Purple Hat Productions, a regional audio provider serving the upper Midwest from its Fargo, ND base, recently invested in a new touring system headed by Electro-Voice line arrays and DSP-equipped amplifiers from EV sibling brand Dynacord. Purple Hat is owned by Sean Boe, who’s also tour manager and front of house engineer for Hairball, a celebration of arena rock that tours both regionally and nationally.
“Hairball is a significant part of our business, which was the main motivation for upgrading our systems,” says Boe. “They do about 150 shows a year, carrying Purple Hat production for roughly half of them. It’s a big 80s-style arena rock show, and this EV and Dynacord system delivers the rock ‘n’ roll energy required for a show like Hairball and other touring acts. We’ve already used it for shows with Robert Plant, REO Speedwagon and Dropkick Murphys.”
Purple Hat’s recent purchase includes 18 XLC127DVX array elements along with eight EV X12-128 dual 18-inch subwoofers. Networked power and control comes courtesy of three Dynacord TGX20 system racks. These preconfigured racks come from the factory with three TGX20 DSP amplifiers, two independent network switches, power distribution and I/O interfaces. Purple Hat bought three of the 10-RU rolling racks with sliding doors, for up to 180,000 watts of audio power across 36 channels. Four EVC-1082 two-way 8-inch loudspeakers from the new EVC series serve as front fills.
“With Hairball, I mix on a lot of different PA systems, so I’ve heard all the major brands,” Boe notes, “and I’m convinced that EV has the best products out there. The XLC is a great compact three-way 12-inch box, and the X12-128 is easily the most impressive sub I’ve ever used. It’s a nice, tight punchy, warm sub that I can’t imagine anyone not falling in love with.”
Coupled with the networked power and processing from the Dynacord amp racks, including FIR optimization presets for the XLC boxes, Boe states that he feels ready to tackle any challenge with the system: “The flexibility on them is great, and they’re easy to reconfigure for different sized shows. Plus, the factory support that EV and Dynacord provides, even for a fairly small company like mine, is amazing. When I call with a question – for example, about programming the new amps – I actually get a call back, even on a weekend. Where else do you get support like that these days?”
