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Riddle me this, Batman: When is an audio console not really an audio console? When it's a control surface. With digital technology running rampant, there are plenty of control surfaces out there masquerading around as audio consoles. We've got to recognize the differences or we're sunk.

If you're reading FOH, you already know that an audio console is a device with faders, button and meters designed to route and process audio. We've all plugged our mics into these desks and used them to mix shows. Ah, but a control surface would like you to think it processes and routes audio when really, it is nothing more than a very expensive mouse! Alas, this Mighty Mouse under your fingertips controls a computer, typically (but not always) processing audio in the digital domain.

In our pursuit to grow and expand our business, we must look beyond our current inventory and capabilities and be willing to take on risks and challenges that might be beyond our current level of comfort.

Sometime last year, we were awarded the contract to do a large event for the City of Albuquerque. "Freedom Fourth" was scheduled to run over four days with multiple acts each day at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Grounds–a large 94-acre park. With more than 30,000 estimated to attend the final day, it was an ambitious undertaking for us. But hey, there's nothing like putting up a big honking sound system to crank out your favorite tunes.

Allen & Heath GL2800 and GL3800 Mixing Consoles

By Mark Amundson

When I first started shopping for an entry-level "professional" console, I purchased the Allen & Heath GL2200. And when I mixed on most of the club install rigs, I usually had Allen & Heath GL2200 or GL3300 consoles to work with. So when Allen & Heath put together the GL2800 and GL3800 consoles, I knew they had to work hard to make improvements on these GL-series workhorses.

It may not be obvious, but the directionality of a sound reinforcement loudspeaker is as important a characteristic as its frequency response or power-handling capability. Control of "spill" is critical for sound reinforcement because the environments we deal with are almost always reverberant. If we cannot control the direction of sound, not only does it miss our audience, but it also does nasty things like bounce off walls, create comb filtering and decrease intelligibility.

If there's one thing that became clear at the AES Convention in New York last month, it's that live sound has rapidly made its way from the "Big Bang," or "Shotgun" theory, to what we at FOH call the "Sniper" approach.

It wasn't so long ago that the goal in delivering audio to large audiences essentially boiled down to "let's make it loud and hope for the best." During the formative days of live sound, that approach may have been acceptable, but these days–in spite of the fact that many people do a majority of music-listening in their cars or via MP3 players with limited fidelity–your average consumer expects more from a live show. People are plunking down top dollar to see concerts, and in addition to the visual aspect, the sound had better be good even at "cheap seats" that often sell in the vicinity of $100. With surround-sound theatre systems and plenty of video games found in homes across the country, we need to give people a reason to come out and play with us, or we'll all be out of work.

When we do these Product Galleries, we generally try to keep them spec-based in an attempt to do the clichéd–but valuable–"apple to apple" comparison. But when it comes to products for transporting and controlling digital audio, there are apples and oranges and bananas and kiwi and…you get the picture. So this time around, we took a different approach; asking the makers of some of these products a series of what we hope are pertinent questions. The answers taken as a whole give a pretty good snapshot of business and technology in a big state of flux. Anything can, and likely will, happen in the next few years. At least one major player, EtherSound, is conspicuous in its absence. We tried to get the questions answered, but we unable to do so before our press deadline. Some of these systems only transport audio, others control entire systems, and regardless of how you feel about the direction we are going in, the future is in fiber, not copper. Smaller, faster and–as more units get sold and competition heats up– cheaper. We live in interesting times.

Audix RAD-360 Wireless Mics

By Mark Amundson

Making mics and designing RF transmitters and receivers are very different things. Ask any of the major mic makers who do wireless, many of whom have separate engineering teams for developing the transducer and RF pieces of the wireless puzzle. Which likely explains why Audix stayed out of the wireless game for a long time, introducing their first wireless about a year ago.

Live sound engineers have been very lucky. We've able to get away with being relatively lazy because the fundamental operation of our tools hasn't changed much in the last 20 years. Sure, there have been developments in speaker and crossover technology, amplifier reliability is greatly improved, microphones are better than ever and consoles provide more 'bang for the buck' than in the past, but that's all 'background' technology. We've been able to lay our hands on an analog console and been able to fl y it without having to work at it–even if it's a console we've never used. Kinda like driving a car. Sometimes the headlight switch is in a different location, but it still functions the same as on that Plymouth Satellite my dad owned when I was a kid.