The company placed an initial order for 36 MLA and 12 MLX enclosures with Richard Maunder's company, VTi - Martin Audio's territorial distributor.
"It was an easy decision to opt for the MLA after we had heard the system, its capabilities and the technology that adapts to the ever changing environment," stated Almoe general manager, Glen Dougherty.
Along with Almoe senior sound engineer, Bruno Vitanza, he had originally been invited to attend a live demonstration of MLA back in 2010, and the two men were immediately impressed by its performance in a difficult venue.
With momentum building, they have now decided to act. "Our decision was entirely based on the quality of the system and its future proof capabilities," continued Dougherty. "Our growing business, and the increasing size of events we are called on to service, also required us to look for a larger PA system to cater that requirement."
Finally, he said, the purchase was based on the growing number of audio engineers eager to learn from a new system "that will definitely make a difference in the future."
Almoe's new MLA made an auspicious debut at the Quality Awards Ceremony, held recently at the Madinat Arena. "We used eight MLA per side and the system came out with flying colours," reports Dougherty.
Bruno Vitanza is equally unstinting in his praise for the system. As a sound engineer he says the key attribute is the possibility of removing guesswork from the equation during set-up.
"Every event becomes unique as the MLA can adjust its parameters to cover uniformly the whole audience area with incredible precision. Other advantages of MLA are its capability of avoiding areas like reflective surfaces or stage, and minimising spillage in complicated venues."
He says that it can be difficult to appreciate the extent to which all MLA's combined technologies can boost a venue's sound. "My preference is first to make the MLA behave as a regular Line Array (using Snapshot A) to bypass all the 'magic'; then return to the optimised Snapshot. The difference is pretty incredible!"
Almoe has been backing Martin Audio solutions since 2005, when staff first had the opportunity to hear (and subsequently purchase) Martin Audio's W8LMs and WLXGS to which they later added LE1200, LE1500, F12s, S15s and F10.
"We have gradually been increasing our Martin Audio inventory," confirms Glen Dougherty. "And as demand grows, and the necessity arises, we also expect to purchase more of the MLA components."
Martin Audio international account manager, Andy Weingärtner, added: "We are extremely pleased that Almoe is again putting its trust in Martin Audio. The purchase of this MLA rig in the UAE region fills an important strategic gap in between our Asian and European MLA users. And with more and more artists and sound engineers putting MLA on their riders this move by Almoe could not have come at a better time."
(Claire Beeson)
