NAMM has always been the place where the music world meets and has now also demonstrated its ongoing commitment to professional sound. L-Acoustics returned to the trade show as an exhibitor last year in Anaheim and is pleased to do so again in 2019.
Scott Sugden, L-Acoustics Product manager for U.S.A. and Canada in the middle of a L-ISA demo.
L-Acoustics will more than double its booth area this year, to make sure to welcome all the visitors in the best possible conditions to know more about the Immersive Sound System L-ISA. To achieve this, room 203A will be dedicated to demos, with free entrance.
Thursday, January 24th: 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 & 17:00
Friday, January 25th: 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 & 16:00
Saturday, January 26th: 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 & 17:00
Sunday, January 27th: 10:00, 12:00 & 14:00
Let’s notice, too, that the L-ISA system is nominated this year in the Creative Harware category for NAMM TEC Awards, and that the L-Acoustics team will stream the event online.
Syva, the versatile and most effective speaker, even for immersive sound thanks to its large horizontal coverage specs.
The L-Acoustics interactive showroom will be populated by the latest loudspeakers, processors, and software including ARCS Wide, ARCS Focus, X Series, K Series, and Syva loudspeakers, along with the P1 AVB processor which began shipping in June 2018.
“The January timing in our annual events calendar, in addition to NAMM’s location not far from our US headquarters in Westlake Village, make this show a great way to kick off our year.” declares Laurent Vaissié, CEO, USA & Canada for L-Acoustics.
Laurent Vaissié.
“The combination of technology showcases, education opportunities, and exciting awards ceremonies make NAMM a great place to reconnect with peers and key clients, as well as reaching the broader audience of music enthusiasts who help our industry thrive.”
Meet the L-Acoustics team at NAMM until Jan. 27th on their 17208 booth and discover L-ISA and the other technologies in room 203A.
Brompton Technology’s recently initiated training programme is designed for anyone interested in learning more about the extensive capabilities of the company’s TESSERA LED processing for its T1, S4, M2 and SX40 LED processors and the XD data distribution units. Free to technicians working in the LED screen sector, they are already proving highly popular, with 18 attendees going through the Brompton doors since the first session on 15th November 2018.
Held at Brompton’s HQ in Ealing, London, the sessions take attendees through the fundamentals of operating its state-of-the-art LED processors, familiarising them with the easy-to-use interface and giving them hands on experience with handy features such as ChromaTune colour correction, On Screen Colour Adjustment (OSCA), Dark Magic for colour smoothing in low brightness conditions, Fixture Processing and Genlock.
Attendees will also get first-hand experience of the new Tessera Processor Software 2.2.0 for the 4K SX40 processor which delivers an enhanced feature set, including:
Panel On Screen Display (OSD),
Processor Redundancy,
90 degree rotation,
and Chinese language support in the user interface.
Easy to get to grips with
“Our processors are incredibly easy to get to grips with,” says Brompton’s Technical Support Manager, Adam Callaway. “In fact, anyone can be up and running in a matter of minutes. They are also very powerful and, with our 2.2.0 software we have introduced significant new features that give even more control of the screen to the user, so as well as going through the basics, our training sessions provide technicians with additional knowledge and some handy tips and shortcuts to make life even easier.”
“Because Brompton processors can do so much, it’s easy to think they’ll be complicated,” says Neil Waller (LED Operations Manager) from Creative Technology London, who attended one of the sessions in December. “It really does only take a very short amount of time to understand how to use them, but getting a more in-depth view has made me realise just how many advantages the system has. Take for instance the quick and easy way the screen can be addressed to Dark Magic, which allows you to enhance the quality of an image, even at lower brightness levels, to Panel OSD, a function I know I’m going to find really useful, which makes it incredibly easy to identify issues on any part of the screen just by looking at information displayed on the panels themselves.”
The next series of sessions will take place during March and the following months, stay tuned:
March: Wednesday 20th March 2019 Thursday 21st March 2019
…and more dates to come!
For more information, or to book your place on these sessions, and also express interest in sessions in other areas of the world, email [email protected]
New implementation at the upper end of the GEO M range, the M12 provides the ability to cover large areas with a versatile, lightweight, powerful and affordable product. Same size and equipped with a single 18” speaker, the MSUB18 complements the Nexo offering.
The GEO M12 video presentation by Joseph Carcopino :
Following the successful S12, having sold more than 30,000 units, the M12 sets the tone by delivering 3 dB SPL more than its predecessor and 4 more than the M10, while dropping the wood of the former GEOs for injected Composite Low Density – Polyurethane, more resistant, durable and adaptable to complex shapes.
Big advantage of an injected polyurethane shell, a few screws are enough to give access to the transducers. Notice the inscription on the GEO M1220 guide, as well as the huge vent. The two wings on either side of the driver are used to block it in the other half-hull also housing the passive filter. Two small fleece pads and the 12” driver complete the M12.
In detail, the new 12” gains for example 30% in terms of excursion and cooling compared to the (already very good) low transducer of the S12 and keeps the phasing PDD part which gives it a small size transducers behavior and coupling with the treble driver, without sacrificing the extension in the low frequencies characterizing a 12” speaker. The completely redesigned vent, taking advantage of the advances previously undergone in the STM range, allows for a quieter air flow but also a higher bass output level.
The M1220 waveguide, as easily accessible as the 12” once the metal protection you can guess hanging on the right hand side from a small steel sling is taken off. The silver pellets on the front panel are nothing but very effective little neodymium magnets, some holding the grille, some the magnetic flange that comes clipping in front of the guide.
The 3” voice coil, 1.4” throat Neodymium HF driver is built according the HRW patent and, thanks to Nexo’s advances in F.E.M. (Finite Element Method), the waveguide gains precision and control with a choice of two vertical directivities, 10° or 20° (hence the M1210 et M1220 model references), but the horizontal directivity can vary as well from the nominal 80° to 120° in one click, once the front face is open, all easily and quickly done.
Le M12 is equipped with a passive filter set at 1.1 kHz, but it can be set to active mode by pushing a recessed switch on the back panel. The amplification can be supplied either by a NXAMP4x4 loaded with 3 M12 in passive mode per amp channel (nominal impedance of 8 ohms in passive mode), or in active mode, still with 3 M12 per channel (LF impedance 8 ohms and HF 16 ohms).
The rear face of an M1220 with (left to right) the switch between active or passive mode, the angle adjustment and rigging points, very massive, with all loose parts captive, and finally the pair of Speakon in/thru connectors. You can guess below right the Autorig lock.
It is possible to use the NXAMP4x2 mkII, but only with one enclosure per channel, and even the NXAMP4x1, but in bridge mode with 2 channels for one M12, so let’s assume the NXAMP4x4 is the adequate and recommended companion. The maximum power in passive mode is 1,250 W, and in active mode 1,250 + 650 W. Finally the SPL Max reaches 140 dB with a 50 Hz – 20 kHz bandwith (-6 dB).
A very classic but effective combination consisting of two MSUB18 and three M1220. We can guess the 18 ” in the two sub cabinets. The whole right side of each of them is merely a very big vent. As it should, each sub has connectors wired in parallel on the front panel to ease cardioid cabling.
The rigging is very intuitive and fast, and relies on an automatic system called AutoRig. 12 boxes or 8 subs can be hung on one Touring Frame, with 7 angles adjusted from the back without any loose part. There is of course an Installation version in addition to the Touring one, with simplified rigging and a wide choice of RAL colors, and a bonus IP54 rating.
The sub coming with this new system is named MSUB18 and, thanks to the internal positioning of the 18-inch transducer slightly angled in a hybrid arrangement between bass reflex and bandpass, it has all the air it needs and can be hung on top of a line array, as its width is the same as of the M12, i.e. 70 centimeters. Weighing 55 kg and existing with or without Touring fittings to be permanently installed in a venue, it is made of Baltic birch ply.
Taking up to 2,000 Watts @ 4 ohms, the transducer, with very long excursion and of course neodymium magnet, is none other than the one present in the STM range, so we find its same vitality here with a sensitivity of 107 dB and a Max SPL of 139 dB! The very large vent allows it to give all its energy on a relatively wide spectrum, considering that its response in nominal frequency response @ -6 dB ranges is 32 to 120 Hz.
Two Touring Bumpers, which can be used at the same time to hang mixed lines of cabinets or to provide the junction between MSUB18 and M12 models.
