Thanks to our good pal Bennett, I've been testing quite a bit of the Eona line over the past six months. Here are my down and dirty reviews, feel free to shoot me questions here or PM for more details...
L 2821 HH line array I've had the pleasure of using eight of these boxes over two ATA 618Cs twice now, both times with excellent results. The first was indoors at the Lighthouse on Chelsea Piers in NYC, with a crowd of 450 at tables in an L shaped, 10,000 square foot room. The event was a benefit for World Hunger Year (shameless plug from a volunteer supervisor and tech coordinator ), and goes off very similarly to a corporate show. The boxes went up without a problem, the truck pack sized rolling carts that they transport on are ingenious and allow for very fast and easy setup. The boxes are unbelievably light, comparable in weight to a similarly sized unpowered box, while still feeling solid as a rock. The frequency response and coverage was even, and as with the rest of the EONA ADRaudio line, the only EQ needed was to correct room issues. The entertainment at this event was three different "A" list acts with 40+ Grammy, Academy, Emmy, and #1 single/album awards between them. One of the performers had their regular B.E. and M.E. with them, I mixed FOH and Bennett Prescott was on monitors for the other two. Although the band's engineers had not previously heard the EONA ADRaudio line, both walked away impressed and would have no issues if presented with the boxes again by a provider for a one off. (They normally contract a big name provider and carry all production). Once I got in the big chair, it was the same thing. The boxes basically disappeared, allowing me to mix without trying to work around what the rig was doing. One of the audience members came up to FOH and said it best: "Wow, it sounds like I am listening to the band acoustically in my living room."
The second event was the Lollapajewza festival, held outdoors at the Stone Pony. Once again Bennett was my system tech, with moral and photographic support from Mike Butler. The weather forecast was rain and the skies were ominous, but since the show had already sold over the indoor capacity, we were asked to go with it regardless. Once again, the rig went up in no time flat. The first band sets up for soundcheck, we get them mic'd, and as I say kick, the skies take it as a cue to open up. FOH and the stage are covered so there are no real issues there, just shut her down, cut the power, and tarp the deck and everything on it. But the 2821s are in the air, and the 618s are on the ground. Me: "Bennett, should we drop the rig and cover them?" Bennett: "No, they'll be fine." So we move the show inside, (the crowd luckily was not that big yet) while Mother Nature lets loose with over 4" of rain in three hours. A tornado even touched down less than ten miles away! A few bands and a wrestling match later (long story) the rain subsided and the decision was made to go back outdoors. We quickly lowered the boxes, without unrigging, so that Bennett could make sure that no water had made it's way into the integral amps. No problem there, the rig goes back up, we power up and start over. There was NO ill effect whatsoever on the rig. The foam and grill combination used by Eona kept every bit of moisture out of the boxes, even in a driving rain coming off of the ocean, which in this location is only 400' away. We hacked our way through 6 or 7 really bad bands that even the Messiach could not have helped. Just as that point of "is it me?" started to set in, we got our first good band. Quick line check, and we're off and running. Without knowing their music, I was once again able to build a mix in no time flat. Good. Let's see what she'll do now. I start to push a bit, and I am able to hit 115dba at 70 feet with no problem. The boxes sound the same at high volume as they did at low, very smooth and natural, no distortion, great coverage in the pattern area. They compare favorably with other small, high end arrays- 4887, Mica, Y10, etc, all of which I used at the same venue within the past year.
M 1225 HH Wedges: Along with the aforementioned weather problems, these stood up to the rigors of everyone?s favorite musician, the climber, without a crushed grill. The sound quality was superb, up to par with other touring class 12? wedges, with little or no eq. As I do with most any (non drum) monitor, I high passed the entire mix at around 150 to prevent the buildup of stage mud. Beyond that, all EQ work was microphone and room specific. I used them in and outdoors for over a month, in front of acts ranging from ?Nobody You?ve Heard Of? at a record label battle of the bands, to the "A listers" mentioned above. I was able to meet the needs of every one of these artists, with headroom to spare. The only artist that I was not able to use the wedges successfully with was an extremely loud, top 10 ?numetal? band, who?s stage volume was over 110dbA from backline only. I don?t really feel that this was a design problem with the wedges, this is a band that NEEDS sheer output over everything else. They would probably be better suited with pairs of the huge three way wedges out there, or better yet, get over the noise problem and use in ears. Though I do hear rumor of a new higher powered 15" version of this wedge in the works....
