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Numerous new products were presented by RCF at this edition of Prolight + Sound: a new 3-way, amplified line array system, HDL 50-A; an addition to the TT series, the TTL6-A amplified enclosure; the new stage monitors ST 12-SMA and ST 15-SMA; and finally, a series of small rack-mount digital mixing systems including the M08 and M18.
The newest and the largest line array of the D Line series is a three-way system with integrated signal processing and amplification. Its cabinet, with a mixed construction of birch plywood and molded polypropylene, combines with the use of transducers with neodymium magnets to give it an extremely low weight (48 kg), considering its onboard amplification and the sound pressure levels it can deliver.
A single HDL 50-A module incorporates two 12″ long-excursion woofers, with neodymium magnets, in a coplanar configuration framing four 6″ midrange speakers, and two compression drivers with 3″ diaphragms coupled to an RCF “4 Path” waveguide. This waveguide, which provides a dispersion of 90° H x 10° V, creates an isophasic wavefront from 700 Hz up.
The use of the two ND850 compression drivers with 3″ voice-coils has allowed the designers to set the mid-high crossover point quite low, 800 Hz, covering most of the vocal range.
The 4400 watts of on-board class D amplification is divided into three modules: 800 W (HF), 1400 W for the four midrange drivers and 2200 W for the two 12″ woofers. It is preceded by signal processing via the 48 kHz/32 bit floating-point DSP. Monitoring and system configuration is carried out via the proprietary RCF network, RDNet. A single HDL 50-A module can deliver a maximum of 140 dB SPL.
The TTL6-A is also a three-way active speaker that can be mounted in a column of two units using a purpose-built rigging system. It utilizes components similar to HDL 50-A, namely two 12″ neodymium woofers for the low end and four 6″ neodymium transducers for the lower midrange. These surround a compression driver with a 2″ throat (3″ v.c.) loaded by an asymmetric waveguide with a vertical dispersion of 30° (+5°/-25°). With its horizontal dispersion of 90°, this enclosure will serve in both touring and installation applications.
The onboard amplification/processing section uses four class D amplifier modules: 2 x 550 W for the bass transducers, 700 W for midrange, and 400 W for the high frequencies.
In addition to the connectors, the rear panel provides access to settings via an encoder and a display. But, as with HDL 50-A, control, monitoring and configuration can be carried out via RDNet (ver. 2.2). The DSP takes care of the three-way crossover, limiting and compression, protection and the temporal alignment of the transducers.
After opening the foray into the world of consoles last year with the L-Pad series of compact mixers, this year RCF sets out into the field of digital mixing with the M08 and M18 rack mixers without control surfaces. The role of control surface is covered by a touch-screen tablet running an application. These consoles are designed more specifically for musicians.
M18 offers eight mic/line inputs with discrete preamps and digital gain control, while the M08 has four. Two of the inputs can be switched to high impedance to receive signals from guitars or basses. Ten additional line inputs are included in the M18, four in the case of M08. As far as outputs are concerned, M18 offers the stereo master plus six auxes, while the M08 is limited to two aux outputs.
Both consoles have dual WIFI connection at 2.4 and at 5 GHz and can utilize external antennas to improve the link in difficult RF environments. Each audio channel – inputs and outputs – includes a four band parametric EQ with a choice between standard, vintage and “smooth” types, a compressor/limiter and gate. Both models include several types of effects (reverb, delay, chorus, flanger etc.) and an integrated stereo recorder/player (.wav, .mp3 and .aiff) via USB. Finally, the high impedance inputs can also add amplifier-modeling effects as inserts.
