Dynamic artists Thomas Dolby (pictured in concert at right) and BT are currently touring the U.S., providing audiences with an enhanced sonic experience by presenting their live performances in 5.1 surround. The specialized system features EAW NT Series full-range loudspeakers and subwoofers as well as dual Mackie TT24 digital consoles.

Veteran sound engineer Scott "Goody" Goodwine (pictured below) is riding herd over a dynamic sound system expressly designed to provide the surround experience in venues of up to 1,500 capacity. It includes numerous NT59 full-range loudspeakers supplying reinforcement at the stage as well as dual pairs of NT56 loudspeakers with NTS22 subwoofers established behind the audience to provide two rows of surround.

In addition, several NT29 loudspeakers are positioned around stage for monitoring in surround. Goody notes that the NT Series loudspeakers are ideal for this application, presenting extraordinarily high output-to-size ratio, easily capable of blanketing entire rooms with pristine output. The entire system, which usually is set up to work in combination with the house systems at venues on the tour, takes less than two hours to load in and optimize, while fitting within a small trailer for transport. "The NT Series is simply amazing. It's the whole package in terms of a high-end professional loudspeaker," he adds. Click on the link directly below for a photo look at the system deployed at a recent gig at Mercy Lounge in Nashville.)

Posted by EAW at 01:56 PM | Permalink

Last month, we detailed a truly innovative new system formulated by Gemini Sound of Dallas and Operations Manager Drew Pittman to serve the Ferrell Center's Paul J. Meyer Arena at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. EAW KF761 line arrays were selected for coverage and sound quality criteria as well as their qualifications for a unique dual-use system concept.

Now, our friend Drew (pictured at right with the new arrays) has checked in with a series of great new photos providing more insight into just how this rig works. Specifically, Gemini Sound worked with Drew to create a system equally capable of serving basketball games as well as high-level concerts and special events that frequently appear at the venue, with the arrays able to be quickly lowered and moved to other arena locations and then re-flown to meet any sound reinforcement need. Click on the link directly below to see the photo tour!

Posted by EAW at 04:23 PM | Permalink

The EAW “Brains, Boxes & Beyond” (B3) Technology Tour just wrapped up a wildly succesful slate of 2006 sessions with a stop in Nashville, where more than 30 current and aspiring audio professionals (as well as Pro Sound News Editor Frank Wells) took in Bernie and Dave's heavy-duty education seminar.

The session was held at the Curb Event Center on the campus of Belmont University, an institution offering one of the leading audio course schedules in the nation. Both the meeting room in this facility as well as the adjacent basketball arena afforded ideal learning environments.

A highlight was the live demonstration of line array principles covered by Bernie via an EAW KF730 compact line array flown in one corner of the arena. Todd Foster and team at Quest Marketing, EAW's fine rep firm handling the southeastern U.S., did a great job in tackling the considerable details and logisitical issues that must go right to make these endeavors a true success. Nice job Quest! And, an itinerary for the 2007 slate of B3 sessions will be posted soon.

Posted by EAW at 02:44 PM | Permalink

EAW AX Series and MK Series loudspeakers are the key components in a new fully distributed sound system serving the cavernous Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta. The interesting venue was constructed to host speed skating events for the 1988 Winter Olympics and is now the home of the Oval
X-Treme ice hockey team of the National Women's Hockey League. Thanks to two propane zamboni ice cleaners, the high altitude and advanced climate control, the oval is known as "the fastest ice in the world".

The new distributed sound system serving the venue was put together by the Calgary offices of Allstar Show Industries, with the AX and MK Series loudspeakers primarily flown from truss all the way around the venue and meticulously positioned to blanket audience areas with intelligible full-range sound reinforcement. Assistance on the project was supplied by SF Marketing, EAW's distributor serving Canada, and Joe Fustolo of the EAW ASG (Application Support Group) team provided support with final system tuning utlizing EAW Smaart. More on this interesting new project soon.

Posted by EAW at 07:33 AM | Permalink

EAW Online Forums are a great resource for specific information about "everything EAW" as well as a valuable place to get tips, guidance and "how to" advice.

This time out we reference a very good question from a user regarding the proper EAW KF Series line array elements to best handle a specific system installation. What does the community recommend for optimium coverage? What about subwoofers? And is there an obvious answer that everyone seems to have overlooked? Click here to find out!

Posted by EAW at 11:13 AM | Permalink

One of the oldest buildings in Orange County, California now features one of the newest (and certainly best) sound systems in the region thanks to leading system provider Micworks, which chose to implement EAW Avalon Series loudspeakers at Tia Juana's Long Bar, a thriving nightclub and restaurant in Irvine.

Mike Shelton headed up the project for Micworks, also based in Irvine, meeting multiple needs that include background music during daytime hours, high-impact dance music at night, and a Salsa band performing live at least one night each week. The overall goal was significantly improved sound quality for all of these applications in addition to overcoming an unusual challenge presented by the building's location.

Housed in a former produce production facility dating back to the early 20th Century that's constructed of corrugated steel, Tia Juana's is immediately adjacent to railroad tracks (they run just a few feet beyond the rear wall), with Shelton charged to develop a system loud enough to drown out the distraction of rumbling trains passing by hourly each night.

