Since the introduction of the Allen & Heath dLive mixing systems, many of Germany’s top artists, including Nena, Xavier Naidoo, Joris, Brings and Van Canto have taken S Class systems on national and international tours.
“The launch of dLive S Class has been a complete success, and we’re supporting a lot of satisfied customers and users,” says Markus Sinsel, Allen & Heath German brand manager. “The unique design of the user interface, the FX processing, and the easy integration with Waves and Dante are especially appealing to users.”
Singer songwriter Joris has toured with a dLive S5000 surface and DM48 MixRack with Waves V2, and there are also plans to use dLive on his 2017 tour. Front of house engineer Daniel Lauer says, “I use the integrated audio matrix switcher. This feature, and the possibility to integrate Dante, Waves and MADI, is perfect for Joris. Also, recording, the broadcast connections and the communication with the OB-vans all run through dLive.”
Cologne band Brings toured with dLive, including a final stadium gig before 50,000 spectators handled with two S7000 surfaces joined by DM64 MixRacks and a DX32 Expander. There was also a monitor split via Dante to a GLD-80 mixer, and a feed to the OB van was supplied via MADI.
“dLive sounds stunning, and the design of the surface is perfect and easy to use,” says Georg Ganser, Brings’ front of house technician for Brings. “I always have the impression that everyone at Allen & Heath knows what they are doing and how live mixing works. It’s 5 out of 5 stars for A&H and the great support of Audio-Technica Germany.”
For NENA, front of house engineer Oliver Steinberger employed two S5000/DM48 systems fitted with two Waves network cards. “The dLive is an easy-to-use system,” he states. “After a short briefing we were able to work independently and quickly assign our own layout. The first thing we noticed was the natural sound of the system. The high resolution processing has a staggering depth to it, which is clearly evident in the front of house as well as in the monitor mix.
“What we continue to appreciate is the complexity of the system’s capabilities,” Steinberger continues. “Inputs can be split between the two MixRacks but also combined to meet special requirements, such as additional orchestral instruments, resulting in an impressive 128 possible input channels.”
Front of house engineer Thorsten Velbinger traveled with a dLive S5000 surface and DM48 MixRack with a GLD-80 for monitors on tour with Saxon, noting: “dLive is a very good sounding, easy-to-program system, which handles well on tough tour use, and the networking integration is a huge benefit. It was a pleasure to be able to mix the Saxon Tour on the dLive. I’d do it again, anytime.”
Acapella heavy-metal band Van Canto toured with a S5000 and DM48, as well as a GLD-80, and engineer, Sascha Kohl, used a S7000/DM64 system with Waves and MADI integration for Xavier Naidoo and Rea Garvey.
In addition, dLive has also been deployed on tours for Matthias Reim, Gregorians, Excalibur, Rolf Dressler, Blumentopf, and Donots with Toni Loitsch.
