Herbalife is known for its 'monumental' conventions, planned down to the smallest detail. Sound reinforcement at the event in question - staged at Lisbon's Pavilhão Atlântico - was entrusted to Planet Service of San Marino, a leading European supplier to the corporate event market, with clients including AGIP, Nike, Asics, Reebok and many more.
Planet Production recently purchased an Outline Butterfly line array made up of 24 Hi-Packs and 12 Victor Live subwoofers, complete with T Series power amplifiers and Genius 26 processors, and added to its stock of HARD 212 monitors. Lisbon's Pavilhão Atlântico, a 5,200sq.m arena with a capacity of 20,000, doesn't have the acoustics of a recording studio - if anything, they're more like those of a cathedral. This meant that a high degree of directivity control was required from the sound system.
The Butterfly FOH system installed by Planet Service - supported by a local rental firm which added further Outline enclosures - consisted in 48 Hi-Packs, eight Lo-Packs and 12 floor-stacked Victor Live subwoofers. On stage, there were four ultra-low profile H.A.R.D. 212 2x12" monitors.
The fine-tuning of the Outline rig was entrusted to Carlo Gennaro, a sound engineer of 20 years' experience, brought in by Planet Service due to his in-depth knowledge of Butterfly systems and the VIP (Vector Implementation Protocol) aiming program. In spite of the unfavourable acoustics, the Americans' opinion of the convention's sound was excellent.
Alessandro Giangi, co-owner of Planet Service commented: "Less than a month from the purchase, there's been a great demand for Butterflies and there are in fact numerous events in the offing, all of which are ambitious. Maybe it's because we bought it - I won't deny that - but, on the basis of our extensive practical experience, we consider ourselves perfectionists and this is definitely a product thought up and built by perfectionists. It's hard to find anything better on the market in terms of pure acoustic reproduction, dynamics, design, sturdiness and light weight all in one - then there's the SPL, which is unbeatable, even when compared with larger, heavier systems."
(Lee Baldock)
