All the Meyer cabinets are self-powered, and are configured into various zones. The system consists of two main left and right hangs, followed by two further 90° dispersion side hangs (all a combination of M3D and M2D) designed to extend clear reproduction all the way round, since all of the shows are completely sold out. For the Manchester and Wembley shows a third hang supplemented the central rear area coverage. Capital’s Paul Timmins explains: "We’re using XTA DP226s as line drivers as the speakers are self-powered, and because XTA’s AudioCore software allows us to very quickly set up the levels and EQ for all the zones remotely, they make setup very fast and efficient."
Five DP226s provide a total of 30 lines, most of which are being used in the show. The zones divide each venue sonically into upper and lower bowl and near fill, running three zones per hang, with the facility to create a further zone when an extra hang is used. All five DP226s are linked via AudioCore laptop PC control software. Timmins says: "Considering it’s quite a complex system the way we’ve set it up makes it remarkably straightforward to get from load-in to be ready to soundcheck at each venue."
Chris Pyne (FOH engineer) and Rod Matheson (monitor engineer) are touring with Capital Sound crew members Mark Ballard (Meyer M3D tech), Al Woods (PA tech), Kevin Hopgood (monitor and stage tech), Becky Pell (radio tech).
(Lee Baldock)
