Among the international bands appearing on this stage were Moloko, Black Eyed Peas, Seeed, N.E.R.D., Bad Religion, Ben Harper, Turbonegro and Starsailor, together with German bands Wir sind Helden, Sportfreunde Stiller, Beatsteaks, 5 Sterne Deluxe and Max Herre. The acts played to crowds of up to 20,000 covering an area of over 100m by 75m.
Earlier in the year Pave had invested in a 'double-12' Cohedra system consisting of 12 CDR208T and 12 CDR208S mid/high units, plus 24 CDR210 subwoofers and matching PR16 and PR8 amp racks. However, to handle an audience of 20,000, Pave supplemented its own system with additional cabinets obtained from members of the Cohedra User Network. The configuration chosen for the three-day show was as follows: On each side, 24 Cohedra cabinets - 12 each of the CDR 208 T and CDR 208 S units - were flown, and 48 CDR 210 Sub subwoofers and eight SL 218 professional sub-low units were ground-stacked. Just six PR 16 and four PR 8 amp racks powered all 104 of these cabinets.
The Cohedra CDR 210 Subs can be stacked four to a dolly making it easy to experiment with different stacking positions. For this event, six of these quad stacks were positioned in front of the stage on each side, with eight SL 218s in the centre, forming a line of bass speakers running across the front of the entire stage. The resulting bass was very even, clearly defined, and well projected, with substantial kick and no sub phasing.
For near-fill, four compact two-way VT 112s were driven by PR 2424 DFC amp racks. The entire system was run with HK Audio Digital Field Controllers with DFC software for the PC. Before the system was configured, Dürschner carried out a detailed simulation using HK Audio's CAPS software (Cohedra Acoustic Prediction Software). HK Audio's integrated flying hardware made rigging this complex system a simple affair. "The CAPS software simulates the flying positions for Cohedra making it very easy for just two people to rig this system," says Jürgen Bachthaler, HK Audio's sales manager for Germany. HK's DFC software also made controlling the 18 DFCs a simple task.
Klaus Dürschner says: "Throughout the three days of this festival my FOH colleague Hubertus Mohr and I have heard nothing but positive comments from the sound engineers of all the bands. It has really been a lot of fun to work with this system. A festival like Rock im Park with something like thirty different bands and so many different styles of music always poses quite a challenge to a system and the engineers running it. And although I have worked with Cohedra before, I have to say I was just really knocked out again with the kind of output this compact system produces. As far as I am concerned, Cohedra is a thoroughly impressive piece of gear."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
