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[Craig Hauber]

Oh boy everybody... I try and get out, but they just pull me back in!

Been a while since I have really contributed to the forum, but as luck would have it, in my retirement, I land what could potentially be the biggest, most lucrative and dream worthy gig of my life!!! So guess that means I have to come back

After the " Pandemic " started, I pivoted out of sound engineering and into IT work. I started off working as a production manager for an event production company, but after long hors and roughly half the income than what I was making prior to the pandemic, I quickly tired and transitioned into an IT gig for a pretty large company. It pays great, is solid and i do well at the job for the level I am at. I'm not a Sys-Admin yet, but I play in AD and manage an MDM like one. Anyway, let's get on with the fun stuff.

Years ago ( like 10 years ago ) I did sound for a person ( NDA ) and they were impressed with my work. Last year I did sound for them again ( at a gig I had done for years, and continued to do for fun ), and they were again impressed with my work. They asked if I was interested in doing sound for them on a tour, and I said sure, thinking I would never hear back... If you could eat thoughts, I would be dead. Nearly a year later they call, and I tell them I am essentially retired, but let me see what they have in mind. Let's just say that 100% of people who have heard the deal, say I would be an idiot for not taking the offer. My wife who swore she would leave me if I toured again, said better say yes...

So, this artist wants me to be an A1 @ FOH, do their rehearsals, Tune-Up shows, and their Full tour. They told me to pick the Mixer, and PA of my choice and that the tune-up dates are for 3000-6000 cap venues, then the tour dates will of course be full sized 10k+ cap events. I have some ideas but want some feedback from others on what their experience is with some mixers and PA's that fit that bill. This will be a purchased PA system, so limited rentals, but will be renting in European dates.

First my do not want list. I know some may laugh, but I really don't want an Avid S6L; really great mixer, so long as it works... Actually not interested in Avid at all. It is a 14 piece band, and I don't feel a need to burn 96+ channels, so I am looking at smaller format mixers anyway. As for PA I am not interested in EAW, JBL, or RCF, I am looking to run in the L' Acoustics, D&B Audiotechnik, Martin, or Meyer families. I am most familiar with L' Acoustics and D&B. That simple really. We are doing 100% IEM's so I need a mixer that will accommodate that, and for PA, I am more interested in a medium format ( this is not a rock band, more R&B/Pop ).

What I am looking at:

Allen & Heath Avantis, not first choice, but it honestly has enough, and I can get four of them for less than a single Avid S6L; which WILL stop working at some point. I have worked with an Avid S6L 5 times and there was only one instance where a backup wasn't needed... My main is honestly a Digico Quantum 225. It does what it needs to do. If they will allow it, an SD12 would be my first choice. I'm semi worried about availability in foreign countries, but I feel those two options have enough, will be reliable, and easy enough to acquire.  If you have any thoughts and or suggestions let me know.

As for PA, I am more or less leaning towards the L' Acoustics Kiva II, or their L System ( totally different fields I know ). I like the D&B V12 & Y12 series, or another choice would be the Meyer Leopard, or the Martin WPC. I have worked with the older Martin W8L and loved those, but time has passed... For the L' Acoustics L system it is more about scalability, I can run a two box, or a four box system and have my needs covered; and then some. Not only that, I like the Point source type of thing it has going for it ( yes I know, it is not actually a PS rig ).

I am very interested in reading others' ideas on what they may choose for this type of thing. I know what I would like, but I am looking for options I may have out of my periphery.

This is a simple one Luke.
You take out whatever rig and gear you were using in the first time that made that performer "fall in love" with your services that decade ago! (or it's logical modern upgrade-equivalent).
They obviously wanted you for the comfort-factor of successful prior experiences don't throw a wrench into that by chasing "the new shiny" -at least stick with the same family of brands and products if they insist on all new stuff.

[Tim Verhoeven]

I'm in Europe, so a bit of input what is popular here.

Reading you post, I would go for a Yamaha Rivage PM5 desk. It can be build as a fully redundant system but not too big (compared to a PM7/10), with the RPIO racks you have top of the line preamps and there is so much in the console that you won't have a big need for external gear.