It is possible to filter it, either in “infra” mode to boost the first octave from 29 to 65 Hz, or gradually extend its bandwith to handle the 29 to 120 Hz range. 5 choices are possible. The NXAMP4x4 controller accepts 2 MSUB18 per channel in parallel, the NXAMP4x2 only one and the NXAMP4x1 one, on two channels in bridged mode.
An important number of accessories comes with the launch of this new system, giving it all the versatility required, either rigged in Touring version, stacked the ground, or finally in a fixed installation version.
We had the opportunity to ask some questions to Joseph Carcopino, Nexo’s Head of R&D, the ideal guy to define precisely what a product is.
SLU : What sets the STM apart from the M12 while designing a system ?
Joseph Carcopino : The distinction between an enclosure of the STM series and GEO M, is simply by what I’d call the density of power. In a given volume, we place more transducers in the STM (I think for example of the two 2.5” drivers inside the M28) than in the GEO M, where there is only one 3” driver, and the STM M28 is lower than the M12, but in a line-array it is that ratio that will give you either the power or the long throw. But some STM technologies are being used in the M12, such as the vent, the flanges or the work done on the waveguide and cabinet manufacturing.
SLU : So, the difference is in the number more than the quality of the transducers?
Joseph Carcopino
Joseph Carcopino : Yes. Especially since in both cases they are excellent transducers.
SLU : You have to switch between big and small systems so that ideas can flow from one to the other?
Joseph Carcopino : Exactly. We must alternate between technological innovation and industrial innovation. Today we are transferring technologies still reserved a few years ago to a high-end product range with greater diffusion and the other way around, because industrial advances will reflect positively later, which could in the end lower the price of some of the components inside some future big system.
SLU : Will you go more for molding in the long run?
Joseph Carcopino : We have the chance to master this technology because, if I may say, we mold “at home”, but we also have a very good carpentry department and I do not think that one technology is better than the other. Polyurethane has a very good resistance in time and under difficult atmospheric conditions, on the other hand for stage monitors or other more specific speakers like sub cabinets, the wood keeps all its interest.
The 12” transducer and the DPP ensuring the phasing and the best alignment between the bass speaker and the hi freq. driver. The foam glued on it guarantees the absence of vibrations with the front grid at high power. The vent design is quite like its size: impressive.
SLU : What is the positioning of the MSUB18. SPL, Infra, higher bandwith?
Joseph Carcopino : It is designed on purpose as compact with single 18 ” and is expected to be flown which will allow to comply more easily with the new French Noise Limitations standards by limiting the SPL level nearby. In addition, the theaters do not like the subs on the ground. To hang it, on the other hand, you have to have a very good efficiency because you lose the ground coupling effect, and to achieve that, you just build an array to tighten the radiation pattern that can be “pulled down” electronically in the NXAMP.
SLU : The load design in the sub seems simpler than the usual Nexo.
Joseph Carcopino : Absolutely. We’ve been looking for efficiency and impact, so we’re very close to a bass reflex. We wanted to be effective up to the top of the sub bandwith to better handle its energy between 100 and 120 Hz, which is not pleasant when stacked on the ground, but very useful when flown. it is also tuned low, and with its very large vent it can also make your pants fluffer!
A stacking ratio recommended by the manufacturer: 2 subs for 6 M12 in the blue sky of Plailly, France.
SLU : The active / passive difference in the M12 is paying its dues in terms of amp channels, but what of dB extra gain?
Joseph Carcopino : We are lucky to have very powerful amps in our range, so everything goes well even in passive mode, but in active mode we can deliver three more dBs, measured and effective, which allows us to go tickling the big systems.
SLU : Is the M12 in the pipeline in EN54 version, to be able to be installed in stadiums, for example?
Joseph Carcopino : It is launched in Touring and Installation modes, this last version comes with a cable gland instead of chassis connectors, a special fabric on the front grille and a simplified rigging, which makes it even more economical without losing its acoustic qualities. It is certain that we will target the stadiums with this model, especially as the plastic lasts longer than wood, but it is not expected to work an EN54 version for this speaker. The S12 remains our preferred solution to offer the Comfort / Evac versatility.
SLU : What are the availability dates of the M12, its presets and its sub?
Joseph Carcopino : From January 24th on, and we already have a very nice stock (laughs) The preset is done and we love what we hear, but we will make it evolve with the feedback from the first users and adjust it accordingly.
SLU : Phase compatible ?
Joseph Carcopino : Of course. Like all Nexo products, it is possible to mix any product in the range. Everything will be perfectly in phase.
SLU : What are the competitors of the M10 and M12?
Joseph Carcopino : Typically 2 x 6” models for the M10 and 2 x 8” models for the M12, and there are loads of them on the market (laughs). But there are many arguments in favor of one 12” that brings more low extension in the bass frequencies than two 8”, not to mention the versatility brought up by the different possible coverage angles!
Part of the team that worked on the M12 and the MSUB18. From left to right : Eric Ecosse, Mechanical engineer, Nexo R&D (GEOM12), Maxime Bru, Signal Processing Engineer, Nexo R&D, Christophe Givre, Mechanical engineer R& D Nexo (MSUB18), Franck Barreau, Firmware Engineer, Nexo R&D, Maxime Grimonet, Software Engineer, Nexo R&D, Benoît Mouflin, Firmware Engineer, Nexo R&D, Joseph Carcopino, Nexo R&D Manager, Carole Marsaud, Application Engineer, Nexo Engineering Support, Didier Isambard, Design Engineer, Standards and Technical Documentation, Nexo R&D, Florian Eustache, Marketing Assistant, Nexo Marketing Department, François Deffarges, Nexo Engineering Support Manager, Robin Shamsnejad, Application Engineer, Nexo Engineering Support.
We unfortunately couldn’t listen to the M12 during this report, but we’ll certainly do so in the forthcoming weeks, and then add another in-depth chapter to this first presentation.
DTS – Italian manufacturer of moving lights, known and recognized for manufacturing its products 100% in Italy and offering a 3-year warranty – responds to the trend of high-power LED profiles with its Synergy 5.
What we’re looking at. Where many fixtures are more or less the same, DTS has chosen, as usual, to develop its Synergy 5 from scratch. Aesthetically, the machine is elegant and the construction inspires confidence.
The light, the beam… The foundation. As far as the light is concerned, we find a very uniform, high-quality beam. The light is intense, powerful and well distributed. The accompanying table shows you clearly just how completely equivalent it is to most of the competitors.
[private]
The 420 W white LED source has a color temperature of 7000 K and a native Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 75, which can be increased to 90 using the correction filter on the color wheel, at the cost of a small decrease in flux. Also, to facilitate video applications, the frequency of the PWM power supply of the LEDs can be regulated between 610 Hz and 20 kHz via the device menu, to avoid flickering effects in the video images.
The cooling of the LED engine is remarkably well managed, and the derating during heating remains less than 3% when the fixture is at full power. Note that the fixture menu offers three different ventilation modes. The “Automatic” mode lets the fixture manage the ventilation itself according to the demands of the LEDs; the “Standard” mode lets you ventilate continuously at high speed; and the “Silent” mode allows you to reduce the noise level by 7 dB for very quiet applications. In this mode, the flux is reduced by no more than 5%, which is exceptional.
In standard – i.e. continuous – cooling mode, the derating does not exceed 3%. This is remarkable.
In silent mode, the attenuation is 5%, which is exceptional.
This beam has a nice zoom, with a range from 4.5° when closed (the minimum aperture with which you can obtain a sharp focus is more like 7°) to 43.6° at the maximum aperture. As it should be, the zoom is quick and precise. Its mechanism is very quiet.
Wide zoom.
Tight zoom.
The zoom range.
Strangely enough (or maybe not), Synergy 5 does not have an iris. Taking into consideration the technological evolution of these units, the speed and range of their zooms, which are becoming very high, the use of the iris will soon become obsolete… not to mention that a closed iris leaves almost all of the flux inside the fixture, unlike a zoom lens.
The dimmer curve in linear mode.
The focus, inseparable companion of the zoom, allows you to achieve a sharp-edged beam or focus on the gobos without compromises (except, as usual, the framing shutters, which are completely closable and therefore located on different focal planes). Not surprisingly, the dimmer is very clean – take a look at its linear curve. Regarding the strobe, it’s just as good. It has a few limits, as on all LED fixtures that don’t use mechanical elements to perform the effect but use electronic means that work directly on the light source.
