"Leo really delivers a lot of headroom and dynamics, and makes it very easy for me to get the artist vocals on top of a loud and powerful mix," says Werner Schmidl, FOH engineer for Maffay. "It seems to me that LEO is going to be the reinvention of the wall of sound."
Working in conjunction with system techs Dirk Maron and Robert Schmidt, Schmidl used main flown hangs of 12 LEO-M and three Mica line array loudspeakers per side. Twenty-four 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements handled the low-end, while a Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system with five Galileo Callisto 616 processors were used for control and optimization. A SIM 3 audio analyzer was used for system alignment.
The touring production also carried eight UPQ-1P loudspeakers for centre and near-fill duties. For some venues, two hangs of up to 12 Milo line array loudspeakers per side were set up for out-fills, plus two hangs of eight Milo loudspeakers per side for delay.
According to Tim Humpe, who heads up POOLgroup's entertainment and touring production, the tour rarely deployed the delay loudspeakers.
"Leo simply sounds massive, and is setting new standards for linear audio," says Humpe. "Its far-throw capabilities are such that delay lines stay on the truck quite often, saving on time and labour costs - a considerable benefit given today's economic pressures."
Peter Maffay has been one of Germany's most popular recording artists for over 40 years, having sold over 35 million albums throughout his career.
(Jim Evans)
