LAS VEGAS – The Software Audio Console, or SAC (no relation to the SAC Pro Audio from China) has been gathering momentum in the live sound marketplace and seeing increased acceptance among users, according to the company.
SAC gives the user a FOH console as well as 24 additional consoles. They can be used as monitor mixers, broadcast mixes, additional venue mixers, and so on.
Venues such as Harrah's in Las Vegas have been using SAC for some time now finding its features and functions well-suited for its Legends In Concert show. A touring version of the show also used SAC. Church community forum sites such as Churchmedia.net are also weighing in with lively discussions.
Not bad for a product that is both new in technology (virtual software for live sound) and recent launch date (September 2008). Company founder Bob Lentini is no stranger to software control systems, having produced a successful SAW platform for the recording market.
Tour sound veteran Steve Cochran has embraced the flexibility of SAC and, to his ears, lack of audible latency, enabling SAC to improve many of the already high-quality sound systems that he encounters on tour.
Currently touring with Nashville-based Brady Seals, Cochran began using SAC for the bands' PM systems and wedges. The SAC multi-console format allowed Steve to get his eight monitor mixes plus FOH (mains, front fills, delays and subs) all controlled by a single laptop computer.
Soon, Cochran was mixing FOH and monitors with different laptops and fader banks all from one SAC system. "Patching into existing mains in a venue and bypassing the venue's console always made that system sound much better. I love the system and all artists ears have been amazed by the sonic quality and have had zero reliability issues."
Lentini, quite obviously, is pleased with the momentum in the live sound marketplace and feels that SAC is on the cusp of "going large." He states, "The shift in balance is amazing, and is reaching into areas that high priced digital consoles can not. The reliability is high and when there is a problem the fix is simply a download. Thousands of shows have been mixed with SAC and given the low price, we see that trend increasing."
For more information, please visit www.softwareaudioconsole.com.