Photometric measurements
Narrow beam
With an angle of 6.95° at the tightest sharp-edged aperture, the beam is striking, with a center illuminance at cold start of 45,700 lx at 5 m. We obtain a flux of 12,000 lumens.
20° beam
At our reference value of 20°, the cold-start flux rises to 13,250 lumens, (12,880 after derating), which is excellent. The smoothness of the light intensity curve is ideal for both framing and for projecting gobos.
Wide beam
At the widest sharp-edge beam divergence, which corresponds to an angle of 43.6°, the flux is maintained at nearly 13,000 lumens at cold start (12,620 after derating) and the curve still shows a very nice regularity.
The color
Synergy 5 features a CMY color mixing system, as well as a linear CTO, plus a wheel with five color filters and the CRI corrector. The CMY system is very effective in all hues and responds very quickly, even with very abrupt changes. The red secondary is very red and bright, a lovely and usable CMY red. (The CMY red is complicated, because the denser it is, the more beautiful it is, but it is not very bright and, in the end, unsuitable for use in the field. I mention this for the purists out there). The green also manages to maintain good luminosity. In CMY color mixing it is often the green that suffers a little…
Some colors, using the CMY system.
The pastel colors are well done and offer nice blends without any inadvertent insertion of the color flags. It’s clear and extremely clean. The linear CTO allows you to match all whites between 7000 K and 3000 K with its attractive soft amber hue. In my opinion, it could have been a little more pronounced to achieve dark-CTOs as well, but that’s only a detail. The color wheel, as is expected, offers a “shortcut” to a few deep hues such as green and red. Its filters are attached edge to edge, making it possible to achieve very nice split-color effects.
A beam in white and in the three CMY primaries.
The gobos
This fixture has only one gobo wheel, while competitors have two, often with an animation wheel as a bonus. It is a technical decision which, in my opinion, is not a handicap. If the gobos are well chosen, this can be quite sufficient. There are six of them, all rotating, indexable and interchangeable, mounted on moving holders that can be extracted with a simple touch of a finger.
The gobos.
The selected set is quite versatile and, admittedly, traditional enough – if not actually inspired by the great classics. This selection offers lighting designers a set of the most popular gobos. I only have one little complaint. While in terms of projection they are all very different, generally speaking, in terms of aerials, except for a set of off-centre streaks that stand out a little, it doesn’t offer many options for sculpting the beam.
A gobo with frost/prism effects.
Optical effects
This cute little DTS still hasn’t shown us all it’s got. It also has a frost filter that can be introduced in a linear and progressive manner into the beam, allowing its effect to be precisely dosed as required, or for the gradual insertion of the frost to be managed visually. This frost will be very well appreciated for projections. It is thin and delicate enough to satisfy theatre lighting designers, even if it could be a little more aggressive to achieve a fuzzy beam effect for aerials. In any case, by playing with the focus, we can obtain a very dirty beam that has its own charm.
A gobo with frost/prism effects.
There is also a “soften filter”, which uses a control channel and a motor. Its name implies a very light frost but, personally, I can’t really perceive its effect. Synergy 5 is equipped with two rotating prisms. One is linear and has six facets, the other has two concentric rings with a total of 24 radial facets, arranged in a bloom around the center.
The prisms on their motorized arms.
One of the particular features of DTS, which we have already seen on other fixtures in their range, is the possibility to introduce the prisms before or after the zoom, which produces two very different effects, with a different magnification for each one. It certainly complicates the work a little bit, but it offers an interesting range of possibilities. When doing projection, this allows you to optimize the desired area of the effect and to make overlaps between several units with a certain flexibility and the most appropriate combinations.
Framing!
Synergy 5 is equipped with four framing shutters, of course! The individual shutter blades can be tilted ±30° in the beam, can close the entire beam window and the entire module can be rotated through 90° (±45°). The positioning of the blades is precise, super fast, and therefore allows much more than a simple cut. We can easily envisage the creation of very dynamic effects of all kinds.
Motorized framing.
The insertion the four blades at maximum triggers the shutdown of the LED source, preventing the beam from unnecessarily heating the closed blades like a shutter. The fully-closing framing shutters on this fixture are no exception to the general rule. Since the focal planes are distinct, it is physically impossible to achieve a sharp focus on all the blades… it comes down to choosing a compromise and living with it.
A little something special in Synergy 5!
The biggest advantage of Synergy 5, which in my opinion should please every console operator, is the direct DMX management of optical-effect macros. On two DMX channels (one that chooses the effect, and the other that sets the speed), you can select complex animations created from gobos, prisms, shutters and colors, easily accessing highly dynamic effect patterns – that even simulate 3D animation – and then integrate them into your shows in a matter of seconds.
Effects macros.
Many will, of course, say that this is a gadget for slackers, but you need to remember that, on many one-off shows, the programming time is very limited. When everything is set up, when the carpet is being rolled out and you can quickly program a few memories in the console before the spectators – or participants in the convention or whatever – come in, you are very happy to have effects to record in the cues, especially when it comes to combinations that are quite complex to set up together.
You have 6, 10 or 15 fixtures like this, you want to animate a cyclorama, project on a surface, you have access to a whole bunch of really cool stuff using Synergy 5’s resources. In my opinion, this is a real plus. We can also point out that, since it is an internal effect engine of the fixture, all these dynamic combinations will be preserved in the event of a DMX failure and they will continue, even when the signal is not present.
Let’s have a look around inside the unit…
Synergy with the cowling removed.
As you can see above, it is a lovely baby, with a very elegant design. Its weight of 32 kg is well distributed. The large handles around the base make it very easy to handle. A pan and tilt lock ensures the stability of the head for transport or maintenance purposes.
The blocking is done by pressing two small metal tabs, one to lock and the other to unlock. These are different colors for easy identification, and their use is straightforward and simple, very practical. As for connectors, the power supply uses a True1 input, with an output to link to additional units.
As Synergy 5 draws about 600 W, you can easily add up to three units on the same 16 A power supply, simply by daisy-chaining them using True1 male/female cables. The dual XLR5 and XLR3 connectors handle the DMX signals, while an RJ45 interface provides for the Ethernet connection.
The connector panel.
In the menu, you can configure a whole bunch of options for all possible and imaginable functions:
tests,
inversions,
default options,
speed choices…
plus, of course, the selection of control modes, DMX address, ArtNet, etc…
Disassembly!
Let’s get into the head. It opens in a very conventional way, by removing two symmetrical cowls fixed by three captive screws and then with a safety cable attached with a small screw.
The rear of the head, the LED module and its efficient cooling system.
Once the covers are removed, a large system can be found at the rear that is as efficient as it is complex: fans, heat sinks and heat pipes surrounding the copper plate that holds the LED sources. The light exits the source module towards the head through a small lens about 5.5 cm in diameter.
Then comes the color section, the framing shutters, the effects and then, before it hits the output lens, there are the zoom and focus, the frost, and the prisms. The module with the gobo wheel, frost and color wheel can be removed. The other components are fixed on columns and ligatured according to the controls.
The framing module.
We discussed the issue of disassembly with the product manager for our local DTS distributor and did some dismantling of the fixture. Although this fixture is, indeed, well made, with well-assembled components, and carefully wired… the question of maintenance arises.
The prisms and zoom/focus lenses can be cleaned easily, but in the case of the CMY system, which is directly integrated into the frame, the same process seems very delicate… You could imagine a brief cleaning by sliding your hands between the discs, but it is difficult to envisage a in-depth maintenance without dismantling the fixture in a workshop…
The detachable module, therefore, includes, on one side, the gobo wheel. These are mounted on removable cylinders that can be extracted with the simple touch of one finger, even without disassembling the module, just by opening a cover on the head. The color wheel with its large, almost trapezoidal petals, attached edge to edge, dominates the entire rear of the module. In between, there is the aforementioned “soften-filter” with its drive unit.
The color/gobo module, color side.
The gobo/color module, gobo side.
Total disassembly, the yoke with the tilt motor and the belt.
The arms include, on one side, the conduit of the wiring from the base to the head and, on the other side, the tilt motor with its belt drive. The latter is tensioned by spring loaded rollers and its nominal positioning is encoded by a cogwheel with a position sensor.
As the wiring harness passes on the other side, it is possible to replace this belt very easily without taking anything apart. This earns it a very high mark!
