Sound Architecture, the HOLOPLOT distributor for Spain and Portugal, recently collaborated with AV company Ilusovi Servicios to deploy X1 Matrix Arrays in support of the Starlite Occident 2023 Festival in southern Spain’s Costa del Sol, marking the loudspeaker’s first outdoor live show deployment that included delivery of targeted audio for the VIP area that had previously been difficult to accommodate with a left-right system.
Starlite Occident is a three-month-long event set in a transformed quarry that presents a lineup of both English and Spanish artists, this year including Tom Jones, Pablo López, Iggy Pop, the Black Eyed Peas, Marta Sánchez, and Luis Fonsi. The X1 Matrix Array had caught the attention of the festival’s production team, including lead audio engineer Aaron Guerrero, for its ability to provide more precise sound control both horizontally and verticall.
“After seeing the system in action at the ISE trade show in January, I immediately called Aaron to explain what I had heard,” says Jose Manuel Jimenez, owner of Ilusovi Servicios. “The conversation quickly progressed, and for us it moved on from being more than a simple purchase of a system to a strategic deal and partnership which could create many opportunities for our company in the future. We see X1 as a game-changer in the audio industry, offering exceptional control and coverage. Its versatility makes it a Swiss Army Knife for loudspeakers, catering to a variety of applications and clients.”
The X1 Matrix Arrays were strategically deployed to overcome challenges posed by the venue’s acoustic environment, which includes the quarry walls’ reflective surfaces in the amphitheater-style arena as well as steeply raked seating and the VIP area flanking the stage and positioned at 90 degrees to it. Reese Kirsh, segment manager for live performance, collaborated with Ilusovi and Guerrero in providing training and support where necessary.
In preparation for the event, Guerrero also visited a HOLOPLOT demo and training event in London. “It helped me to reset my brain, because this is not a line array,” he recalls. “It’s a completely different concept, and I needed to learn what the system can do.”
The final system comprised six X1 MD80-S three-way modules and six X1 MD96 two-way modules in a six (vertical) by two (horizontal) configuration left and right of the stage, complemented by an additional two MD96s as a center cluster. Additionally, two single MD96s were employed as mono front fills to provide coverage for the areas nearest to the stage.
“Achieving even, optimized coverage in challenging acoustic environments like Starlite’s venue was a top priority,” Kirsh states. “The stage was quite low, which meant that deploying a traditional PA would have required the hangs to be positioned at an acute angle to ensure the audience at the back of the arena had a similar audio experience to those at the front. Another challenge presented by the venue was the VIP bar and seating area located on stage right of the main arena. The organizers naturally wanted to ensure this area provided a high quality auditory experience, but it had proved difficult as it was positioned between a 45 and 90-degree angle of the PA hang. We generated a targeted coverage beam from the right array of the main system, covering the VIP area without exciting the massive mountain behind it, ensuring a superior audio experience.”
Luis Fonsi front of house engineer adds, “Many PA boxes have resonances in the mid and low frequencies, which can cloud the region, producing a lot of one tone bass, but not with HOLOPLOT. The setup of the show allowed us to bring our own desks, which could then be patched into the overall system. Interestingly, while most loudspeaker companies provide pre-sets, with HOLOPLOT, we had the opportunity to create our own, giving me much more control over how the SPL worked in the space.”
Starlite’s Raúl Rodríguez Sánchez, who has nearly a decade of experience working with the festival,concludes, “I have collaborated with Aaron several times over the years, so when he approached me and told me about this system that sounded ‘incredible’, I had to experience it for myself. I did, and it really sounded amazing. I was also delighted with the feedback from artists, which has been overwhelmingly positive and many of them have been very impressed with the system.”
