Road Tests

Ashly Audio has a long history building reliable analog mixing and outboard equipment for the professional live sound and installation markets. While the company carries a considerable legacy of analog expertise, Ashly is no newcomer to digital gear; its Ashly Protea DSP processors are world renowned for delivering top-notch sound and seamless integration with control technologies that users can easily navigate.

QSC has long provided quality, reliable, easy-to-use solutions for audio pros. Having used the compact TouchMix-16, I was curious about the new TouchMix-30 Pro.

Over the last several years, Waves has embraced the live sound industry, releasing numerous solutions targeted directly at live sound engineers. Software such as Tracks Live multi-track recording software and hardware like Waves’ SoundGrid Servers, MGO, MGB interfaces and eMotion LV1 live mixer have anchored Waves’ position in the sound reinforcement industry. These are not simply tweaks of plug-ins originally intended for studio use. Instead,

I’ve long been a fan of DPA Microphones, and I recently had a chance to check out the company’s newest offering, the VO4099-DKIT2 collection of seven models for drum miking applications.

Ultimate Ears has long been a major player in the in-ear market, having produced more than 100,000 high-end earpieces in the past 22 years. The company was founded by Jerry Harvey in 1995. Harvey left to go off on his own in 2007, and a year later, Ultimate Ears was acquired by Logitech, where UE remains an independent subsidiary to this day, creating handcrafted earpieces in its USA facilities.

As part of its expansion into the live sound market, Waves has released a variety of plug-ins catering to the professional sound reinforcement user. One recent entry in this category is X-FDBK, a feedback detection and elimination tool used to assist the process of ringing out house P.A. or monitors.

Once mainly focused on the contracting/installation business (through its Astatic Commercial Audio Products division), CAD Professional Microphones was launched in 1988 as the pro audio division of Astatic to design and manufacture microphones for recording studio and live sound users.

Miniature mics are gaining in popularity, particularly in instrument miking applications, where despite their size, they are often capable of delivering big sound. The latest offering in this category is Audio-Technica’s ATM350a Cardioid Condenser Instrument Microphone, which is offered in complete turnkey packages (also sold separately) providing discreet, rock-solid mounting solutions for a host of instruments, including woodwinds, strings, brass, percussion, drums and piano.

German pro audio manufacturer RME is no stranger to users seeking no-compromise digital audio interface products for studios, broadcasters — and recently — into an increasingly growing number of live production applications. The company was launched 21 years ago with the DAM1 (Digital Audio Monitor) and a PCI recording card and continues leading the industry, constantly improving and expanding the scope of its product range.

Mention the phrase “line array” and images of VerTec and V-DOSC systems usually spring to mind. But in terms of line array technology, systems with narrow vertical dispersion modules aren’t the only game in town. In fact, lately there has been a surge of interest in high-performance vertical column array systems.

I have to admit, I have always had a fondness for compact, 8- and 10-inch two-way speakers, because they are so useful in so many applications. Certainly, there’s no denying that self-contained, two-way 12- and 15-inch are far more common, but in a lot of rental and production applications, those provide way more audio than the job entails and are visually more noticeable, which always seems to be an issue with some event planners. So earlier this year, when RCF unveiled the second generation (Mk II version) of its ART series 708-A active speakers, I was curious as to how these multi-purpose newcomers would perform.

When I got word I’d be reviewing Allen & Heath’s dLive system, I was excited to check out its new flagship digital console. My colleagues — who regularly use Avid, DiGiCo and Yamaha consoles — had nice things to say about dLive. I wondered if the board could live up to the hype. My demo system arrived in a nice, tour-worthy road case, and consisted of an S3000 surface, a DM32 Mix Rack, and the optional M-Dante expansion card. But before we dive in, let’s take a look at the entire dLive lineup.