The base opens after the removal of two covers, each secured by five screws, and reveals a very clean set of components, including the main power supply, the LED power supply, DMX control electronics and, in the center, the pan drive with the cogwheel for the implementation of the positioning system. All this is very densely packed together.
The base and the display.
On the underside of the base, there are four Camlock locking holes for attaching the omega bracket to the unit, a groove for receiving the safety cable, and the four large rubber pads for holding the unit firmly when it is deployed on the floor.
Conclusion
The DTS Synergy 5 makes excellent use of its light source and its beam is treated with high optical quality. It shows remarkable stability during heating, less than 3% derating with ventilation and less than 5% attenuation in silent mode, which should appeal to auditoriums, theaters and TV studios. It has all the features to satisfy, including a fairly competitive price and a serious distributor, who has been following the brand for many years. I would also like to point out that this fixture, in the tradition of DTS moving heads, is of solid construction and should prove extremely reliable in use. It’s a unit you can count on. All this should allow this fixture to enjoy success on installations and in the stock of rental and services companies, because it is a product that has many assets and features to please lighting designers.
We liked
The beam
The quality of the beam and the light
The price
We disliked
the delicate access to certain features for maintenance
Powersoft, a world-leading manufacturer of professional power amplifiers, will present a two-hour training session at this year’s AES@NAMM Pro Sound Symposium: Live & Studio. The course will cover Powersoft’s ArmoníaPlus System Manager – an update on Powersoft’s Armonía Pro System Manager audio design environment software, which has been adopted by some of today’s leading loudspeaker manufacturing companies.
The session will be held in the Hilton Anaheim, Level 4, C2, on Saturday 26 January from 12-2pm.
Sound Design Re-envisioned: ArmoníaPlus System Manager
Powersoft’s Rick Woida, US application engineer, will lead the ArmoníaPlus portion of the training session and will cover topics such as software navigation, designing a large line-source system, preset creation and interactive tuning.
“The good old pink noise and multi-microphones methods to measure and set up a system are gone.” states Powersoft System Engineering Managers Luigi Chelli.
Luigi Chelli
The ArmoníaPlus System Manager is an update on the Armonía Pro System Manager audio design environment software, modified for greater ease-of-use, efficiency and system flexibility to provide remote group control and sound monitoring in real time with the full range of Powersoft products. “We’ve rethought Powersoft’s Armonía Pro System Manager with the goal of making it even easier to use – and easier for loudspeaker manufacturers to employ in their own systems,” Woida said. “With ArmoníaPlus, we have completely redesigned the software to make it the most efficient audio design environment on the market today.”
A screen capture of Armonia showing phase and magnitude.
Featuring a new and improved, intuitive user interface, ArmoníaPlus makes it easy to set up and manage complex sound systems. With ArmoníaPlus, every operation now takes place on the loudspeakers, providing multiple ways to link and audition various presets on the fly from a dedicated window.
Remo Orsoni
Training courses will be conducted by Powersoft System Engineers Luigi Chelli and Remo Orsoni.
For loudspeaker manufacturers, ArmoníaPlus lets OEMs display a system based on Powersoft amp modules as their own, enabling OEMs to support their own brand identity while providing a powerful environment created by Powersoft. ArmoníaPlus has already been adopted by a variety of preeminent loudspeaker manufacturers.
T Series Brings Powersoft Quality to Rental Market
Klas Dalbjörn, product manager at Powersoft Audio, will also give a presentation on the new Powersoft T Series – a set of ultra-reliable and efficient amplifier platforms, which make Powersoft’s renowned audio quality and functionality available to the rental market.
“We’re setting the new benchmark for the type of reliability and audio performance you can expect from a product at this price level,” Dalbjörn said. “The T Series is Powersoft’s solution for rental companies with small to medium-size sound systems, and it features next generation processing and networking capabilities, but at lower price point.”
The T Series will be also introduced during a press conference that will be held Thursday 24 January at 1pm at Powersoft booth located 17701 – ACC North, 2nd Floor.
Useful reminder: AES@NAMM Pro Sound Symposium: Live & Studio is presented by Audio Engineering Society (AES), in partnership with The NAMM Show. This exclusive, four-day international education and training program is targeted at working professionals in live sound, recording and performance audio. The four-day symposium comprises of a series of premier training academies and related technical sessions, provided by a dedicated team of topical specialists and experts to create a unique, new learning format that will appeal to career veterans and aspiring audio professionals.
For more information on AES@NAMM, please visit this page.
California metalcore band Atreyu released their seventh album, named In Our Wake last October then promptly hit the road on a 27-date U.S. winter tour to promote it. Lighting designer on the outing was Megan Alksninis who had a large Elation floor package supplied by JDI Productions at her disposal.
“A big part of the physical design came from drummer and vocalist Brandon Saller,” explains Alksninis, who also programmed the lighting and served as lighting operator on tour. “He had a clear vision on how the stage was going to be set up. Once the design was set it was a full collaboration to create the final show design. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had designing a show.”
Atreyu’s fast-paced music drives the lighting and the design throughout the show, says Alksninis, with a mix of strobes, subtle color chases and even a mirror ball or two. The lighting package consisted of 30 compact ACL 360i™ and 6 DARTZ 360™ LED moving heads along with 8 Cuepix Blinder WW2s™ and 4 Protron 3K Color™ strobes.
“Metal can easily get stuck with a lot of strobes and little front light,” Alksninis says. “I tried to find the balance between having that but also allowing the audience to see and participate with the band. The chorus almost always had a unique color chase and occasionally blinders.”
Pipes surrounding the stage
A total of 6 pipes surrounded the stage with lighting working off the set each show depending on the stage size. From the back of the drum riser the pipes were positioned as a V with three on each side of the stage. The pipes held different configurations of lights but all had at least one type of each fixture.
Each pipe held five of the super small ACL 360i units grouped together mid pipe with a DARTZ 360 mounted on top. The designer comments, “The large amount of small beams fit any stage. Having a full LED rig was important to me because it meant the package would be cohesive between any color chases. The Dartz and 360i’s worked perfectly together. The DARTZ were used differently in each song, for example beams zoomed in/out, with gobos, or with prisms. For a small LED light they really out shine almost every other light.”
Alksninis says she was able to create unique looks with the variety of Elation lights she was carrying. “My favorite was using gobos in the DARTZ to sweep over the crowd. The Protron color strobes also worked incredibly well as wash lights,” she said, adding that it only took four to enclose the stage in color.
Great crowd light
The designer scattered the Cuepix Blinders across the pipes as a traditional blinder effect. “Atreyu involves the crowd and talks before certain songs so it was important to have a great crowd light,” she said. “It was also fun to make dimmer chases with them for a certain part of the show.” This was JDI Productions’ and Alksninis’s first time working with Atreyu, a collaboration that left the designer appreciative of the opportunity. “I want to thank everyone in Atreyu for trusting me and welcoming me into their family, my JDI team for teaching me and always having my back, and Elation for the support and recognition,” she concludes.
Zhang Jie (张杰), also known as Jason Zhang, is a musical phenomenon in China. His Future Live show is a theatrical masterpiece, and as well winning praise for the human elements of music and dance, it has been termed a ‘comprehensive showcase of new technology’, with the incorporation of a large L-Acoustics K Series PA system as well as a huge ‘ice’ LED screen, advanced mechanical staging and lighting effects.
Sold out in 2 1/2 minutes
Zhang Jie started out on the My Show TV talent contest in 2004 and has since released 12 studio albums. His latest Future Live tour has filled stadiums across the nation, including a show at the Beijing National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) for 80,000 fans, which sold out in just over two and a half minutes and set new records for a live streamed event via Tencent with over 100 million viewers.
Mr. Zhang Jing was the Monitor Engineer for Future Live and describes the evening at the Bird’s Nest Stadium as an ‘undreamed-of success’. “It was mind blowing,” he says. “With spectacular lighting, and an amazing sound system. Zhang Jie delivered the best performance on stage, while the L-Acoustics system delivered the ultimate sound. The coverage was excellent, which is never easy for such a large-scale production, with audiences in the tens of thousands.”
Nicknamed the Bird’s Nest Stadium due to its highly recognizable and unique architecture, China’s Beijing National Stadium includes a huge concrete inner bowl and a 45,000 tonne steel mesh roof. The design was awarded in 2003 to a submission from the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron.
It originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, implemented steel beams in order to hide supports for the retractable roof, thus giving the stadium the appearance of a bird’s nest. Leading Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was the artistic consultant on the project. Measuring 330m x 220m, even with the inner acoustic membrane, the sheer size of the venue meant that coverage and control were always prime concerns for the crew.
The solution was a substantial L-Acoustics K Series deployment comprising over 200 loudspeakers. The main PA system consisted of stereo hangs of 12 K1 cabinets with three Kara modular cabinets, stereo hangs of 12 K1-SB subs, LR stacks of eight SB28 subs, and eight stacks of three Kara cabinets as distributed front fills. Two hangs of eight K1 and three K2 were used for outfills, and additional distributed systems consisted of five stacks of four K2 elements on chariots, plus two flown arrays of six K1 and three K2, and six flown arrays of eight K2 elements.
“We definitely got the most out of the system,” says Zhang Jing. “We achieved the full fidelity the loudspeakers are capable of, which allowed us to maximise the listening experience for the audience. “With a well-designed solution and accurate installation, L-Acoustics gives excellent quality sound and creates a perfect atmosphere for the audiences – even in such a large venue.”
Between eight and nine million people walk through the doors of the Musée du Louvre (aka The Louvre) every year, easily making it the most visited museum in the world. Not surprisingly, given the volume of visitors this renowned Parisian venue draws, anyone lighting a private event within its walls has to operate on an extraordinarily tight setup schedule. This is one reason why Martin Symul and his team at MSL (Sprimont, Belgium) elected to light a recent gala at the home of the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and other great works of art with CHAUVET Professional WELL Fit uplighting fixtures.
“I know the product quite well,” said Symul. “The WELL Fit is interesting because it is an autonomous stand-alone fixture with no ground wiring – better for safety — and it does not require much installation time. Doing an event at a venue like this one, you are not given much time for installation. We arrived on the site Tuesday afternoon, only two hours before the arrival of guests.”
Despite the short setup time, guests who arrived at the event (a 60th anniversary celebration for the DEF Network group of fire prevention companies) were treated to a stunning and stylishly designed setting for their gala. This was evident to them as soon as they entered the reception area via a spiral staircase and encountered a vista of richly saturated blue light from 90 WELL Fit fixtures.
“We positioned the WELL Fit uplights in the mezzanine and in the reception area to set an elegant mood with uplighting,” said Symul. “The fixtures were static. They did not change colors. We went with a single shade of very attractive blue that matched the client’s logo, and used it to colorize columns and walls throughout the room.”
The WELL Fit fixtures did more than set the right mood in the room with their vividly colored light, they also blended well with the architectural features of the stylish reception area, thanks to their reflective chrome housing. With their 8-hour battery life, the WELL Fit units also had no trouble lasting the entire evening, adding a touch of beautiful color that made this special event at The Louvre more memorable for all who attended
DPA Microphones is pleased to announce the appointment of Music & Audio Solutions & Services as its new distributor in the Philippines, with immediate effect and across all markets including live sound, House of Worship, broadcast, pro audio, film and theatre.
Dominic Tsang and Jun Fernandez.
Founded in 2007, Music & Audio distributes products for a wide range of manufacturers involved in the sound reinforcement and musical instrument industries. Brands such as Korg, VOX, Smarvo and Lava Cable are included in the company’s roster. Music & Audio’s philosophy is to provide premium, cost-effective solutions for the most demanding music-making and sound enhancement needs. Thanks to a strategic partnership with Audiophile Components Inc. –the largest pro audio distributor in the Philippines with a total of 70 dealers/contractors nationwide –DPA products will now be available through 12 Audiophile branches in and around Manila.
Commenting on the appointment, Dominic Tsang, DPA’s APAC Area Sales Manager, says:“We are pleased to have found an experienced partner in the Philippines and I am confident that with its solid knowledge and local expertise, Music & Audio will be able to serve our current and future customers promptly, efficiently and in the best way possible. By having Music & Audio as a partner, we are ready to expand our sales network to different market segments and capture the full potential of the Philippines.”
Jun Fernandez, Managing Director of Music & Audio, adds: “DPA is a technology leader in the pro audio market and a company with a strong product development team. In recent years they have launched numerous cutting-edge products to different sectors including Broadcast, Film and Theatre.
Music & Audio Solutions Services team during DPA training.
“To offer the best audio solutions to our customers, we only sell products that we love and want to use ourselves and this is especially the case with DPA microphones. Their sound is so real and natural, which is the most important element for miking because microphones are the first part of the signal chain and the one place where you don’t want any coloration or distortion of the sound.
We’re excited to be a distributor for DPA and believe that DPA’s products will generate synergy with our existing brands.”
Ready, steady … go! New dancing partners IRB 6620 and ‘Benke’ Rydman.
As the worlds of humans and machines collide and the relationships between nature, technology and artificial intelligence become daily more inextricably intertwined … urban dance impresario Fredrik ‘Benke’ Rydman made this mutually dependent alliance the subject of his amazing “Varoffer” performance, which has just completed its run at Stockholm Kulturhuset Stadsteater in Sweden.
Two radically different and beautifully fluid pieces made up this seminal work – the first a 40 minute ‘solo’ performance by Benke dancing with an industrial robot to a specially composed new soundtrack by Johan Liljedahl and Carl-Johan Rasmusson; and the second comprising 20 synchronised street dancers moving to Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ in 5000 litres of water with a massive mirror suspended above the stage bouncing their images back into the audience to appreciate their symmetry and formation skills.
Splashing effect for the Rite of Spring.
Imaginatively lit by Palle Palme, Robe BMFL Blades, LEDWash 1200s and ColorSpot 700E ATs together with other luminaires all played a vital part in this breath-taking show which took the concept of performance art and technology to new levels. Palle has worked with Benke since 2003 when he was in the Bounce Streetdance Company including for their global hit “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” which toured worldwide, plus several other invigorating projects which always push creative boundaries due to Benke’s ability to think out-of-the-box and take audiences on extraordinary journeys!
Palle joined the Varoffer creative team around 9 months in advance, and the initial discussions with Benke involved an in-depth outline about how the show should look. They established a workshop complete with scenery and lighting fixtures several months before the opening which allowed them to experiment with various products and techniques. Palle – who frequently uses Robe products in his design work – knew well in advance that he would have to use the Stadsteater’s house lighting rig as they play in rep and therefore change shows most days.
Benke and the Robot vs The Rite of Spring
Don’t try that at home (or at work, as it is).
Both acts of the piece played in specific areas on the stage – Benke and the Robot performed in an area approximately 8 metres in diameter, while the Rite of Spring dancers occupied a space around 12 metres on a custom 5 cm deep carpet filled with a 3 cm draft of water on which they slided and glided.
Palle used two of the 11 BMFL Blades as low side and front light, with five BMFL Blades on LX bar 0 also for front lighting, and four of the fixtures on the over-stage trussing. The 24 x LEDWash 1200s were also dotted around on the overhead trusses, while the older ColorSpot 700E ATs – among the theatre’s original purchase of Robe fixtures – were hanging in side-stage positions.
The first act with Benke and the Robot was extremely intense, and all the Robe units were used very sparsely, primarily one BMFL Blade at a time for back-light, catching Benke and the Robot in the path of the cross beam, gently fading in and out in rhythmic harmony with the music and the movement. Palle confirms that he would have chosen BMFL Blades even if they had not been part of the house lighting rig – “for the trim height, we needed something powerful and flexible, so it hit the spot”.
Water-mirror effect for the Rite of Spring.
For the second act more lighting came into play, although Palle had to be extremely strategic in where these sources were positioned … because anything placed overhead reflected and refracted off the mirror above the ‘pool’ of water!
He utilized the lighting budget to have twenty special low-rise side-lighting towers built, accommodating a total of 120 static profiles which allowed him to hit the dancers in the pool in a variety of different coloured whites without catching the water in the light. Some of these had super tight shuttering so only arms or legs were caught in the highlights, all adding to the sense of suggestion and mystery.
The challenges of lighting Varoffer included the diverse nature of the two acts with almost no changeover time … both needing totally different lighting treatments. “I had to be smart with how I used the whole rig, and which elements could be used in both acts” he says, adding that he was delighted with how the ploy succeeded! The extensive technical rehearsals with the Robot also helped enormously and enabled them to realise that sometimes Robots have their own ideas about where to perform!
Getting wet for Varoffer second part.
