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Koch Sound's new Allen & Heath Avantis ready for action inside a ZCase Flip-Ready Easy Retracting Hydraulic Lift Case.

Alaska-Based Koch Sound Adds New Allen & Heath Avantis To Inventory

Consulting, engineering and sound rental company also brings aboard a new GX4816 portable expander with DX sockets.

Koch Sound, based subarctic south-central region of Alaska, recently added a new Allen & Heath Avantis console Avantis acquisition as well as a new GX4816 48-input/16-output portable expander with DX sockets to its inventory.

Audio engineer and company owner Alex Koch has a long history with Allen & Heath desks, from his initial experience mixing audio at area ice rinks with an Allen & Heath GL2400 dual-function analog mixer. Since then he’s progressed through the entire product range on his personal gigs and via Koch Sound productions.

“Business has been slowly but surely picking back up for sure. We did three major shows over the last four weeks,” says Koch. “We tackled a couple of them with our trusty GLD-80 paired with AR2412 and AR84 AudioRacks. It was great to get back to mixing, especially in the socially-distanced ‘backyard party’ featuring national acts like Craig Morgan, Matt Stell and Jimmie Allen. Avantis came in later and we are loving it at front of house with GLD shifted to serve up monitor duties.”

About the new GX4816 portable expander, he adds, “The ability to easily tie in ME personal monitors to the system through the GX4816 is such a big deal. Most churches are skipping floor wedges and going in-ear; we get a lot more requests for ME systems now. Simply plug them in to the GX box and call it a day. You can even daisy-chain them or choose to go with PoE power for a super clean and easy setup.”

An Allen & Heath GLD at FOH at a socially-distanced Sterling, Alaska “backyard party” featuring acts such as Texas Hill, Craig Morgan, Matt Stell and Jimmie Allen.

Rounding out Koch Sound’s Avantis rig is a Flip-Ready Easy Retracting Hydraulic Lift Case from ZCase. The unique hydraulic lift system provides movement from a vertical transport position to the horizontal operational position at the press of a button.

“And just when you thought Avantis couldn’t be any cooler, the ZCase takes it up a few levels,” Koch concludes. “Push the magic button and it flips up for you. Have FOH done in about 30 seconds. I think I definitely fit the description of an A&H fanboy, but who else has this wide range of desks right now and the ecosystem and consistent workflow to actually leverage it all without the headaches? We’re excited to keep ramping it up with A&H as live shows come back more and more.”

Allen & Heath
Koch Sound

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