The M-5000 was chosen as the FOH console for the tour primarily because of its O.H.R.C.A configurable architecture. O.H.R.C.A stands for three key concepts: Open; High Resolution; and Configurable Architecture. This internal architecture is not fixed to any configuration and can be freely defined within a range of up to 128 input or output channels or busses, allowing the operator essentially to 'build' a console to suit the application.
Mr. Laszlo Szatmari, owner of Szatyi Stage Team described the M-5000 and O.H.R.C.A design as a solution to fit all the different areas of work his company is active in, such as live sound, broadcast, rental/hire and production. "We wanted to find a variable console for many different applications for the long term future. All the new functions and sound quality (of the M-5000) impressed all of our team. We enjoy the huge creativity and possibilities that Roland gives inside this new concept."
For the Grease tour, the M-5000 is connected to two Roland S-2416 (24 x 16 Modular Stage Unit) which are set up as a redundant connection using the Roland XI-REAC expansion interface. The XI-REAC provides an additional two REAC ports with 40 inputs x 40 outputs per port.
The M-480 48 Channel Live Digital Mixing Console was chosen as the console for monitor position. Inputs from the band on the stage to the M-480 are provided by the Roland S-4000S-3208 Digital Snake (32x8 Modular Stage Unit) and a Roland S-1608 (16 x 8 Modular Stage Unit) split separately from the analog output.
Commenting on the Grease project, Gergo Markus, sales manager at Roland Eastern Europe said, "Mr. Peter Halasz, sound engineer from Grease, has used the M-480 many times and he likes Roland Digital Mixers because the reliability and stability is always 100%. After they checked the sound quality of the M-5000 he was really impressed with the sound improvement. The new snake heads with added AES/EBU outputs made it possible to add the Martin Audio amplifier which gives excellent sound quality with M-5000.
"The engineer particularly liked the user fader layers on the M-5000, describing them as 'essential' for handling that type of mixing structure, and also the Anchor function as 'genius'. The USB I/O feature is really helpful for this show because they are using Ableton Live for backing tracks."
(Jim Evans)
