"We were looking for a premium product with the versatility to handle a wide variety of uses," Buchanan states. "Ease of use, portability, reliability, great sound - all these things were of critical importance when we chose our digital mixing platform. I did a lot of research, and Allen & Heath was really miles ahead of everything else on the market."
While the Berry Centre is a school district facility, it is operated as a public facility that generates revenue by hosting outside events as well. With about 108,000 students including 10 high schools, the number and variety of events staged there is daunting. In addition the facility rents to outside clients hosting a steady stream of business conferences, concerts and other activities. Bren
Buchanan directs a staff of 15 AV professionals managing a full-service production department that operates all sound, light, video and staging.
"Over the calendar year we do between 2,600 and 3,200 events," Buchanan relates. "The modular design of the iLive platform lets us design the right system for every venue and configuration. For many events, we just use a laptop or iPad to control the system. That's why we bought five iDR MixRacks, but only a few of the traditional console surfaces. In essence, we got the equivalent of five complete systems of 32 channels or more for the cost of maybe two or three other digital systems. It's a huge upgrade for us, and incredibly economical."
(Jim Evans)
