WASHINGTON, D.C — Q Lights and Sound Productions provided a D.A.S. Audio Aero Series 2 loudspeaker system for a three-day event that drew some 10,000 attendees to RFK Stadium July 1, 4 and 6. The Ethiopian 4th of July Celebration, a blend of soccer and music, featured hip hop artist T.I. and rappers TPain, B.o.B., and Young Jeezy, among others.
More details from D.A.S. Audio (www.dasaudio.com):
New York-based Q Lights and Sound Productions provides staging, lighting, and sound services for the live / special events market, and Vito Lazarte is the firm’s CEO and system designer / lead engineer. He discussed the challenges of the project.
“The area of coverage was extremely wide,” Lazarte explained. “Because of this, it was critically important to deploy a sound system that offered broad horizontal dispersion in addition to solid vertical throw. In terms of sound, the system needed to have great music reproduction qualities without sacrificing speech intelligibility. These considerations are precisely what led us to the deployment of the D.A.S. Audio equipment. After modeling the system in EASE Focus, we preceded to put it all together.”
The system that Lazarte and his crew deployed consisted of 24 D.A.S. Aero 12A powered, compact, 2-way, line array modules—flown twelve elements per side—for the house mains. To ensure proper coverage on the extreme sides of the area, the crew also positioned another five Aero 12A’s each for the left and right primary outfills. For frontfill coverage, Lazarte also placed six Aero 8A ultra-compact, 2-way enclosures across the front of the stage area. Loudspeaker management tasks were handled by a D.A.S. Audio DSP-26 2-In / 6-Out stereo / mono processor.
Stage monitoring provisions were handled via 16 D.A.S. Audio Road 12A powered, 2-way stage monitors while 16 D.A.S. LX-218CA powered, high performance sub bass enclosures provided low frequency support. These subwoofers were positioned eight enclosures per side.
“The fact that all these loudspeakers are self-powered was a huge advantage on this project,” Lazarte, reports. “Since we didn’t have to deal with racks of heavy power amps, transporting the equipment was easier, as was the actual setup. These powered loudspeakers simplify system cabling, which in turn makes the entire setup more streamlined.”
When queried about D.A.S. Audio customer and technical support services, Lazarte says D.A.S. always has his back. “D.A.S. Audio is really easy to deal with,” he said. “I can get hold of someone anytime I call and, if I leave a message, they always get back to me quickly. In this line of business, that’s a huge benefit.
With this year’s celebration now in the rearview mirror, Lazarte reports he couldn’t be happier with the way everything turned out. “There was a tremendous amount of gear required for this project,” he said, “and the D.A.S. equipment made the job go really smoothly. The powered loudspeakers are a tremendous benefit by themselves, and when you factor in D.A.S. Audio’s first-rate rigging hardware, you simply can’t go wrong. The flyware on the Aero Series 2 loudspeakers is exceptional and because of this, both setup and tear down are easier and faster. My entire crew—production manager Carlos Lazarte, stage manager Elvis Rodriguez, monitor engineer Jean Paul Zayas-Bazan, lighting tech Giovanni Zayas-Bazan, and FOH engineer Fernando Garcia—were all really impressed with how efficient the setup was.”
“Best of all,” he continued, “the client, the performers, and the audience were all positively knocked out by the system’s performance. You could understand every word that was spoken and the music was big and full sounding. Several artists commented that they loved the sound of the system. Most importantly, the client loved it. By the second day, we were already contracted for next year’s event. When one job leads to repeat business, that’s as good as it gets!”
To learn more about Q Lights and Sound Productions, contact the company at [email protected].