"The prevous system had a dozen full-range boxes, so when I proposed replacing them with just four Avalon loudspeakers, I believe management thought I was a little crazy," Shelton says. "That all changed as soon as they heard Avalon. They were simply blown away."

Specifically, Shelton specified two Avalon DC2 loudspeakers at each end of the venue's 60-foot by 30-foot dance floor, with two more Avalon DC4 loudspeakers centered on each side. Pulsing low-end energy is provided by four Avalon DCS2 subwoofers grouped at one end of the dance floor. Originally he'd planned on positioning the subs in a two over two configuration, but this changed to a one over three arrangement at the request of management with respect to space considerations.

"This is the first time we’ve worked with the Avalon Series, and I'm amazed with it. In this application, we were able to go with just four main loudspeakers rather than the previous 12, getting headroom to spare and with much better overall sonic performance," he adds. "I was already a fan of EAW loudspeakers, yet the Avalon boxes surprised me in terms of just how much output can be attained. I don't quite know how EAW engineering figured it out, but the bottom line is that these cabinets really deliver."

In fact, during the system tuning process, handled with an assist from EAW Smaart, the system would not go into clip mode. However, it did succeed in annoying several other tenants in the building who operate businesses during the daytime hours.

"Someone called the police because we had the system up to about 132 dB, and it was shaking the entire steel building, knocking things off of walls," he notes. "So we never really found the 'breaking point' for the system, and thus set the limiters at that high level attained before the police arrived. One thing's for sure: this client will never need to worry about having enough system for this application."

Another benefit is the aesthetics of the loudspeakers. "They really fit the look of the place, and kind of disappear at the same time," Shelton explains. "Using far fewer loudspeakers to attain better results also saved a lot of floor space; so much, in fact, that the club was able to open up a new VIP area. That's great for business."

Micworks also built in capability allowing management to quickly reconfigure the system via a touchpanel that provides access to password-protected presets in the system's digital processor. Application choices are dance (all loudspeakers utilized), live (the rear DC2 shut off) and background music (very low level), and they also have the ability to raise or lower overall levels.

(Thanks much to Alan Geer of Audio Geer, the EAW sales rep firm serving Southern Califonia and Southern Nevada, for the great images that accompany this post.)

Posted by EAW at 12:13 PM | Permalink

Now that the sun is finally beginning to sink lower in the sky, premier Spanish rental company Pronorte Sonido in Asturias, Spain has found the time between events to report a highly successful summer/autumn festival season with EAW line arrays.

Pronorte put their EAWKF760 and KF730 line array systems through their paces at several shows this summer, including a concert for veteran UK rock band Simple Minds as well as several major festivals. Among the biggest were the Bilbao Live Festival that took place in Bilbao in July, the Noroeste Pop Rock festival, a huge four-day free gig held in a spectacular beach setting in La Coruna at the northwestern tip of Spain (pictured above), and the Azkena Rock Festival in Mendizabala, Vittoria, also in northern Spain.

The principal attractions at Bilbao included Guns 'n Roses, Ben Harper, the Pretenders, the Cardigans, Placebo, the Fun Lovin' Criminals and the Cult, while at Noroeste, fans turned out in their thousands to see the likes of Paul Weller and the Sunday Drivers as well as many top-ranking Spanish artists. Azkena offered festival-goers a far more hard-core rock experience with Iggy Pop & the Stooges, the New York Dolls and headline act Pearl Jam.

Pronorte was responsible for supplying the PA equipment for the main stage at all three events. The configuration for Bilbao and Azkena (pictured left) comprised a total of 24 EAW KF760 and eight KF761 cabinets deployed in right and left hangs of 12 KF760 long/medium throw cabinets and four KF761 nearfill cabinets each, plus 32 SB1000 subwoofers and six KF600 three-way loudspeakers acting as frontfills.

Noroeste demanded a slightly different approach due to the long, narrow nature of the area to be covered, constrained by a high boardwalk on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. As a result Pronorte opted for a somewhat smaller main PA (20 KF760 cabinets, eight KF761 and 24 SB1000 subs plus four KF600s as frontfills) and two delay towers each comprising a hang of 12 KF730 compact line array cabinets and six groundstacked SB1000 subs.

"The results were spectacular in every case," affirmed José Javier García Osorio, owner of Pronorte. "All the festivals were sell-outs with Azkena reporting record-breaking attendances this year, but Bilbao was just amazing – 51,000 people through the gates in its first year is a huge achievement. The atmosphere was fantastic, due in no small part to the excellent sound quality. Our KF760 rig performed magnificently, delivering smooth, even coverage right to the back of the site."

Franc Gatell, managing director of Pro3, EAW's distributor in Spain, noted that Pronorte's success was well deserved. "Pronorte have over two decades experience in live sound production, and they have been champions of the EAW brand from the beginning," he remarked. "They were looking to invest in a high quality brand that would deliver the very best in terms of audio and features in addition to standing the test of time, and time has proved that they made an excellent choice in EAW."

Posted by EAW at 10:38 AM | Permalink