Faced with a large returns system, Brit Row had been amalgamating all sources at front-of-house and then running the signals via a digital matrix to create the various sends to the speaker system.
"The loudspeaker controllers were also digital input - which meant that a large number of digital channels were travelling from FOH to stage left and right," notes Marquee's digital manager, Andy Huffer. Seeking a more efficient solution, Britannia Row settled on an Optocore system, due to its simplicity and reliability.
Roly Oliver, the production company's equipment manager, says: "Optocore was always top of our list in terms of audio quality, history and configurability - and the fact that the system can integrate with all Yamaha products, as well as Digico etc."
The system on tour is based around a DD32E at FOH, designed for the transmission of a maximum amount of digital data via optical fibre. Taking AES feeds from the digital matrix, it then connects to further DD32E's at stage left and right, which in turn link to the Dolby Lake speaker controllers. With this configuration, there is the potential for 64 channels to travel down a single fibre optic cable, and for any input to be patched to any output on the system via the Optocore control software.
"In fact," says Oliver, "we are running 16 stereo pairs of AES, running different mixes for the various zones, back to the stage which is then redistributed to the processors."
All cabling is via industry standard Kevlar-reinforced fibre optic cable and rugged watertight connectors.
An added bonus is the ability to also transport control data and composite video signals if required, via the same cable. Peace of mind is given by the DD32E's dual redundant PSUs and also the Optocore redundant loop, meaning that if a cable is unexpectedly damaged, the audio is uninterrupted.
Oliver emphasises the effectiveness of the redundancy but says that as important as the technology is, it has been the back-up he has received from Huffer, Optocore's Marc Brunke, Marc Wesler and Luca Giaroli - "the main catalyst for our interest in the product in the first place" - that has given him peace of mind.
Qualifying this, he said, "For all the ups and downs we have had when first introducing all the new technology they have all stood by and supported us, for which we are very grateful. These are the essential ingredients we look for in a new product and we now have a package that provides astonishing audio quality."
(Chris Henry)