Dance is one of Palle’s favourite genres of performance to light and every cue in this unique performance was inspiring for him. He recalls that when he does a standard musical, he will typically have multiple cues for the music and for the positioning of the cast … however with this one, he probably only had around 60 positional cues for each act, so each and every one of them had to look fantastic!
He also enjoyed being back at the Stockholm Stadsteatern for his second show there, following a production of ‘Chicago’ a few years back. He utilised their ETC Cobalt lighting console, worked alongside “excellent” house programmer Pekka Hellsten, and was also “assisted enormously” by the venue’s head of lighting Anders Tuvesson who shared Palle’s passion and enthusiasm for the show and helped in every aspect related to the lighting rig.
About the Robot
“Hey, IRB6220, Gimme five ! “… or two ?
IRB 6620 was created by leading Swedish industrial robotics manufacturer ABB, based in Västerås, and it took them, specialist robotic programmers Robotdalen and Benke around 80 days to prepare all of IRB 6620’s moves for the 40 minutes long stage piece! This process was initially completed in a warehouse in Västerås.
A 10-hour day rehearsal gave them 30 seconds of the show – performance art being totally alien to IRB 6620 which had to learn how to dance from scratch! That was also just the beginning phase of the rehearsals. When IRB 6620 was installed in the theatre for the first time, they spent almost as much time again on stage, with rehearsals and sorting the numerous technical challenges.
IRB 6620 required two technicians standing-by on each side of the stage each time the show went live, watching the action intensely and ready with an ES button to stop the machine immediately if there was an anomaly in the dance like a slip or a wrong directional approach … as IRB 6620 could not detect any potential human errors alone. On this exceptionally tight choreography Palle commented, “I cannot imagine this being attempted by anyone other that Benke – he is a complete genius!”
Allen & Heath is pleased to announce the appointment of Val Gilbert as Technical Marketing Manager. Based near London, he will be supporting Allen & Heath’s international distributor network, optimising the levels of education and training support they’re able to offer.
Val Gilbert
Val Gilbert has spent the last six years as the global Engineering Support Manager at Nexo and brings more than 10 years’ hands-on experience working as a FOH engineer across the UK and France. “It’s an extremely exciting time to join the Allen & Heath team. The brand has gone from strength to strength and with more great things to come, I’m looking forward to developing the education and support offerings for Allen & Heath on a global scale,” comments Gilbert. “The talent and passion for user-based solutions at Allen & Heath is unrivalled, so it’s an honour to be on-board.”
Rob Clark
Rob Clark, Managing Director at Allen & Heath, comments: “We’re excited to welcome Val to the technical team. His extensive experience places him in an excellent position to help us develop our global product education and training and to better support our customers. Val is already making a great addition to the team and will be out in the field working closely with our distributors by Spring.”
For today’s fast-paced market of large, high-powered LED moving heads, Vari*Lite presents its VLZ range. We tested the VLZ Profile framing spot fixture Equipped with a 620 W white LED source and an extra wide zoom range from 8° to 50°, it offers everything you expect from a high-performance spot fixture with a motorized framing module.
The VLZ Profile takes the form of a big, stocky mover with a very elegant design. Its large front lens dominates a perfectly contoured cowling, with sharp angles and smooth curves. We’re going to take it apart, just to get a look at it… maybe it won’t be so smug then…
[private]
The unit weighs 42 kg, which does not make it a lightweight, but we need to keep in mind that it is a high-powered fixture with very advanced functions. We will see that this weight is perfectly justified by an extremely sturdy and well-designed internal construction.
The 620 W LED engine emits white light at 8000 K with a CRI of 70, and is integrated into a compact housing where the source components are collimated by precision optics. It is mounted on a system that controls its temperature by means of a network of heat sinks and fan-cooled heat pipes.
The light source housing that holds the LED module and cools it. You can see here the copper heat pipes that run through the housing of the source, and the upper fan.
What can be seen of the output of the source, with the lens that collimates the flux of the LED engine to direct it to the effects of the fixture.
To disassemble the head, two captive Phillips-head screws are used for each cowling. Each of these cowls is secured by a small cable and a small carabiner, which can easily be removed to allow the cover itself to be completely removed, in order to work more easily inside the head of the unit.
The head with the cowling removed.
What strikes us is the solidity with which the construction of the skeleton is designed; this ensures absolute rigidity in the alignment of the modules. Gone are the little pieces of stamped sheet metal… here we have a perfectly machined, sturdy and thick skeleton. This is the Big League!
The internal design of the head can be summed up in four main sections. The rear section, which comprises the source assembly, is fixed to the housing of the fixture by eight screws and a few connectors. Two sets of cables provide the control of the LED engine, on the one hand, and the cooling management, on the other.
Just forward of the source assembly, two removable modules incorporate most of the effects. The first of these, which comes directly in front of the output of the light source, contains all the elements of color and graphic effects. The color mixing system uses three pairs of CMY filters and it is supplemented by a linear CTO that operates on the same principle. The introduction of the filters into the beam is made in a slight crescent shape and their dichroic hue is graduated in sectors for a smooth, fluid, and progressive insertion.
The dichroic filters of the color wheel are attached edge to edge, allowing a smooth and continuous transition of colors and allowing the creation of split-color effects in the beam. All the gobos, both fixed and rotating, are made of glass. The animation wheel is made of metal and is integrated between the two gobo wheels.
The color mixing module.
The two gobo wheels.
The second module contains the motorized framing system and the iris. The four blades and their dual motors are mounted on a round plate that can be rotated according to the orientation needs of the entire profiling area. Mechanical operation is carried out by four motors on one side and four on the other. Two blades are motorized and mounted on one side, and the other two blades on the other.
The framing module.
The movements of the motors are transmitted by small toothed belts that convey the rotation of the axes to the blades. The delicate aspect of motorized framing in a high-power fixture is essentially a thermal problem. The metal heats up and distorts until it eventually compromises the proper operation of these thin and fast shutter blades. The VLZ framing module is equipped with a small impeller that cools the core of this element to ensure reliable and sustainable operation. A nice and very well constructed component.
These two modules are mounted inside the fixture on lateral tracks that ensure that they are inserted and aligned with great precision. They are held in place by small screws, one on each side, which we must be careful not to lose during disassembly. These two modules are electronically connected via two large Sub-D connectors, which are also secured by small screws on each one.
The front section of the head with focus and zoom, as well as the two frost filters. On the side is one of the circuit boards that manage the drivers of the motors.
The forward part of the head contains the zoom/focus element but also the prism and the two frost filters, positioned on motorized arms that allow them to enter and exit the optical path. This part is not removable, but is perfectly accessible for maintenance and cleaning. It should be noted that all the optical elements located in the area of the focus and zoom are themselves motorized so that they can be inserted into the beam regardless of the position of the focus or the zoom. It is therefore possible without any compromise to use the frost filters or the prism at any beamwidth from 7° to 50°. On either side of the front section are the driver boards for the motors inside the head.
What’s in the yoke arms?
Disassembling the yoke arms reveals a fairly classic construction with, on one side, the tilt motor and its belt drive. In this case, there is no tensioning wheel to maintain tension of the belt, but the whole block of the tilt motor is itself mounted on a support that is held taught by springs, ensuring the necessary precision of the assembly. Inside the other arm is the circuit board that drives the pan and tilt and, in the lower part, the pan motor, the belt of which passes through the lower part of the yoke bracket and up to the central axis. Two large cable harnesses pass through the arms to reach the head. On one side is the one dedicated exclusively to the source section – with the LED driver and source ventilation – while on the other side is everything related to the internal automation of the effects of the fixture.
The base can be disassembled by removing 14 screws and a few washers, which should also not be lost. As could be expected, it contains a switching power supply unit, a power supply filter and regulator unit. On one side, there is the connector panel, while on the opposite is the display menu and its circuit board, which also controls the DMX processing for the entire fixture. As usual with Vari Lite, the bottom of the base has everything necessary for attachnig the two brackets to which the suspension clamps are fixed. An integral ring accepts the safety cable. Overall, this luminaire is extremely well built. And even if the whole thing can be disassembled with a single Phillips-head screwdriver, the only downside I’ll remember is the very large number of tiny screws of several different sizes, which must be removed to disassemble any of the internal parts. Make sure you locate and sort them so you can put them back in place… routine maintenance on tour, as is often done, on a corner of the flight case with a headlamp, will be a tricky thing to do.
