Germany-based production company AMBION deployed a CODA Audio N-RAY compact line array for the most recent edition of The Kulturzelt annual music festival in Kassel, Germany that has run since 1987.
The festival began in a former circus tent before progressing to its current location in a temporary, self-supporting concert hall constructed in 2010 — a circular plexiglass structure covering 860 square meters and accommodating up to 900 visitors.
AMBION, which has supported Kulturzelt with full production since 2004, took the latest edition as an opportunity to utilize the new N-RAY system for main sound reinforcement. While the system had not yet officially launched at the time of the festival, AMBION’s status as a close partner of CODA, including pre-launch trials of N-RAY, led to it being the choice this time out.
“I was the sound engineer and front of house ‘babysitter’ for the festival and it was brilliant,” says AMBION head of audio Michael Knauf. “We had no troubles… I can say it was just fantastic. You can be focused on the instruments not the system and just do your job with the sound. N-RAY is a milestone for the CODA family — unpack it, rig it and have fun. It’s almost the simplest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s so easy to use. I love it.”
Festival managing director Dr. Juergen Truss adds, “Our festival hosts quality bands who deliver a fantastic experience for a very demanding audience. Engineers working with some top class bands said that the sound in the concert hall with CODA was beautiful and the best they’d heard.”
Specifically, AMBION put together arrays 10 N-RAY modules joined by dual SCN-F bass extensions per side for the main hangs. In addition, three hangs of three CODA N-APS were used for center and side hangs, with eight SCV-F sensor-controlled subwoofers bolstered the low end. In addition, eight CODA CUE Four wedges handled for stage monitoring, and all loudspeakers were driven by six CODA LINUS 14D and six LINUS10C amplifiers.
Lars Luedemann, front of house engineer for Selig, a popular German band on the festival bill, says, “I had to change my whole mix because the PA system transports all frequencies like I’ve never heard before. Normally I have to work at the bass drum…at the subs or the vocals, but here I had all the EQs flat and it sounded right. It’s a very open system that sounds great but also very smooth at the same time. It’s like – wow! It’s small but you have everything you need – direct sounding, in your face, no resonance, strong basses, highs and the mid range is perfect. I can only say that it’s brilliant.”
CODA officially launched the N-RAY at ISE 2020 in Amsterdam. Each cabinet incorporates a proprietary 6-inch double diaphragm planar wave driver (DDP), dual 6.5-inch neodymium low-frequency cone drivers, insta-fit Magnetic Couplers and Dynamic Airflow Cooling (DAC) technology, all intended to foster high sound pressure levels coupled with low power compression.
