Now, the four LX-218 subwoofers are placed under the octagon, utilized primarily for enhancing very-low frequency effects down to about 28 Hz.
The specific configuration at each venue is determined by Beachsound system techs Steve Roesink and Matt Holden.
They do a site survey and evaluate where motors and flypoints need to be, and then fly the arrays to the trusses that run above the octagon.
The typical coverage area is divided into four “quadrants,” with a line array comprised of six Aero 12A modules assigned to provide coverage – side to side and front to back – in each quadrant.
Each array is assigned, via the Dolby Lake processing, to cover two zones, with top boxes providing long-throw coverage to the back rows and the lower boxes handling the rest. Care is also taken to avoid spill into the octagon.
This approach usually requires 24 boxes (6 per array), but can vary depending upon the physical layout of a particular venue.
For theatre setups, Roesink and Holden often go with a left-center-right approach, and outdoors, they ground stack arrays to put coverage anywhere it needs to be.
“The output to size and weight ratio of these boxes is excellent. They’re capable of generating coherent, full-range coverage regardless of the configuration, so we have plenty of horsepower to deliver over any level the crowd is generating,” Serafini notes.
“And because they’re active, we don’t have to worry about amplifier racks and cabling issues on the ground, which simplifies setup.”
Both system techs are Dolby Lake certified, and do their zone setting and other system processing refinements via a tablet PC that allows them to roam about the coverage area.
This mobility also comes in handy during events, when they’re usually located in a less-than-ideal house mix position – at the back of the coverage area and often shadowed by an overhead structure.
Prior to each event, they also perform system tuning and analysis, a process assisted by Rational Acoustics Smaart.
The Yamaha LS9-16 is “an ideal board for this application,” Serafini says. “It packs a lot of features into a very small footprint, and is easy to configure and operate.
For what this application needs, it’s a great choice.” The console’s 16 inputs are nearly maxed out by the variety of sources, a list that includes several Electro-Voice RE20 and Neumann KM 184 microphones that are strategically placed to capture ambient sounds for the broadcast.
The split agendas of serving the audience and the broadcasters is the final challenge, Serafini concludes.
“It’s got to be loud enough for the audience to get into the tracks, hear the announcements, and so on, but we also must provide a clean, relatively quiet feed to the broadcasters.
That’s the hardest part of it, getting that balance. The skill and experience of Steve and Matt play a big role, combined with our approach of constantly refining the system with better tools.”