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Author Topic: SB my xy on experience  (Read 61216 times)

Evan Kirkendall

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SB my xy on experience
« on: September 01, 2008, 04:47:52 PM »

So, yesterday I had the unpleasing experience of mixing on the Soundbridge XYON series boxes. I had 12 boxes flown a side, and 10 subs per side. I expected a decent experience after reading some reviews on the LAB, but it turned out to be quite the opposite.

Some background on the venue/system:
It's the Six Flags in Dallas Texas. A 10,000 seat outdoor venue. The rig was apparently installed sometime in July, so it was still fairly new. Everything was setup and properly tuned. Itechs provided powered, and a Dolby lake was the DSP. I had a PM5D out front and nothing else was in the chain between it and the DSP.


So, as I fired up the rig there was an apparent lack of mids, and an upper shrill, harsh sound. Not to mention some weird bumps around 250hz... The mains sounded very unbalanced. It hit me as soon as soon as I started thinking about it. A 2" compression driver was supposed to cover all the way down to 600hz. Well, it just wasnt happening. It sounded ok at lower levels, but as soon as I cranked it up, the whole upper range of the box just went to shit. The HF needs a much larger horn to actually cover as low as they want it to...

So, I started EQ'ing the box a little, hoping to get something useful to work with. I ended up with some pretty steep cuts. But, I had something workable.

As I played some tuned and walked the arena, I noticed that coverage was pretty poor too. Up front it was muffled and it dropped off fast off to the sides. As I walked further away, all the low mids completely disappeared and it just became harsh and brittle sounding.

The rig also lacked get up and go. I was struggling to hit 103dBA @ FOH. I was only ~70' from the stage too. It was no louder up front either. Maybe 106A as you got right up on the stage.

The subs were the best part of the rig, and that wasnt saying too much. They had enough to make me happy, but no more. I was honestly expecting more from 40 18" speakers.

Come show time, we had around 6,000 kids in attendance. It was tough getting it loud enough for everyone and not having a shit mix. I'd hate to see the system try to cover a packed house. The whole show hovered around 101-103dBA @ FOH. I wasnt overly happy with the sound all night, but I couldnt get it any better. 6 d&b Q1's, 8 dV-dosc, 8 EV XLC's, or 8 EAW KF730's per side would have completely owned the sound quality and output SPL of the Sound Bridge rig.

So, if your considering a SB rig, I'd look elsewhere. Put your money into something that actually sounds good...

index.php/fa/17754/0/


Evan
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The Guy

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Re: Soundbridge XYON, my experience
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2008, 05:39:33 PM »

+1 on everything Evan has said.  I've had the (dis)pleasure of mixing on a rig (6/side, 4 subs/side) and it was just miserable sounding; pretty much spot on with Evan's experience.  This rig was also properly set up and tuned, with XTA processing, iTechs and Powersofts on the rest of the rig.  I can honestly say that I've never experienced such awful sound quality and terrible coverage across the board.  I would have welcomed a Perkins Box/W-Bin/Radial Horn system in its place.

Based on reading the tech data, all of this should be no surprise.  Apparently the manufacturer thinks that the laws of physics need not apply to their products.

Buyer (and user) beware!
-JB

P.S.,  The SLICE wedge bites also.  
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Matthew Moser

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Re: Soundbridge XYON, my experience
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2008, 06:06:35 PM »

Agreed, Having heard a demo of the XYON, BY THE MANUFACTURER (InfoComm) and the numerous other occasions where I have "Experienced" Soundbridge gear (both as an engineer and audience member) Regardless of any other circumstances, I have never been impressed Sad
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Ivan Beaver

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Re: Soundbridge XYON, my experience
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2008, 07:09:06 PM »

Jim Bowersox wrote on Mon, 01 September 2008 17:39

P.S.,  The SLICE wedge bites also.  

The thing I find interesting about the Slice is the rated SPL.  Let's assume (for a moment) that the mid/high device can actually reach the stated 148dB. Shocked

But the woofer section reaches its max output about 20dB LOWER!

Yeah, that's what I want- the mid/highs outrunning the lows by 20dB.  Must sound really nice Rolling Eyes

I guess for the guys who have REALLY lost the HF hearing.
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Can I have some more talent in the monitors--PLEASE?

