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March 2013 l 51
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installation BELGIUM DiGiCo triumvirate for De Werf
Cultural centre De Werf has invested in three DiGiCo consoles, marking its transition from analogue to digital, reports Marc Maes
WITH 350 productions per year, the CC De Werf cultural centre is one of Belgium’s leading venues for concerts, theatre, dance, and all kinds of community events. De Werf consists of two venues, the 600-seater Schouwburg and the 210-capacity Theaterzaal. With digital audio equipment having become the standard, the centre’s management decided to replace the existing Soundcraft MH3 console and the Allen & Heath Mixwizard with three of the newest DiGiCo consoles: one SD9 and two SD11i. “We have been preparing our two venues for the digital domain for some time,” explains Kris Van den Hooff, head of production at CC De Werf. “Ten years ago, we installed a (still expanding) Cat5 network throughout the building – in 2006, we were ready for a digital console but we felt the market still demanded analogue desks.”
WORLD Ateis parent launches Xavtel By Erica Basnicki
ATEIS EUROPE Holdings’ parent company, PAG, has launched Xavtel, a commercial AV manufacturer specialising primarily in digital conference systems, multi-room networking and Full HD video with audio over IP. Ateis Europe Holdings is in turn the parent of Ateis’ companies in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Xavtel is based in the US and has its own sales and R&D team. “After many years of research we have been able to bring to market a full range of digital audio and video products for conferencing and AV networking,” says Anders Strom, managing director. “Although Xavtel’s products
are based on similar technology to what has made our sister company Ateis so successful, they are aimed at completely
different professional sectors, which is why we have created a new brand and division.” At ISE, Xavtel’s main focus
was its Senator conferencing range of products including the DCP1000 processing unit, which is able to store individual microphone settings including volume levels, voice-activated gates and eight-band parametric equalization and allocate them when the specific microphone is in use.
The Xavtel range on show at ISE 2013
The Senator family also includes the DCA-6C60 digital multichannel amplifier. The processor and the amplifier link together over a single Cat5 cable and auto-calibrates for mix minus applications. n
www.xavtel.com
Kris ‘Kastaar’ Van den Hooff (engineer and head of production) with Bart Uyttersprot (technical director)
Being a municipal cultural
centre, every investment at De Werf is subject to the public tender process – and just like with other similar venues, De Werf opted for a long-term lease contract rather than going into a heavy investment facing rapid technological obsolescence. “We’ve had some demos in our main hall,” Van den Hooff adds. “We opted for the most flexible solution: apart from our own productions, the venues (and equipment) are rented to organisations like local theatre companies requiring many channels and extra options. We wanted an easy-to-handle console: the desks are used in both the venues, and working with one brand is an advantage
when it comes to flexibility and training our engineers. In the end, the demands for the new consoles were quite specific, with only DiGiCo meeting the tender specifications.” De Werf concluded a six-year lease contract with TX3 (Tomorrow’s Technology Today), specialised in audio and lighting for venues. For the main venue, Van den
Hooff and his team opted for a DiGiCo SD9 48 DSP channel at FOH – two further SD11i 32 CH DSP desks are either used as monitor desk or for respectively the main hall’s control room and the small venue’s FOH. “The SD11i is a perfect fit for 75% of productions in the Theaterzaal,” explains engineer Joris Cami.
The stage signal in Schouwburg is channelled to the consoles via DiGiCo stage boxes allowing up to 32 in and eight analogue plus eight AES outputs resulting in a fully digital chain: the FOH console steers the XTA DP6i system controller, which controls the Crest amps for a Renkus- Heinz PNX102/LA line array system. Six d&b amplifiers are used for monitors: two d&b D6 dual-channel and four E-Pacs, powering d&b Max 15 monitors. DiGiCo Little Red Box and Little Blue Box signal splitters transfer the audio either to Cat5 or a combination of Cat5 and MADI. A DiGiCo UB MADI driver allows recording and virtual soundchecks. In the Theaterzaal, the setup consists of a JBL VRX 932LA system with SRX 718s subs driven by Crown I-Tech 4000 amps. Monitors are d&b Max 12 powered by four E-Pacs. The new consoles were first
used for the L’Homme Orchestre concert on 2 February; the practical nature of the console was confirmed when the visiting sound engineer turned up with a pre-prepared mix of the show ready to load on to the SD console from a USB stick. n
www.digico.biz
SOUNDBITES
EM Acoustics has announced the first ever installation of its Halo Compact line array system – at the historic Queen’s Building (formerly the People’s Palace) in east London as part of a £5.7 million (€7 million) renovation. The system in the Great Hall comprises 12 Halo-C array elements and one Halo- CS subwoofer per side, one MSE-156 as far-field centre fill, one MSE-159 as near field centre fill, two EMS-215 subwoofers on stage, four i-2 front fills and four EMS-81X as spot loudspeakers/monitors.
www.emacoustics.co.uk
Visitors to SkiStar in Åre municipality, northern Sweden now enjoy an interactive experience on the slopes after an AV solution comprising TechnomadParis and Vernal loudspeakers was installed at the resort. The synchronised, multi-zone entertainment system delivers a lighting and sound experience to skiers, with audio originated through zoned DMX-controlled MP3 players. There are plans to install more Technomad speakers at outdoor gondolas throughout the resort.
www.technomad.com
MidasPRO6 and PRO2 consoles have been installed in Barcelona's L'Auditori - a prestigious arts, teaching and research facility with three large performance spaces. This demanding environment required a sound system which was sensitive enough to reproduce complex sound in a warm, clear, natural way, says SeeSound, the Midas distributor for Spain, who was enlisted to supply the new technical equipment.
www.midasconsoles.com
London’s Kensington Close Hotel and Spa has upgraded its sound system in the 230-seat Balmoral event room using 10 JBLPRX412M tops, and five PRX418S single 18” subs.
www.soundtech.co.uk
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