For the PA, if you really want to buy a new system today then IMHO the most universal system is one from the d&b xSL line. It will be available on both sides of the Atlantic and also plenty of people that know how to properly use and tune it. You seem to be looking for mid-sized system. So the d&b KSL would probably be the best fit. And the cardioid response of it will probably be liked by the artists and monitor mixer on stage.

For the size of venues that you mention the smaller L'A systems (Kiva, Kara) would be way to small to get the sound levels and throw needed here.

[Jason Raboin]

A few L-Acoustics models have been mentioned and I think some of them have been conflated.

Kiva II is very small and doesn't have panflex.

Kara II is dual 8" and can do bigger venues but isn't often found on a 10k+ tour.  That said, 18 Kara II with flown SB18 gets within 2db of 12 K2.   So if it's not a very loud show, it might be a good choice.

K2 is dual 12" and what I think would make sense in this scenario, though buying a 10+ year old product may not be the best business decision.

L2 is the new flagship speaker.  It's actually a little less expensive than 4 K2, which is a comparable replacement.  Easier to fly, easier to rig. 

There was also mention of L-Acoustics training being in person only.  I'm not sure about access restrictions since I'm a dealer and have taken a handful of courses, but they do have a pretty robust online education platform.  A few of my techs have gained a lot of knowledge from it.  https://www.l-acoustics.com/education/digital-learning/

[Tim Weaver]

I'd get a Rivage. Or maybe a Digico Quantam, but I'm in the Yamaha camp.

for PA, get whatever top-shelf brand that gives you the best after sales service. All the big dogs sound really good. So much so, that a good SE can make a VTX rig sound better than a poorly tuned L'Acoustics rig.

[Riley Casey]

Gear choices aside I'm a bit surprised that 3k soft seaters pay well enough to support the budget for carrying full production. I thought that level of touring carried consoles & stage gear and rented stacks & racks locally / regionally. I guess the market is coming back.  That said the gear has gotten to the level that you'll get excellent performance from all the top brands IF they are properly packaged & deployed. I'd pivot to choosing a tour vendor you can rely on to get the job done every night of the tour and let the gear choices take a back seat.

[Tim Weaver]

Gear choices aside I'm a bit surprised that 3k soft seaters pay well enough to support the budget for carrying full production. I thought that level of touring carried consoles & stage gear and rented stacks & racks locally / regionally. I guess the market is coming back.  That said the gear has gotten to the level that you'll get excellent performance from all the top brands IF they are properly packaged & deployed. I'd pivot to choosing a tour vendor you can rely on to get the job done every night of the tour and let the gear choices take a back seat.

That is typical, but I read the OP as the 3-6k gigs were in the gear-up phase of a 10k+ seater mini stadium tour.

[Scott Holtzman]

That is typical, but I read the OP as the 3-6k gigs were in the gear-up phase of a 10k+ seater mini stadium tour.

As far as the original Kara they are dual 8" boxes and scale well.  A gig I do every year has a 2500 soft seat room, an outdoor stage by the pool and an indoor stage in a club that seats has a large dancefloor and about 500 folding chairs. 


The vendor supplies all L'Acoustics and these spaces get Kara.  The small club gets thre SB18 and four elements.  Of course you can pumell the room but it works great if the engineers behave themselves.


The same system with two dual 18 and four elements ground stacked by the pool does great outdoors. 


The K2 is dual 8" I have only ran it in larger flown arrays but I imagine it is just as flexible in ground stacks.


You will want to model each room as the speakers have "fins" on the DOSC to adjust the horizontal dispersion. 


Don't let the supplier go cheap on you.  You want the M-Bump and M-Jack rigging hardware.  M-Bump supports ground stack and flown arrays, M-Jack levels the array.

[Tim McCulloch]

That is typical, but I read the OP as the 3-6k gigs were in the gear-up phase of a 10k+ seater mini stadium tour.

All the more reason to spec a rig and have the local presenter hire it in.

[Scott Holtzman]

All the more reason to spec a rig and have the local presenter hire it in.

Amen there is a reason the vendors have extensive dealer networks, to present their gear properly and consistently.  One of the signs of a pro is knowing when to bring in help.

[Tim Weaver]

All the more reason to spec a rig and have the local presenter hire it in.

I absolutely agree, but that wasn't the question the OP asked.


I would spend money on an awesome mixer and IEM package, but leave the PA up to a contractor.

[ProSoundWeb Community]