ATA 618C HH subs Tremendous output and still solid down to 35hz, where they dropped off quickly. Two centerstacked outdoors for 1000 people, under 4 per side of the L 2821, and we had all of the PA that we needed. The cardioid pattern worked just as advertised. Even with the subs right against the stage, there was none of the onstage bass buildup that we get from other big name subs used in the same configuration. The subs had no problem with the rain either.
I also used these inside the Stone Pony as sidefill subs and drum subs. The sidefill setup was hilarious. I had to provide the subs, amps, and crossover for under the band?s tops. Well, the tops turned out to be some Cerwin Vega double 15"&1" DJ specials, powered by a CE1000. Needless to say, I had the subs about 20 dB down from the tops to get the balance correct. Looking at it made me think of putting monster truck wheels under a Yugo.
The boxes were spectacular as a drum sub as well. The band was an eighties metal relic revival, each member deafer than the other. I was mixing monitors, and the B.E. was at FOH. When our standard 5kw drum fill and sub were not enough, I pulled the EONAs out of the truck. I stacked them on top of each other, crossed them at 70hz, and used the regular front loaded sub as a midbass/low cab, filling in 70 to 300, the double 15 mids from 300-1.2, and highs 1.2 and up. With this setup I was able to make the drummer quite happy. I had to use a gate to give him the low end hit from the kick that he wanted, but at that point I had both his overstuffed/partly torn spandex and the remnants of his mullet flapping in the breeze. Once again, the cardioid pattern of the subs was well appreciated, this time by me. The back of the subs were pointed directly at monitor world, but I had no problems all night with wash. Noise boy at FOH was unhappy though- I had about the same amount of sub juice on deck as he had out front! A quick dive into the main DSP to align everything to the repositioned fill solved that problem, unfortunately it was still 80?s metal coming out of the boxes.
A word to the wise, though. You may be able to get the output of 4 or so double 18's from one box, but be sure that you have loaders! These boxes are advertised at 357 lbs, feel at least 400 , and are built like a tank. Watching them get lifted off of the dollies reminded me of when we used to make a game of moving people's Beetles onto their lawns.
U 103 HH over ATA 118 HH I used these as sidefills and a drum fill as well. Good thump from the 118, similar in output to a properly powered SRX728 double 18, except for the fact that it went quite a bit lower before dropping off. The U103 tops were a perfect match, and needed little or no EQ to sound great. They were dead stable as sidefills, and as a drum fill with an OM7 (I love singing drummers- NOT) just inches away only a few small dips at 400, 1.2, and 3.15 were needed.
I also used the U103s as infills and delays with the 2821s. Perfect match tonally, with timing the only thing needed to make them fit right in with the mains. I was actually able to make the split at the process rack, with no need for separate EQ.
I would have no qualms with using the U103/118 combo on a small gig. The tops are arrayable, so owning 4 of each would be perfect for a small sound company, or for over the counter rental stock. 1 over 1 per side for up to 200 or so, and 2 over 2, maybe coupling all 4 subs in the center, would likely be adequate for all but the loudest of bands for up to 400 or so indoors.
Overall, I have been very impressed by each of the Eona boxes that I have used so far. Unfortunately, one of the biggest hurdles that the company faces will be market penetration. Although the quality is in the same range, the price of the boxes put them up there with some of the biggest names in the business. You wind up with the old conundrum of a company looking to add them to inventory shying away because they aren't on riders, and not being on riders because nobody is using them yet. I wish Alex, Bennett, and the entire company the best of luck in getting past this situation. The product is excellent, and I look forward to the day of Eona being talked about and implemented in the same circles as Meyer, Adamson, Nexo, and the like.
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