Among the first productions to benefit from the new equipment was Sony's pre-E3 press event announcing the forthcoming November 17 launch of its new PlayStation 3. Held at Stage 15 of Sony Picture Studios just prior to the convention, CT paired an elaborate video presentation setup with a 5.1 system featuring left and right arrays each sporting nine dV-Dosc with adjacent hangs of three dV-SUB enclosures. A third array of six dV- Dosc accompanied by two separately flown dV-SUB made up the centre section, while two identical six dV- Dosc /two dV-Sub pairings comprised the rear left and right surrounds. Throughout the event, this system was used to provide audio reinforcement for everything from vocal presentation to game audio to music/DJ playback.
A few days later, CT used some of the same gear for the annual Sony E3 Party held on the hilltop of Elysian Park behind Dodger Stadium. With the band Incubus performing on the main stage for an invite-only crowd of 7,000 VIPs and press, sound reinforcement was handled by a system primarily comprised of 18 dV- Dosc and six dV-Sub.
"In terms of size versus output, the dV- Dosc is the best box on the market," says William Nealie, senior audio engineer and designer for Creative Technology North America. "On most productions, we're typically working with a 24- to 28-foot ceiling height, but once we start factoring in large video screens and other scenic elements, the available space for an audio system is often much less. Consequently, it's critical for us to have at our disposal a very compact system with high output power, a wide coverage pattern and an inherently flat response. That perfectly describes the dV- Dosc."
Nealie is also very pleased with the results he achieves using L-Acoustics' Soundvision acoustic modeling software. "The 3D prediction software is a wonderful tool. Gone, thankfully, are the days of showing up with a truckload of gear and simply sprinkling things around the room! Thanks to Soundvision, our system set-ups are relatively fast and easy, and the actual performance of the rig is extremely accurate to what the software predicts."
Whether providing sound and video for Ford, Toyota and Subaru at one of the many US auto shows or corporate events for clients like Google and Washington Mutual, Nealie considers himself happy to use just about any product bearing the L-Acoustics name.
"I am tremendously impressed with the uniformity I've found to exist across the entire range of products," he says. "We've used everything from the big V-Dosc boxes down to the tiny coaxial MTD108a, and the amazing thing is that they all sound like they come from the same family. Different sized enclosures obviously have widely varying low-frequency responses; however, the high-frequency voicing of each system is quite similar, which is way cool. It's attention to details like that that make L-Acoustics products such a joy to use."
(Chris Henry)
