Coda Audio N-Ray roars in Lyon
- Details
As a close and trusted member of the Coda Audio family, Eurosono were last year involved in the pre-launch trials of the company’s new ultra-compact N-Ray line array system. The feedback received by Coda Audio from the partners who took part in the trials played a significant part in the finished product that would be launched at ISE 2020 in Amsterdam. Eurosono were impressed, and having attended Coda’s pre-launch event of the system in September 2019, made an immediate investment. N-Ray was soon in action being deployed at two significant events in Lyon.
The Halle Tony Garnier in Lyon is a venue and a designated historical monument. Originally a market and slaughterhouse, the hall became a concert venue in 1988 and is one of the biggest multi-use arena spaces in France, staging everything from large gigs to corporate events. It is renowned for its good acoustics. Eurosono was asked to supply audio for an event called The Trophies of Enterprise staged by the Progrès daily newspaper and CPME, an organisation supporting small businesses in the region, as Eurosono events director and CEO of tech and live service provision, Mathieu Aufort explains:
“The brief at this event was to cover a stall of 3,000 people without installing an army of speakers! The system needed to be discreet as this was an event rather than a performance or show. We needed a system that was light - good in terms of weight and visibility, whilst still fulfilling all the sound requirements of the situation.”
Eurosono felt that this was an ideal opportunity to put the new N-Ray system through its paces and were not disappointed. Front of house engineer for the event, Félix Dutrève reflects on the choice:
“The shape and size of the Tony Garnier required a very efficient system, as I had to cater for 45m in depth and 30m in length. I covered the stalls with just 12 speakers per side which is really quite a small number.”
The system comprised 12 N-Ray per side with eight SCV-F on the ground. A further eight HOPS-8 were used as front-fill to cover the stalls up to the front row, with six N-APS as side-fills.
By contrast to the Tony Garnier, the 20th anniversary event staged for F&K Bistroclub in the Garre Des Brotteaux, a former railway station, was a more acoustically challenging space.
Matthieu Aufort comments: “The specifications were a lot different. This was a very complicated place to fit out with a sound system because it’s very reverberant - there were shiny paving stones with gaps everywhere. The challenge was to create a clear sound (without spoiling the aesthetic of the space) that could really do justice for this important event that, featured a group of around 10 musicians.”
In a long room with the stage running along its the length, the team decided to put up four stacks of three N-Ray, supplemented by N-APS to support the near field. The multi-hang along the room maintained clarity and strong acoustic pressure and still left plenty of headroom. Aufort concludes:
“The team were very comfortable working with the system - we showed why we were there and the challenge was overcome!”
(Jim Evans)
