BALEARIC ISLANDS, Spain — ADLIB Audio once again supplied full audio production for the Ibiza Rocks 2008 season, a new musical concept for the Balearic Islands, has quickly become one of the most popular events of the season. Ibiza Rocks 2008 was staged at two 1,500-capacity outdoor venues. The sound system was spec’d by ADLIB’s Andy Dockerty and built and commissioned onsite by engineer Declan Fyans, who stayed out for the duration of the four-month season.
The biggest and most important challenge for the sound system was durability. The system needed to be able to withstand the heat and dust of four months constant use in Ibiza without flinching. Although well equipped with spares, it’s a long way from home, and the island has no large PA suppliers — so the nearest replacements for elements like consoles or large system components would be Valencia on the mainland.
ADLIB’s system has been a similar spec for the last three years, but this year the venues were slightly larger, and it had to be a touring rig because of the multiple venues involved, rather than the one installed system of the past at Bar M. The main PA consisted of five JBL VerTec VT4888 enclosures per side. These were flown on chain hoists attached to the truss making up the stage canopy, which was the same at all venues.
There were three Adlib DF418 subs per side. In the Ibiza Rocks Hotel, these were ground stacked either side of the stage in a stack of three, and at the Hipódromo they were configured as three stacks of two subs on a platform on the left of the stage, two stage center on the ground and the final two on another platform at the right of the stage.
Fyans also used six ADLIB AA122 fill speakers. At the Ibiza Rocks Hotel, two were used for a center fill, two for a VIP balcony fill and the other two as occasional far left or far right fills depending on the audience configuration. At the Hipódromo, two made up the centre fill and three dealt with the VIP bar area.
Eight Crown VZ5002 amps were used to drive the VerTec, four amps each side; Four Crown VZ5002s drove the subs and two QSC RMX 2450 drove all the fills. System processing was achieved using three BSS FDS-366T Omnidrive Compact Plus units, one at FOH, one each on the stage left and right PA amp racks.
The FOH console was a Yamaha PM5D-RH, chosen for its popularity and familiarity and because it’s a robust and well-respected desk that they knew would survive the tough environment. Naturally, being a digital console, it could deal with multiple bands.
One of the biggest challenges of the season, explains Fyans, was keeping the sound contained within the venues, both of which were outdoors and in residential areas. They tried to keep the main PA arrays angled down as much as possible to minimize spill, and set a limit of 95 dB at FOH.
Otherwise, sonically the venues were fine. “The Hipódromo sounded fantastic,” he enthuses, “Largely due to the fact it was a totally open space with no walls anywhere nearby for the sound to reflect off.”
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