The Perpetual License agreement between the two entities calls for current products to be branded 'EAW MicroWedge', fully supported by the resources of EAW. Further, Rat Sound Founder Dave "Rat" Levine, creator of MicroWedge and other sound reinforcement designs, will be working closely with the EAW Engineering Department on the development of new MicroWedge models as well as other EAW touring products.
"In securing this pre-eminent floor monitor line for our worldwide customer base, EAW is once again demonstrating its commitment to true performance audio by bringing the best in both design and talent to the EAW brand," explains Jeffrey Cox, vice-president of the EAW Brand Group, who reached the agreement with Dave Rat. "We continually populate the EAW family and brand relationships with experienced, talented visionaries who combine their unique skills to push audio forward. Our partnership with Dave is a prime example of this philosophy."
Levine also heads up Rat Sound Systems, a leading concert touring company noted for its work with US and world tours by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters and dozens of other top-line artists. In addition, the company is the primary sound vendor for Coachella, one of the largest music festivals in the US.
"As a system designer, sound engineer and president of a sound rental company, I have considerable exposure to the needs of the artists, audio engineers, sound vendors and the realities of design challenges," says Levine. "I feel like I am an adapter between what the artist/engineers seek and the technical engineers. I speak both languages and am comfortable moving in the worlds of both design/development and usage/execution. That is one of the key things I hope to bring to the table for EAW and for our future product development relationship."
He continues, "Over the past 27 years, I've devoted a tremendous amount of effort to designing and building innovative products for real world, live performance audio, and this is exemplified by the MicroWedge Series. The new partnership with EAW is an exciting step towards realising the product the way I have always envisioned it. The brilliance of the people, the culture of the company and the knowledge and desire to push audio to it's highest level that is evident at EAW makes working with them a dream come true. I am excited as this alliance will allow MicroWedge and other designs that I have been working on for many years to finally come to fruition."
(Jim Evans)
