ARVADA, CO — For Pretty Lights’ 2012 Illumination Tour, Dowlen Sound is providing an Outline GTO line array system and additional McCauley Sound subs. The speakers are powered by 58 Powersoft K Series amplifiers, including K2, K3, K6 and K8 amplifiers, all with Powersoft’s AESOP networking functionality.
More details from Powersoft (www.powersoft-audio.com):
Colorado-based electronic dance music phenomenon Pretty Lights, otherwise known as Derek Vincent Smith, selected Dowlen Sound Inc. to supply audio production on his 2012 Illumination Tour, a 50-plus-date North American itinerary that extends through mid November.
To help Smith deliver on his pre-tour promise of “beautiful & evolved NEW music and massive, game-changing NEW production” on this tour, Dowlen Sound, headquartered in Arvada, CO, is fielding an Outline GTO line array system plus additional McCauley Sound subs, powered by a total of 58 Powersoft K Series amplifiers.
Dowlen Sound’s amplifier racks contain a mix of Powersoft K2, K3, K6 and K8 amplifiers, all outfitted with the manufacturer’s proprietary AESOP (AES Ethernet Simple Open Protocol) networking functionality. The six models in Powersoft’s flagship K Series offer power ratings ranging from 2 x 1950 watts/ch. @ 4 ohms to 2 x 9000 watts/ch. @ 2 ohms, all in the same 1RU form factor. Most models can be upgraded by inserting a Step-Up Card in a front panel slot, unlocking additional power. Although Outline’s GTO system package typically includes Outline’s models equivalent to Powersoft K10 amps, Dowlen Sound — which was the first company in the world to use the GTO line array — opted to custom-configure its racks, appropriately matching amplifiers with speaker modules in order to fully optimize the entire system’s performance.
“We upgraded 18 of our K2 amplifiers to K3s during pre-production,” reports Eric Satre, Dowlen Sound’s system technician on the Illumination Tour. Satre also had to make some changes for the McCauley M421 quad 21-inch subwoofers, which offer low frequency extension down to 20 Hz and are on the tour to help deliver Pretty Lights’ self-described “electro hip-hop soul” to his massive fan base. “The upgrade to the McCauley subs required us to put the K6s into bridge mono mode, two of them into one sub. That’s two channels of 7800 W at 4 ohms, 306V, peak, into one subwoofer.”
In addition to the 58 Powersoft K Series amps, the main audio rig on the tour comprises 24 Outline GTO line array modules plus two GTO-DF down fills, flown 13 per side. Eighteen GTO-Subs (nine per side) plus four McCauley M421 subs handle the low end. There are an additional 18 Outline Butterfly array modules available to handle arenas and other large venues on the schedule. Smith also has six Butterfly modules around his center stage podium for monitors.
“When I first heard the GTO Outline, powered with Powersoft, I was completely floored,”says Phil Salvaggio, production manager and front of house engineer, Pretty Lights Music Inc. “The amount of clarity at a high SPL is untouchable by most other systems out there. And when it comes to the low end and the combo of the M421 and GTO subs, which are all powered by Powersoft amps, we really get the audience to feel the subs — as well as bring down the roof!”
Salvaggio continues, “The electronic music world has a very ‘go big or go home’ mentality. So when it comes to video, lighting and audio we have always strived to be at the most cutting edge with each, whether it is design, content or programming. With audio, we really want the listener to have the best experience possible.”
