COLOGNE, Germany – German hip hop band Fettes Brot performed before a crowd of 14,000 in the Lanxess Arena, and the concert's audio needs were met with 16 hangs per side – with no delays – of Martin Audio's MLA (Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array).
The Fettes Brot tour represents the first tour of duty of the new MLA gear. They covered 328 feet to the top bleachers, which were 118 feet high, surprising sound engineer Olli Voges. "The venue measures 460 feet by 394 feet and it's 360 feet to the third balcony,"he noted.
Voges said much had been learned about the system since Martyn "Ferrit" Rowe and Complete Audio owner André Rauhut first took over as systems techs for the tour of Germany, which began April 29 in Bremen.
"It was like the time when the first line array came out," Rowe said. "This system reinvents line array-we have established a new standard."
The MLA was designed to minimize the variations in frequency response, sound pressure levels and setup times in different venues by replacing the usual trial and error approach to array design with numerical optimization of the array's output. It was also designed to deliver sound up to 492 feet.
"We wanted all our shows to be as consistent as possible, night after night, and be able to offer a more accurate predictive analysis of each room by removing the guesswork," said Martin Audio's R&D director, Jason Baird.
Using a multi-cellular approach, each cell can be individually addressed by its own DSP (and Class D amplification). There are six cells in each enclosure, so a 24-box system provides 144 uniquely-tuned elements.
"The beauty is that all the complexity of the DSP is under the hood, so it doesn't impact on the user," said Baird.
So how was the advanced integrated software platform accomplished?
Since the 144 cells that form a typical 24-box hang is too great a number to optimize manually, Martin Audio's Display 2.0 system design software automatically calculates FIR DSP filters for each cell and a redundant-ring audio network (U-NET) downloads the settings into each array enclosure. Martin's VU-NET software provides real time control and monitoring of the system.
Aside from its even frequency response and SPL over audience areas, MLA also promises a high system output (140dB peak, per cabinet @1 meter); automatic optimization of the array, both physically (splay angles) and electronically (DSP); computer control and monitoring of the entire system, and total control of the sound system.
Additional features include 90° x 7.5° dispersion; a compact size (45" wide x 14.6" high x 26.5" deep), one-box-fits-all (festivals to theaters) application range and a global voltage, power factor corrected power supply.
The system also includes an MLX powered, flyable subwoofer capable of an peak output of 150dB @ 1 meter, an MLD downfill cabinet and Merlin 4-in/10-out system controller and network hub. Audio input can be via analog, AES3 or U-NET.
All of which left Voges glad he was able to meet up with André Rauhut on the stand of Martin Audio distributors, Atlantic Audio, at the 2010 Pro Light+Sound Show in Frankfurt.
"At that time we were looking for something that could adapt well to arenas ranging from 2,000-9,000 seats," he said. "Lanxess Arena was not in the picture then."
With help from Rowe, Martin Audio's North American-based technical training manager, taking on the duties of system tech, Voges said that the system sounded "absolutely beautiful" from the get-go.
Martin-Audio points to the MLA's predictive measurements as a key point of difference from traditional line array systems, making the gear capable of delivering audio to every seat in the house within 1dB of accuracy.
The company said the sound radiation can be so tightly controlled that anyone walking an arena from the mix position, to the front rows right up to the backmost seat in the tribunes will not experience more than 1.5dB of level difference from the mix position.
"I remember Olli himself hearing it for the first time," recalled Ferrit, "walking towards the stage and saying ‘It's not getting any louder.' And I said ‘Exactly, that's the idea!'"
At one venue, production took a measurement from the front row to the rear of the balcony-a distance of some 118 feet- and the differential was little over 1dB. At Lanxess, the 262-foot balconies were less than 1dB quieter than mix, and at seats 360 feet away and 111 feet high, the level was just 4dB down; a consistent and seamless balance covered the entire venue.
Meanwhile, Fettes Brot's record producer, André Luth-who had just delivered the double live album – was another convert. "He was really freaking out about the sound," said Voges.
"Everything we had talked about at the predictive stage we could now hear with our own ears – including where it would taper off right before the end of the back wall. It was just so precise." Luth said he was hearing detail in the mix that he had only ever heard previously in the studio.
"This system can make a system tech into a hero," said Rowe. "With the control this provides from all the parameters absolute consistency can be achieved from show to show. What is heard by the engineer at the console is delivered everywhere-there is no more guesswork."
The ultimate test, however, remained. How would the system make the big step up to Lanxess-and from 10 hangs a side to 16-with seven MLX subs ground-stacked each side of the stage accompanied by another row of eight WS218X as center subs?
"In a way, it was mind altering," said the sound engineer. "Shows in the past at this arena have generally sounded horrible-the acoustic is really tricky. My last show was mixing Aha support band, Stanfour, back in December, and I have also worked here with Herbert Grönemeyer-always using different systems. But this was by far the best sound I have achieved-I have never had such a stable sound on any tour."
"He added that with a standard PA it is impossible to reach Lanxess's top balcony, and there's always been a lot of problems integrating the house system-but we managed to skip the house system entirely."
With André Rauhut now taking on the lead system tech role, even though the whole array goes down to 50Hz, production decided to cut it at 60Hz-70Hz. "It was incredible how much bass was going out without the subs on," said Olli Voges. "We played the test CD without the subs and no one knew-until we suddenly switched them in. With 60Hz up in the air there's a lot of controllable sub energy flying around. But with two hangs of eight W8LC/LCD´s as outfills we wanted to achieve a seamless transition between them and the main array-and they can't go as far down as the MLA."
Both he and André Rauhut were assessing what the MLA system's potential might be during the festival season. "I think any system that can cover a 140-meter-by-120-meter venue-the biggest place a band can play, venue wise in Germany-with no delays down the length of the room, would sound incredible in a field in the open air."
For more information, please visit www.martin-audio.com.
