Five years ago Alan ‘Alby’ Miller, owner of Arsenal Sound, made the leap to digital consoles when he invested in Allen & Heath’s T80, T112, and R72 consoles and an assortment of IDR mix racks.
“The other digital consoles were too hard to operate for an analog guy – the Allen & Heath consoles were easy to comprehend”, says Miller.
This ease of use led Miller and his Arsenal Sound team to add more Allen & Heath T112’s and the new Qu-24 consoles to service their corporate and smaller live sound clients.
In typical, straightforward New Jersey parlance, Miller plainly states his reasons; “Look, the Allen & Heath boards do what they are supposed to do, not what they aren’t. We have never had a major issue with them.”
Then Miller adds: “Five years and I’m still learning and surprised at what I can do with these boards.”
Being located on the East Coast of the United States provides the Arsenal Sound team ample opportunity to service the national touring acts that often begin their tours there.
“We do get front-of-house Engineers that are skeptical when they first encounter the Allen & Heath consoles,” Miller explains. “But once they load their show and start? They are won over. We have yet to have a FOH engineer for a national act turn them down.”
Miller reports that one of the main compliments his Allen & Heath consoles receive is that the workflow is so logical that a sound person can literally ‘mix from the first note’ instead of halfway through the show like other consoles.
But all of the compliments aside, what sold Miller and his team on this line of consoles was the partnership Allen & Heath’s product development and service departments delivered.
With the new Qu series as its ‘go to’ board for corporate events, Miller noticed and appreciated the feature/benefit set the new consoles provide.
“Allen & Heath took all of our suggestions and put them in the console, states Miller,” adding “Plus, they just sound great and make us money because they don’t break.”
Miller’s lead technical person, Junior Maldanado, is another fan of the Allen & Heath boards. He, along with all of Arsenal Sound’s sound persons, also understand what Miller expects the audio experience for the audience to be.
“When one set of ears can make thousands of people happy, I’ve done my job,” says Muldonado. “The factory guys at Allen & Heath offer amazing advice and go beyond the call—they understand what a FOH Engineer goes through-so they make sure everything is right.”
