Allen & Heath’s iLive digital mixing system has been employed for Juan Presbyterian Church’s recent musical production, ‘Unfailing Love’, in Incheon, South Korea.

“I have always been an avid Allen & Heath user and find the desks excellent value for money. My first mixer was a GL4 and there is an ML5000 VCA console installed at the church,” explains H. T. Kim, executive mixing engineer at the Juan Presbyterian Church. “Some engineers I know are still concerned about the stability of digital mixers and I was one of them before I touched iLive. By the first day of the show I had complete confidence in iLive and it is surprisingly intuitive for a digital system. One of the key benefits of going digital is the scene memory and recall function, which saves a lot of set up time as you can recall settings from the previous night’s performance.”

Unfailing Love is a retelling of the passion of the Christ in musical format. Audio requirements included 20 wireless mics and music sources.

“The iLive pre-amp provided plenty of headroom - it’s really something different from any other digital mixer. The smooth feel of the iLive-144 surface controls gave me that familiar “analogue” feel, and the built-in compressors, noise gates, EQ and de-essers were really helpful for shaping the voices of the performers. The reverb provided an excellent vocal effect and the output EQ, especially, did a great job to refine the overall sound quality. Allen & Heath's years of design experience are evident in the system’s functionality; I think this could be the best digital gear on the market!”

Switzerland’s 7th annual ‘Dance with the Wolf’ festival recently took place in Corbeyrier with Allen & Heath’s iLive digital system managing monitor mixing.

The two day festival is a celebration of everything Celtic, with Celtic food, folk tales, dance and most importantly, music. The event hosted 8 bands over the two days from Ireland, Brittany and Wales.

“I have managed monitors for the festival for several years and decided to use A&H’s digital system this year,” explains Roland Dupertuis, from Allen & Heath’s Swiss distributor, Decibel SA.

Comprising an iDR10 stage rack and iLive-144 control surface, iLive managed a range of musicians playing a diverse range of instruments from electric guitars and bass, to harps, mandolins, bagpipes and accordions.

“All the musicians praised the sound quality on stage, and the scene recall is very fast so in two minutes the desk is ready for the next set, and there’s no laborious manual set up that you get with analogue mixers. I had forgotten to update the configuration settings for one of the bands prior to the show but the system is so intuitive I was able to correct the problem during the short change over period. The preamp is also excellent, so I only use the hi-pass filter for 90% of the time,” concludes Dupertuis.

Allen & Heath has launched the iLive Configuration Utility, a new online tool to aid customers wishing to purchase the new modular digital system.

The Flash-based web application enables the user to build their own iLive system, selecting iLive control surfaces, iDR10 MixRacks and the various components needed, to design a system tailored to their specific requirements.

The application comprises 3 screens, starting with the iLive surface, followed by the MixRack, finishing with the addition of extra modules or accessories. There is a simple 'drag and drop' configuration utility, whereby modules can be ‘dragged’ to the corresponding slots on the back of an iLive surface and MixRack. An item code is generated for each iLive surface and iDR10 MixRack built, and up to 5 surfaces and 5 MixRacks configurations can be saved during the process. Upon completion, the configs can be forwarded to a local sales representative.

“As iLive is modular with a wide variety of options and components, it can be difficult for customers to visualise and cost a system. This tool allows them to explore the range of options available, pick and choose according to their requirements, and match their budget,” explains Allen & Heath’s sales director, Bob Goleniowski. “Everything can be saved, recalled and sent to our sales distribution network, which also eliminates any order errors. It will really help streamline the sales process for this complex product.”

Cheshire hire company, The Audio Group, recently employed Allen & Heath’s iLive digital system to manage a festival for M.A.D Sound and Lighting near Aberystwyth, Wales.

Comprising an iDR10 mix rack and iLive-80 control surface, the system managed FOH audio for the 2-day event at Pafiliwnbont in Pontrhydfendigaid, which featured 10 top Welsh bands including Huw Chiswel, Sibrydion and Radio Luxemburg.

Audio Group’s director, Paul Adamson, said: “We have been looking to purchase a digital audio system for some time and iLive’s audio quality and features make it very appealing. With everything on board, we don’t need to carry big outboard racks of EQ and FX processing.” The iLive system was complemented by a Logic Systems VA Line Array at FOH and Logic LM20 monitors, with amplification from MC2.

“The event manager was anxious at the thought of a digital console at FOH. He asked ‘where’s your multicore?’, and walked away scratching his head when I explained we had already flown the two pieces of CAT5 required off the truss!” commented freelance sound engineer, James Jewry, who was driving iLive throughout the festival. “We reached sound checks in no time and as I hadn’t used the iLive before on location I was surprised at what was to follow; the audio is rich and detailed, all the onboard FX simulations are superb, and the features and flexibility of the system really impressed me. As soon as you select a channel everything is in front of you, unlike other digital desks where you have to navigate a little to find what you need. We especially liked the mute buttons, which are like Allen & Heath’s analogue boards.”

“If you’re thinking of buying a digital board and you dismiss iLive, to put it bluntly you’re either deaf or stupid. “It doesn’t sound like a digital board should, it just sounds awesome. Enough said,” concluded Jewry.

An interesting story posted on the Yamaha Commercial Audio website.

New Birth South Metropolitan Church, a brand new build 4,000-seat worship facility in the south metropolitan area of Atlanta, GA, is the latest so-called “mega-church” to benefit from a state-of-the-art digital audio network built around three INNOVASON digital mixing consoles on an EtherSound network. Established in 2001, New Birth South now numbers over 12,000 members and has recently moved to its new home on 43 acres of land in McDonough, GA. The new premises boasts a technologically sophisticated AV system which also benefits from high quality digital multitrack recording thanks to a PC equipped with an LX4646ES soundcard from Digigram.