Editors Note: Updated with video below.
Following a seven-year hiatus, The Cranberries returned for a European tour showcasing their greatest hits, and to reinforce the band at venues from 4,000 to 20,000 people, Dublin, Ireland-based live sound provider Litton Lane deployed Meyer Sound MILO line array loudspeakers.
“This Meyer Sound system is brilliant,” says Tom Wiggans, FOH mixer for The Cranberries. “Because the setup is going to achieve such even coverage, you can be confident that the audience will be hearing exactly what you’re hearing.
“The Cranberries have got a wide range—from pop ballads to Irish folk to full-out rock music—which is exciting to mix,” Wiggans continues. “I’m into preserving the expression that the band has given me. With the MILO, it’s easy to get your inputs set and get that dynamic range, without compressing things.”
In addition to 34 MILO line array loudspeakers, Litton Lane and system tech Dan Seal used 24 Meyer Sound MICA line array loudspeakers, 16 M’elodie line array loudspeakers, and 20 700-HP subwoofers.
“I particularly like that the high end of the MILO sounds quite natural and clean with no hype, while the coverage in the low end from the 700-HPs has been spectacular,” Wiggans notes. “The MICA system is amazing. It has the characteristics you’d expect from a smaller box, but they’re a little bit punchier. When venue size dictates that we use the MICA as the main system, I barely notice the difference—certainly I haven’t had to do anything to my mix to compensate.”
The self-powered loudspeaker design also proved valuable. “Sometimes in an arena, you need 40 meters of speaker cable to reach the array from the amplifiers, which can throw in lots of different loading criteria in terms of cable impedance,” says Wiggans. “Obviously, that’s not an issue with Meyer—it’s a real advantage.
“My previous gig in Brussels with another sound system was a nightmare, but this time around with the Meyer Sound MILO the audience reaction was incredible—my ears were ringing from the crowd noise,” Wiggans says. “I definitely won this one.”