Now that most manufacturers have opted for many technical solutions such as quarter-turn fasteners with captive screws that remain attached to the components, and even solutions that frequently require only the use of fingers without tools to remove connectors and modules, Vari*Lite has made a somewhat surprising choice in this fixture, which is clearly designed for the road and intended for large-scale projects with very intensive applications. Even in the workshop, the complete cleaning and preparation of a kit of 20 or 30 units would obviously seem to take a lot of time… That’s unfortunate.
The menu and display
The display. Note the status bar at the top, which constantly provides information on the current configuration of the machine.
The display consists of a small screen next to which six keys are used to access the functions. The very clear and straightforward menu allows you to access all the classic functions of this type of unit. Addressing, operating modes, all network settings for Art-Net operation, test functions, fault messages, various calibration operations for all the motors, manual access to the features, etc., can be carried out manually directly on the fixture.
The unit can be controlled via DMX using one of two possible modes, one using 54 and the other using 61 channels. The more extensive mode allows access to timing channels that internally manage the traverse speeds of most of the motorized features.
The connection panel.
This time management will prove particularly useful for those who are using extremely long transitions or consoles that have difficulty managing speed settings. But most of the consoles with which the VLZ will be working – the big, nice consoles of today – are perfectly capable of managing impeccable linearity for most of the fixture’s functions, even over extended transition times. This mode still is still worthwhile and will undoubtedly meet someone’s very specific requirements.
The display is powered by an internal battery that allows the fixture to be set-up without a mains connection. This battery is recharged while the fixture is being powered normally during its operation. A status bar continuously displays the configuration status of the unit, saving valuable time when setting up a whole rig. There’s no need to scroll through menus, often for nothing, to check the configuration of the beast: it displays its control mode (16 bit, 54 channels or 16 bit enhanced, 61 channels), its source control mode (standard or studio), any error status and, of course, its address.
The light
To say the least, the output of this fixture lives up to expectations. We have before us an extremely bright spot fixture with a very clean beam, true to the standards we’ve come to expect from Vari*Lite in terms of light quality. The beam is smooth and uniform. The light is beautiful. The zoom is quite impressive and offers a very extensive range. At the tightest beam setting, we obtain 7.3°, and it opens to a maximum of 52°. At a tight beam setting, applying the iris we can even obtain a convergent concentration; that is to say, we clearly overcome the effect of 0°, but with precise focusing. We can say without reservations that this beam is extremely flexible.
Some different aspects of the beam.
Although this device seems to us to be relatively quiet, there are applications where it is essential to have absolute or almost absolute silence. The VLZ profile can operate in two different cooling modes for its LED source. The “standard” mode uses the full power of the source, while the “studio” mode offers a much lower noise level, at a cost of about 20% less luminous flux. In this mode, the system is less ventilated, while the source is protected by reduced operating strain. This “studio” mode can be activated from the console, via one of the control channels, directly during a show if necessary.
A single, but totally linear, dimmer curve allows smooth and steady dimming. The variance curve we are showing is a clear demonstration of this. No optical compromises were made on this fixture in terms of focusing distance. Everything can be brought into focus over the majority of the zoom range.
The dimming curve from 0 to 100%.
From 0 to 10% the dimmer remains totally linear.
Even the framing blades – which, on many fixtures, cannot be focused if used simultaneously with the gobos – can here be used at the same time and with a focus that allows them to be applied precisely as a shutter effect on all the graphic projections that this fixture is capable of producing. A real plus.
Photometric measurements
We begin our measurements with the derating. With the fixture at full power after a cold strike, we measure the illuminance at the center of the target. Then we repeat this after 30 s of heating, which will serve as a reference to the curve; and then every 5 minutes until the light output stabilizes. The illuminance stabilizes after five minutes and does not decrease more than 6%, which is an excellent result.
Narrow beam
With the beam at its tightest, we measure an angle of 7.3°, with a cold-start center illuminance of 50,250 lux and a flux of 16,200 lumens.
20° beam
At our reference measurement of 20°, we obtain the optimal flux. We get almost 19,000 lumens. The VLZ is the brightest LED spotlight we’ve tested so far at SoundLightUp at the time of this test.
Wide beam
At 52.6°, the flux is maintained at 18,000 lumens, which attests to the high quality of the optical system.
Gobos and effects
The VLZ Profile features a wide range of gobos that are well designed for aerial beams, but which will also be very effective in graphic projections. Among them are some legendary Vari*Lite gobos such as the ovalized cone rosette, and the slightly angled, jagged streaks. The striped bar, the classic cone and various starry-night and colander gobos complete this very versatile set. The gobos have an external diameter of 30 mm.
The fixed gobos.
The rotating/indexed gobos.
The focus allows effects and gobos to be sharp over a large part of the zoom range. The sharpness is quite satisfactory (and even better… many fixtures would envy it) even if I don’t quite get the almost absolute optical clarity that I have in mind and that I was getting on the VL3000 and 3500 (I remember an artist who pointed out to me: “It’s so sharp, it looks like it’s painted on the floor”). However, you should note that our tests are done at 5 meters. Probably, the focus will be a bit more uniform at greater distances.
The VLZ features two frost filters for softening the beam. They can also be used in combination to create a third level of frost. Combining the two of them didn’t seem to us to provide a significantly different beam than using only the second, heavier frost.
The prism is a three-sided rotating type, which is indexable and the effects of which can be linear or staccato, depending on the desired effect. The “mega-stepping” effect offers a jittery vibration that will probably be useful to some lighting designers.
The different combinations of frost.
The rotating prism.
When the prism is used, a little bit of sharpness is lost on the gobos and the focus gets lost a little towards the edges. Since the focus doesn’t work perfectly over the entire diameter of the light output, it is necessary to adjust the focus to whatever compromise works. The animation wheel can be used to continuously scroll irregular, wavy stripes through the beam, or to animate them in a linear fashion in one direction or the other (the “mega-stepping” mode is available on this effect, also).
The iris is very fast and perfectly complements focus and zoom, at the same time providing a precise and sculpted effect on the beam. It can be focused very sharply, even when zoomed in tightly to obtain a converging beam that allows only a tiny “filament” of light to pass through. The range of the iris parameter spans its entire range from 0 to 100% aperture. For “pulse” or other effects, you will have to create them from an external effects generator or a chaser from your console. The strobe effect operates directly from the power supply of the source and is therefore absolutely exemplary. At parameter settings in the range from 7% to 30%, the strobe and pulse effects work in the traditional manner, progressively from slower to faster speeds. Beyond that range, they offer many random effects, which are random flashes with different densities of flashes or pulses and different time gaps between them.
The color!
The CMY color system may seem surprising to anyone who is not used to Vari*Lite fixtures, but it is in line with the tradition of what the brand has been doing for a long time, and which has largely contributed to its success.
CMY and CTO
The cyan and magenta may appear pale, and the yellow extremely orangish compared to the highly saturated cyan, magenta and yellow primaries on other motorized fixtures. The mixing is very well done, with beautiful tones, except for a small reservation on our part concerning the red generated in CMY, which does not have an absolute depth. We are clearly looking at a very dark orange; the green that comes from the cyan and yellow mixture is very warm and does not allow us to recover a neutral and deep green like the classic Lee 124. This CMY system is perfectly responsive, and the blends are clear with no irregularities in hue. It is extremely uniform. The speed of the flags is also sufficient for rapid changes, and enables extremely precise and vivid color effects. Naturally, as expected, the fluidity of the slow changes is also impeccable.
The three secondary colors created by the CMY mixing.
The color wheel complements the CMY system with a few straightforward and intense hues, including a magnificent orange, a congo, and a very deep red but, unfortunately, there is no green on the wheel either. On the spot version, an additional color wheel should probably have at least one nice green filter.
Various solid and split colors from the color wheel.
The color wheel has a control channel that defines how it works. Either in linear, in “rotocolor”, or in “mega-stepping” mode. The linear CTO is a great way to complete the range of color options
Framing! (yes… this is a Profile fixture!)
The framing system is a perfectly controlled, precision instrument on this luminaire. The shutter blades move easily from one edge of the beam to the other with great accuracy and speed. The shutter blades are all mounted on a frame that can be rotated 90° in either direction inside the projector, so that all the blades can be positioned as desired.
Several examples of the use of the framing shutters.
