Kent-based PA company, SRD Group, recently added two Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing systems to its hire inventory. The two systems, comprising an iDR10 mix rack plus iLive-112 surface and iDR10 mix rack plus iLive-80 control surface, enable the company to field a complete FOH and monitor solution.

“We evaluated a variety of products before deciding to purchase iLive, looking at overall value for money, quality of sound, features, ease of use and flexibility. We chose iLive because of its simple interface for analogue desk users and its ability to provide full DSP to every input and output. iLive’s flexible architecture and micro footprint makes set-up very easy, yet we still have the capacity to manage up to 64 inputs and 32 outputs,” explains Stuart Roberts, MD of SRD Group.

SRD Group provides dry hire or complete event management services for entertainment and corporate clients, specialising in concert sound. The team, including in-house staff and freelance engineers recently attended an iLive training session in preparation for this summer’s busy event schedule.

“Overall, iLive’s sound quality is, in my opinion, as good if not better than the competitor products we evaluated. The mic pre-amps are very natural sounding with loads of headroom, the EQ responsive and easy to use, and the in-built effects and dynamics are every bit as good as the well known outboard processors we use with our analogue consoles," continues Roberts.

“The thing that really tipped the balance for me is the flexibility that Ethersound brings to the more unusual shows we regularly manage. The ability to route anything to anywhere including the 4 slots on the back of the surface and then control it all from a laptop if required is the icing on the cake.”

An interview with Emmanuel Denoyer from "Espace Concept". Espace Concept has built a reputation for impressive 100% digital setups for live sound. The setup described here is based on EtherSound products including Innovason consoles, Auvitran matrixes and Digigram soundcards. The video is in French but definitely worth watching.

AudioFanzine website
Espace Concept website

Are you attending InfoComm 2008? Then you might be interested in visiting EtherSound licensees' booths. Here's the list!

Norwegian PA rental company, Lydfiksern, used their new Allen & Heath iLive system to its full potential during this year’s Sami Grand Prix (SGP) music contest.

SGP is part of the renowned Sami Easter Festival, the biggest cultural gathering of the Northern Europe’s indigenous Sami people, held at the Bakteharji Arena in Guovdageaidnu.

FOH engineer, Thomas Mikarlsen, selected the iLive system – comprising an iDR10 stage rack and iLive-144 control surface - for the event, and took full advantage of the 8 effect engines, using no outboard processing.

The show was broadcast live by Norwegian national station, NRK, and for the first time in the event's history the FOH mix was used for the broadcast rather than the usual separate mix provided by NRK's own engineers.

Lydfiksern also provided a multi-track recording system for record producer, Bernt Mikkel Haglund, comprising the Ethersound B 64-track split output from the iLive’s iDR-64 DSP mix engine and a computer equipped with a Digigram LX6464 card.

“Haglund raved about the sound quality being the best provided in the history of the event and now looks forward to mixing the festival CD,” explains Mikarlsen. “The iLive performed flawlessly once again with its warm musical sonic quality, fat-sounding effects, and flexible user interface.”

Allen & Heath’s French distributor, Audiopole, is supporting a new show "Yvan Le Bolloc’h and My Guitar is called Return", a musical comedy show in the Gypsy tradition.

Yvan Le Bolloc’h, who is a famous French TV star, developed the show after he met several Gypsy musicians.

Yvan performs the comedy section of the show and also plays guitar alongside Patrick Batiste, lead singer, Yannis Patrac, and the rest of the band.

Sometimes the iLive system – comprising an iDR10 stage box and iLive-144 control surface - is used for front of house and monitors. Is this case a 10-wedge speaker line is complemented by a two in-ear monitor line, all controlled by iLive.

Except for the electric bass, the stage is filled with acoustic instruments and vocals, which bring out the iLive's sonic quality – the preamp sound, compressor and extensive effects.

Florida-based TSC Productions recently purchased an iLive digital system, comprising an iDR-10 64-input x 32-output mix rack with iLive-144 control surface. The company has already used its new iLive system to provide mixing duties for a wide variety of events ranging from outdoor festivals and Ultimate Fighting contests, to touring acts at the various clubs in the Destin/Fort Walton Beach area during spring break.

Established in 1998, TSC Productions is located on Florida’s Emerald Coast, and is owned and operated by Brendon “Grimey” Grimes.

“iLive has been a fantastic system for our events,” says Grimes. “The layout is like an analogue console, so it is very familiar, and any of our engineers or guest engineers can get up and running with it in 5 minutes. Also, the iLive sounds amazing, the preamps are beautiful and really, really clean. So far, we have managed several events with iLive, including the LoCash Cowboys at the Block, the Ying Yang Twins and Bubba Sparks at the Nightown Club, Ultimate Fighting at the Emerald Coast Convention Center, and at the end of May, we will be managing the Doolittle Raiders’ Homecoming Celebration at Eglin Air Force Base.”

“The LoCash Cowboys were recently signed to a label and are currently on the RedMan/Maxim Roadhouse Tour. They have been playing at the Block club for years and like to include it on their schedule when they can,” continues Grimes. “They brought a 7 piece band including fiddle, acoustic & electric guitars, bass, drums, and vocals to the most recent gig. We had them dialed in with a couple of different reverbs and delays, compressors and gates on the drums and amps, and some EQ sweetening where necessary. The signal processing on board iLive is extremely high quality and easy to use. Even the LoCash boys told me after the show ‘The sound was great, and the board looks cool too!’”

Allen & Heath, in association with Autograph Sales and the SRD Group, is to host a series of open days in the UK to provide training and hands-on experience with iLive, its ground-breaking digital live mixing system.

The first session will be held on Thursday June 12th at Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, London, where an iLive system was recently installed by Autograph Sales in its newly-opened performing arts centre.

Delegates will have the opportunity to get to grips with every aspect of the iLive system, from setting up routing, dynamics, EQs and FX to detailed scene management, Ethersound and network control. Sound engineers who are thinking of moving towards digital, existing digital engineers, event production professionals and installers will all benefit from this comprehensive training session.

The sessions are free and open to all. To register your interest and apply for a place at the session, please email james.langridge@allen-heath.com or call +44 (0)1326 370104.