Ivan Beaver
dB Audio & Video Inc.
Danley Sound Labs

Silas Pradetto

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Re: Soundbridge XYON, my experience
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2008, 09:39:57 PM »

Evan Kirkendall wrote on Mon, 01 September 2008 16:47



The rig also lacked get up and go. I was struggling to hit 103dBA @ FOH. I was only ~70' from the stage too. It was no louder up front either. Maybe 106A as you got right up on the stage.




Evan, I can't comment on your experience since I wasn't there. It seems as though Soundbridge can't tune their own rigs? However, I can easily hit 110dbA with 4 per side at 100+ feet, without getting hitting my hard limiters at -5dBFS. The 4 per side I've got keeps up with 8 LAB subs no problem, and depending on the music, even outruns them.

There has to be something wrong with this picture...
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Evan Kirkendall

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Re: Soundbridge XYON, my experience
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2008, 11:33:06 PM »

Silas,
You must have some pretty weak LABs if 4 tops are out running them. Wink

I will say, that my rig today completely owned the Sound Bridge Rig:

index.php/fa/17765/0/

It covered 5800 people flawlessly and I was able to hit 110dBA at FOH. It was awesome. I love EV boxes.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e194/HarfordSound/ATL%20stuff/sixflagsTX9.jpg


Evan
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Silas Pradetto

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Re: Soundbridge XYON, my experience
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2008, 10:26:37 AM »

The LABs aren't weak, my system is performing properly. I can easily get 110dBC at 200 feet with only FOUR of the LAB subs outside, and the line array keeps right up at 100dBA.

I don't think you can say that any one system is better than another from one listening experience, because as people have said before, there are V-DOSC rigs that suck. Anyone possesses the ability to set something up wrong, including the manufacturer.

Heck, many like QSC Wideline. I went to the QSC demo in Chicago, and it sucked. I was not impressed, got a headache, and wanted to leave but my plane didn't leave soon enough! But the people are nice at QSC, and it may have just been the room/setup that wasn't ideal...I will never know.
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Adam Robinson

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Re: Soundbridge XYON, my experience
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2008, 12:14:16 PM »

Any rig can be set up to sound bad - it's been a big discussion point amongst my friends lately... One who came across an awful sounding Nexo GeoT rig, another who just mixed on a horrible sounding MICA rig that is part of a "professional install" by a reputable company, and my experience last summer at a world-class festival mixing on a very large and very horrible dVDOSC rig.  The difference is:  if L'Acoustics found out that their rig sounded *that* bad, they'd take it back!  The other manufacturers mentioned would be just as disturbed.  

Nonetheless, my experience with Jim leads me to trust his judgment and he trusts Evan's judgment, so I won't write his experience off.  At the level of shows his band is doing, he should have decent control of production and I bet he'll never have one of those systems on one of his shows again.  Unfortunately, we all only get one first impression, and that's probably my most important point in all this rambling.


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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Soundbridge XYON, my experience
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2008, 12:38:57 PM »

Adam Robinson wrote on Tue, 02 September 2008 11:14

Any rig can be set up to sound bad - it's been a big discussion point amongst my friends lately... One who came across an awful sounding Nexo GeoT rig, another who just mixed on a horrible sounding MICA rig that is part of a "professional install" by a reputable company, and my experience last summer at a world-class festival mixing on a very large and very horrible dVDOSC rig.  The difference is:  if L'Acoustics found out that their rig sounded *that* bad, they'd take it back!  The other manufacturers mentioned would be just as disturbed.  

Nonetheless, my experience with Jim leads me to trust his judgment and he trusts Evan's judgment, so I won't write his experience off.  At the level of shows his band is doing, he should have decent control of production and I bet he'll never have one of those systems on one of his shows again.  Unfortunately, we all only get one first impression, and that's probably my most important point in all this rambling.




Word.

Manufacturers have yet to find a filter for human silliness; even the best system alignment presets and voicing can be sabotaged by people who unwilling or unable to follow the instructions provided.

Granted there will always be exceptional venues or situations, but in today's world, with the level of support available from the Mothership there is no excuse to have crap sound provided enough gear was used and it was set up correctly.

Then there are the products that simply aren't up to the task.  Can't say if the XYON is one of them; Silas says his rock but Evan and Jim say "sux out loud.. er not loud enough."

Perhaps a good side-by-side (but not by Sondheim) demo can be arranged for next year's AES convention.

Have fun, good luck.

Tim Mc
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Adam Robinson

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Re: Soundbridge XYON, my experience
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2008, 02:34:48 PM »

How about putting the products side by side while playing Side by Side (by Sondheim).  

I'd enjoy that one.


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