De Meervaart complex relies on Yamaha
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With many international artists performing at the venue, alongside the needs of extreme flexibility and portability, De Meervaart technical head Martin Keereweer has relied on Yamaha digital mixing consoles.
“About 13 years ago we invested in Yamaha M7CL-32 and LS9-16 consoles, which still work flawlessly,” he says. ”But with the busy schedule of events here, there was a constant demand for more equipment. We will continue to use the M7CL and LS9, so it made sense to invest in Yamaha again.”
This opinion was reinforced by Gijs Kater of Kater Audio, a touring veteran of over 25 years who has mixed so many shows at De Meervaart that, as he says, he probably knows the venue and its staff ‘better than his own living room’.
“Gijs is recognized as a walking encyclopaedia, a true ‘audio professor’, so his view that we should continue with Yamaha, because of the solid and reliable performance over the years, coincided completely with ours,” says Martin.
With 11 technicians and a group of freelance engineers working at the venue, as well as visiting engineers, it also made sense to add consoles that are widely known throughout the industry, as well as every mixer being portable and flexible enough to be used on any event in any of the venue’s many spaces.
Supplied by Kater Audio, De Meervaart invested in Yamaha QL5 and QL1 digital consoles, plus two Rio3224-D2 I/O units.
Yamaha’s Jan Prins visited the venue to train staff on the new QL consoles. “It was not difficult to learn the QL mixers, because the workflow is very similar to the M7CL and LS9,” says Martin. “With the similarity of user interface and Dante interface cards for the older consoles, it is perfect for us that the new and old can work alongside each other, enhancing the flexibility of our audio systems at De Meervaart.”
(Jim Evans)
