"An acoustic comparison test was made at the site," said Mr Kunitaka Fukatsu of the Otaritec Corporation, which was asked to advise on a new system. "A few selected manufacturers systems were chosen and carefully examined. Finally a Q1 based system made by d&b audiotechnik was chosen. The reasons were clear; the d&b system's high quality sound and intelligibility; the potential for high SPLs when required with no loss of quality; and the low electrical consumption when compared to other systems."
The use of d&b D12 amplifiers also exerted an influence, Fukatsu continued: "With an existing Yamaha PM1D in the control room, it was a significant feature that the desk could address the amplifiers directly via AES/EBU greatly reducing signal to noise ratio." Noise having been a substantial problem for the concert hall with the previous system, "Now the system is totally transparent."
The system comprises Q1s and Q-SUBs stacked on rolling dollies to allow them to be quickly deployed to the wings of the stage for left and right main PA, while Ci60s and Ci90s are fitted to the proscenium. Otaritec also specified and provided E0s for front fills, and a mobile system of E3s and MAX monitors; the whole audio package is set up to run off d&b's ROPE C remote control and monitoring system.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
