected to cause with wireless audio gear — and what you can do about it — check out: www.fohonline.com/ whitespace) Since Tempest operates in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz bands it is unaffected by the reallocation of the UHF-TV spectrum. Its 2xTX Transmission Voice Data Redundancy sends each packet of audio data twice on different frequencies and through different antennas. “Spreadspectrum” and “Frequency-hopping” means that the audio signal is separated into discrete chunks (each often no longer than 5 milliseconds, which hey, is already necessary in the digital domain), and each chunk is sent over different frequencies. This allows the audio signal to take up less bandwidth and exist with other signals without interference in the same frequency spectrum. Tempest can interoperate with other Clear- Com intercom systems, as well as those from other manufacturers through four-wire and twowire connections. Each base-station can operate up to five wireless belt-stations.A Shared-Slot feature allows one of the five belt-stations slots to be used for up to 25 half-duplex, single transmit beltstations. The new system has a PC based control panel, with set-up and programming transferred to belt-stations via Ethernet or a USB connection. We don’t normally put new gear on the front cover, but this touches a larger issue that we’re all going to be dealing with, and might just herald a new way of audio wireless. And we certainly felt that was worth the front cover.
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