This versatility of the framing module can only be achieved at the price of a slight spacing between the blades and, like most of the other profiles on the market offering such capabilities and performance, it is difficult to obtain an absolutely clean and sharp focus on all the framing components. It is a rather small compromise and, objectively, it corresponds to everything that can be expected from a high level spotlight. This framing is extremely effective; I really love it. It requires 18 DMX channels to control, with the motors of each shutter (two each) being operated at 16 bits, as well as the rotation of the entire frame. Super-clean.
Pan and tilt (yes, because it’s a moving head, too!)
The movements of the yoke are perfectly smooth at all speeds. The movements are unhesitant, precise and, despite the heavy head, they are also quite quick and lively. This is surprising, considering the size of the unit. The tilt is particularly impressive. While not reaching the speeds we get from very small fixtures, I believe that there are few units of this size that are capable of this kind of liveliness.
Conclusion
This fixture targets the market for large, powerful, professional LED spots and profiles, and it is obviously a fixture that will be very popular both in television and in touring productions. It has a number of serious advantages that make it an ideal choice for high-level lighting in many applications.
What we like
The light
The high flux
The beam
the liveliness of the movements
What we don’t like
Certain colors, such as the green
The disassembly of the components for maintenance involving many very small screws
We’ve been waiting since the Energia years, and God knows Brock Adamson IS persistent. The digital amp, its processing and its AVB link, all home-made, now turned into reality and will be launched as new CS7p model of a new CS series.
Born as “National Association of Music Merchants Show” and now more international than ever, the NAMM 2019 will be held as every year in Anaheim, California, January 24th-27th.
Here is what the CS7p could look like. Instead of a metal appendix with nothing behind, the Adamson designed module will be fitted inside the back of the speaker.
Adamson decided to unveil the first model in its so-called « intelligent » loudspeakers CS series at NAMM, and this should help the Canadian manufacturer close the loop and integrate diffusion, data feeds, AVB (in particular Milan), processing and digital amplification into its top-notch technical offering, like the other competing leaders in Pro Audio P.A. do.
Needless to say, we’re eager to evaluate the impact this will have across the other Adamson ranges, in particular the E-Series, which should have benefited from these electronic developments since 2012 and the Energia project.
The presentation will occur on January 24th at 4 pm on the Adamson booth (17516, ACC North) and will include, after the CS7p (might be a S7 with « bionic » guts) presentation, an extra one-hour discussion. Il will be opened to all guests and every voice recorder, with an international bunch of cream of the crop mixers from all over the globe: Moore (Drake), Ricki Cook (Hillsong Church), Stephan Themps (Martin Garrix), Scott Eisenberg (Imagine Dragons), Philippe Dubich (Indochine) and Kenny Kaiser (The Killers), indeed The place to be at Namm on that very day!
If you’re lucky enough to be in Anaheim on the 23rd as well, you might get a sneak preview audition of the CS7p during NAMM’s Media Preview Day, which be held from 3 pm till 5 pm in the NAMM Idea Center (to make simpler, Lobby of Hall C).
Last but not least, to discover all the secrets of this new range you may click here, but please be patient, at the time of writing this, no image is (yet) available…
The high point of Pope Francis’ three-day, early autumn visit to Lithuania was an open-air Holy Mass celebrated for more than 100,000 of the faithful at Sàntakos Park in the city of Kaunas. For flawless audio reinforcement of the momentous event, Lithuanian rental company NGR Service deployed a massive 228-loudspeaker Meyer Sound system anchored by LEO Family line arrays.
“The biggest challenges we faced were the overall size and irregular contours of the audience area,” says Valdemaras Karpuška, a partner in NGR Service who also served as location manager and live broadcast sound engineer. “The area we had to cover was around 320 meters wide by 360 meters deep, and it wasn’t a regular ‘shoe box’ venue. There were numerous obstacles, such as trees and raised embankments, that we needed to work around.”
Gloria in excelsis LEO
Front Of House engineer Tomas Ždanovičius, also a partner in NGR Service, took the lead on sound system design for the event. “We started our planning by using the MAPP XT™ software, which is an irreplaceable tool for predicting coverage,” he recalls.
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“Once we knew where we stood with coverage, we assembled a system based around loudspeakers from the LEO Family — LEO, LYON, and LEOPARD — along with M Series and UltraSeries speakers. With the delay integration, all pass filters and other options built into the GALAXY and Galileo processors, we had no problem making the whole system coherent with practically no delay and phase differences in the whole venue.”
The four main front arrays each comprised eight LEO® and four LYON™ line array loudspeakers. An additional 14 towers for fill and delay systems carried combined total counts of 52 LEOPARD™, 60 MILO®, 24 MICA® and 40 M’elodie® line array loudspeakers.
Ancillary fill and foldback systems utilized JM-1P (6), UPQ-1P (2), UPA-1P (4), and UPJ-1P (2) loudspeakers along with MJF-210 (4) stage monitors. Seven Galileo® GALAXY™ and eight Galileo 616 processors provided system drive and optimization.
“The Meyer Sound line arrays have a convenient rigging system that let us get the job done quickly and easily,” adds Karpuška. “Also, the wide frequency range of the arrays gave us full music bandwidth without using subwoofers. We had faster set-up involving less equipment, and with lower power consumption. And the final coverage was at 99% of what we had predicted. So we were very happy with the results.”
Choir of 300, orchestra of 80, 8 traditional instruments, 2 soloists, 1 Pope
In addition to celebration of the Mass and a homily from Pope Francis, the complete program also included music from an 80 piece orchestra, a 300-voice choir, two vocal soloists and an ensemble of eight traditional national instruments.
“On the main arrays, the music and the voice of Pope Francis and the other speakers came through as rich, clean and clear as it could possibly be,” says FOH engineer Ždanovičius. “Personally, I could not hear any sound from the delays, but the positive feedback from the organizers told us all we needed to know. We were thrilled with what we heard!”
Ramūnas Alenskas of Sonus, Meyer Sound’s Lithuanian distributor, played an important coordinating role throughout the preparation and implementation stages of the event. “This shows the importance of good planning, and the quality of the equipment from Meyer Sound, that every aspect of the project, from rigging thru final tuning, ran smoothly and on time. We’ve had lots of compliments from the organizers, telling us how pleased they were to work with NGR Service and Meyer Sound on this extraordinary event.”
Two fully mirrored DiGiCo SD12 digital mixing consoles were utilized for the live reinforcement mixes of the event. Principal podium microphone was a Shure KSM8 dual diaphragm dynamic microphone.
The visit from Pope Francis held special significance for Lithuanians as it had been 25 years since the last papal visit, by then Pope John Paul II, later canonized as a saint. The events also coincided with the centennial celebration of Lithuania’s restoration of independence, adding to the historical import of the apostolic visit to this predominantly Catholic nation.
Established in 2008, NGR Service specializes in providing the highest quality of sound reinforcement for demanding events all over Lithuania. These include noted jazz festivals, theatrical events, television shows, Broadway-style musicals, rock shows and classical music concerts and various outdoor and indoor festivals.
High End Systems has announced that entries are now open for Hog Factor 2019, taking place at Prolight + Sound on the 3rd April in Frankfurt. Open to all aspiring lighting practitioners, university students and apprentices – the competition is back on a bigger scale than ever before, welcoming entrants from across Europe, Africa and the Middle East regions.
Hog Factor was first held in the US (2015) and has grown its reputation in the industry for being the chief lighting programming competition across the globe. In the first phase of the competition, entrants are invited to program a light show on a Hog console to a specified song via a visualisation file. The deadline for submissions is the 26th February 2019. Following this, judges will select three shortlisted teams who will receive free travel and accommodation for Prolight + Sound 2019 (2nd – 5th April).
Lighting show performance competition
The teams will compete against one another with a performance of their lighting show on the High End Systems booth at the exhibition. This will be in front of a live audience of industry experts and a panel of judges who will then announce the winners.
Nina Mesitz, a member of last year’s winning team ‘Status Cue’, commented positively about her experience of the competition: “The hands-on approach and interaction with industry professionals is invaluable. There is much to learn and vital key contacts to make for the future. It is an opportunity not to be missed for anyone with a passion for a lighting career!” ETC Vice President of Marketing David Lincecum added, “Hog Factor is exciting, rewarding and educational for all aspiring lighting practitioners, but equally so for the crowds that watch! The audience is really engaged in every beat of the performance.”
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