"We chose Roland because it is a scalable package and we have the options of using one or two desks or cascading two desks together - we also have all the Digital Snake stage boxes to choose from- there are so many options that all fit together easily. Once you've set up the desk you just plug in the stage boxes and they find each other - there is no complicated programming required as the desk recognizes each one as you connect it. That saves us time and money," commented Jason Price, owner of JAP Sound.
JAP Sound took full advantage of the flexibility and scalability of the Roland products, putting together a fully digital setup which used two M-480 digital consoles and Digital Snake products networked together using REAC (Roland Ethernet Audio Communication).
Using the M-480's in a cascade allowed JAP to use a large format mixing system, in this case up to 96 mixing channels, with minimum footprint. A cascade connection facilitates data communication between two M-480 consoles via a single Cat 5e/6 cable which is connected to the REAC ports on the console.
"The Roland solution is great - it's a 'gig in a box' - the weight is minimal and we use Cat 5 cable - setting it all up is easy but breaking it down is even easier."
The two M-480 live consoles were used at FOH position to the main stage area, which was packed with around 40 musicians and 40 choir members all at the same time.
On the stage itself an S-4000S Digital Snake rack was configured with 40 inputs using 10 SIAD-4 4 channel analog input module cards which were connected to the REAC B port of the M-480 Cascade Master
Also on the main stage, JAP installed an S-4000M REAC Merge Unit to REAC A on the M-480 Cascade slave to merge the stream of the three S-0808 (8 x 8 I/O Unit) and one S-1608 Stage Unit providing an additional 40 inputs. The S-4000M also provided REAC Embedded Power to each of the S-0808 stage boxes reducing the need to run mains distribution.
A separate S-0816 FOH Unit took care of the sends to the PA system and monitor mixes connected as a split from REAC B of the M-480 Cascade Master console via a S-4000D splitter and power distribution unit.
(Jim Evans)
