Miami, FL – January 2008 Providing live sound reinforcement for national artists is both exciting and extremely challenging work—and it tends to lean more toward the challenging side when the venue is a big metal building. Such was the case for DB Sound and Lighting Systems of Florida when they were contracted to provide sound for a November 30th, 2007 Montgomery Gentry concert at the Turner Agri-Civic Center (also known as “Turner Center”) in Arcadia, FL. With its all metal construction and low ceiling, this environment has the potential to be an acoustic nightmare, but the event was a resounding success—thanks to the know-how of the DB Sound crew and the sound system, which consisted entirely of products from the D.A.S. Audio Aero catalog.
Sony recording artist Montgomery Gentry—an American country music duo comprised of Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry—are on a roll. They were recently nominated for the 50th Annual GRAMMY®; Awards in the category of Best Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for their hit song “Lucky Man”. With their current level of popularity, their performance at the 3,500-seat Turner Center was highly anticipated and, as a result, was a near sell-out event.
According to Don Brown, Owner and Systems Designer for DB Sound, a leading Florida sound and lighting company that services both the live event and installation markets throughout the Eastern United States, “Turner Center is a venue that I like to refer to as being ‘acoustically challenged’ because of its metal construction and the relatively low 30-foot ceiling. These conditions make it extremely difficult to control reflections and the low ceiling limits our ability to fly the loudspeaker systems at the height we would like to. As a result, it can be tough to achieve even distribution throughout the back rows. It’s quite a challenge to get proper focus on the top rear seats of the facility while maintaining the integrity of sound and consistent SPL levels down on the floor.”
To address these issues, Brown and his crew installed a setup consisting of sixteen D.A.S. Audio Aero 38A line array elements (a self-powered, 3-way medium format line array) —flown 8 modules per side—with low frequency support coming from twelve D.A.S. Audio Aero 182A self-powered subwoofers that were ground stacked across the front of the stage. Brown’s decision to deploy the D.A.S. Audio system stemmed from his exposure to the equipment during LDI 2007 in Orlando, FL.
“We first heard the D.A.S. Aero system during LDI,” notes Brown. “The ET Live shootout consisted of several stage setups hosted by a number of leading manufacturers, and each demonstration provided show attendees the opportunity to evaluate the systems and ask questions. We were tremendously impressed with the performance of the D.A.S. rig. The D.A.S. demo involved a pretty challenging mix, and we really liked what we heard— particularly in the low-mid range. The sound was big, fat, and warm—it was positively huge. The demo started out at a moderate level, and then they gradually kicked the volume up. All the while, the integrity of the system’s sound quality was consistent. If anything, it got progressively better. The D.A.S. Audio system’s performance is what prompted us to go with D.A.S. for the Montgomery Gentry event.”
Brown reports that, as a new customer, he was equally impressed with D.A.S. Audio’s technical support services. “D.A.S. sent a crew out to assist with this project,” said Brown. “We used EASE Focus to help with the system configuration, which nailed the setup almost perfectly. The only tweaking we did was bump the chain motor a couple of clicks to gain another 6-8 inches. The top rows were well covered and the floor wasn’t the least bit overpowered. The first time I barked into the microphone, I knew this was an impressive system. There was no coloring and almost no tweaking required. With minimal adjustments, this system sounded every bit as good as what we originally heard during the LDI show.”
When queried about those aspects of the D.A.S. Audio system that most impressed him, Brown offered the following assessment. “In addition to their impeccable sound quality,” says Brown, “I’ve been equally impressed with their build quality. The rigging hardware makes the system easy to fly, the self-powered design minimizes cabling issues, and little things such as the integrated rain covers over the power modules on the rear of the cabinets show very smart design. In Florida, our weather is very tropical, and with outdoor events, the weather can change from bright and sunny to a torrential downpour in no time at all. I love the fact that D.A.S. engineers designed the equipment with provisions to help withstand these conditions. While you make every attempt to cover the systems when this sort of thing occurs, you don’t always have time, so this sort of preventative design is vitally important. After our experience with the Montgomery Gentry concert, I see a very bright future with D.A.S. Audio.”
