For example, on each side of the stage is an Optocore LX4AP 48 x 16 analog XLR stage box. The Optocore network also goes to the two mix positions, RF world and the rack room.
Upstairs in the main equipment room are twin Meyer LCS LX-300 mix engines, two towers of 11 Matrix3 frames each.
The monitor mix system employs five Optocore AES interfaces to feed dozens of stereo IEM mixes via the network to the RF room transmitters and other hardwire locations.
The Front of House LCS mixer has only three Optocore interfaces, because most of its outputs feed AES digital directly into an adjacent rack to six Meyer Galileo 616 processors for the arrays, and four Apogee DA-16X converters providing analog for the many individual speaker locations: the extensive surrounds and all of the fills.
“The flexibility of Optocore has allowed me to change thousands of signal paths without moving a single wire into any of our consoles, 40 wireless microphones and 30 in ear monitors,” Beck comments.
“We use every feature Optocore has and the system has been rock solid every single day. I would not want to do another show without it.”
Wireless Hotel
The performers seem constantly in motion and they’re mostly wireless. The wireless equipment is all housed in small rack room upstage right, and the system uses a total of 123 frequencies.
There are 40 channels of Sennheiser EM 3732 UHF receivers, whose AES digital signals are fed to the consoles via an Optocore DD32E and clocked from Optocore with a Drawmer DMS-2 D-Clock word clock distributor.
Sennheiser SKM 5200 handheld transmitters with MD 5235 dynamic capsules are used by the four female vocalists who sing harmonies, solos and duets with the King’s voice.
Along with Colonel Tom Parker providing occasional narrative glue between numbers, the backup singers and the musicians are all outfitted with Sennheiser SK 5212 miniature transmitters.
For the musicians, singers and performers, there are 30 channels of wireless Sennheiser SR350 G2 IEM transmitters, except for drummer Benoit Clement, who uses an Aphex Headpod for his hardwired IEMs.
The movement of equipment and scenery backstage during the show is incredible and communication is vital.
For wired communications, a Clear-Com Eclipse-Median intercom mainframe with 96 ports that lives upstairs in the amp room is connected to 32 Clear-Com V-Series 12-button intercom panels throughout the theater, including six audio work locations.
The show relies on 10 Telex BTR-800 wireless intercom base stations and 40 Telex TR-800 2-channel beltpacks.
The base stations are modified with individual transmit outputs and processed by Professional Wireless Systems GX4 antenna combiners and are then routed to a custom Transmit Splitter, which combines their outputs and routes them to PWS helical antennas in the several transmit zones.
Similarly the receive inputs of the Telex base stations use a PWS DB-IC, a non-diversity version of their DB-16 antenna combiner, to filter and actively
manage RF gain.