Last year, The Tolbooth purchased a pair of Martin Audio S18+ sub speakers and a Martin Audio MA3.0 amplifier to power them.  Chris Waite, senior technician at The Tolbooth, has now subsequently ordered a pair of Martin Audio W3 mid/hi enclosures, and two Martin Audio MA1.6s amplifiers.  Along with these amplifiers and enclosures, the whole system is processed and controlled by a Martin Audio DX1.5 controller.

Phil Clark, Director at Old Barn Audio Ltd explains ‘The W3 will work perfectly in The Tolbooth for all types of performance.  As they have plenty of spoken word artists where projection is paramount, the horn-loaded mid-range is exactly what they needed’

For all performances, please visit – http://tolbooth.stirling.gov.uk/tolbooth.htm

Simon found himself in the unique position of being the first to debut the scaled down version of this groundbreaking technology in the shape of the brand new MLA Compact.
“I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the new system,” admits the experienced Simon Honywill, who seized the opportunity to mix Chris Rea’s sound through the MLA Compact on the closing dates of the recent European and UK tour.

Honywill was ably assisted by system engineer Mark Edwards in time for the last two tour dates — at the Pavilions in his home town of Plymouth, and HMV Apollo Hammersmith, where the system had been formally launched last month. Whilst the system performed admirably in Plymouth, Honywill and Edwards, along with Martin Audio’s R&D Director, Jason Baird, repurposed the system for the larger Hammersmith show where the impact was described by Simon Honywill as “unbelievable”.

He reported that the vocal clarity had been incredible, even at high levels, and the separation of the drums and cymbals, even in excess of 106dBA had to be heard to be believed. “The drum sound was massive,” he said, “very dynamic and very exciting.
“When you wind the system up, it just gets louder, but nothing changes in the character of the sound, which is beautiful.”

While the optimisation at Hammersmith was nothing unusual, with the balcony being notched out in the software to remove unwanted reflections, Simon Honywill explained: “Mark and Jason worked on the EQ curve and played with the sub alignment so that the system was everything I had hoped it would be.”

“In Plymouth we used a broadside array of 12 DSX subs in four cardioid cells under the stage apron, but this isn’t possible in Hammersmith so we went for a left/right cardioid stack of six subs a side and tweaked the crossover between the subs and the MLA Compact to get a really rich, smooth low end with real punch.”  Deploying a ground stack of four Martin Audio W8LM Mini Arrays under the two main PA hangs of 12 MLA Compact elements they were able to draw down the image at the front while substantially decreasing the physical profile of the stacked system.  “In the past the ground stacks have looked a little imposing with the subs and Martin Audio W8LC, but the ability of the system to generate seamless coverage from wherever you tell it to start and finish allowed us to get the energy we wanted into both downstairs and upstairs – the groundstacks are just to keep the sonic image down on stage for those at the front,” says Honywill.

“The system produced a fantastic impact but the overriding feeling from the production team was that the compactness of the package also offered huge benefits.”  And this spelled good news for production manager, Pat Baker.  For Rea’s tour inventory is traditionally geared to fit one truck, which places enormous pressure on the truck pack. “Every night it is stacked to the roof with all the equipment,” Honywill explains  “But the appeal of a self-powered system, without separate processing and amplification, was pretty exciting.”

Having piloted Chris Rea shows for the last 15 years, Simon Honywill has historically used Martin Audio systems to reinforce the artist’s sound — generally 16 x W8LC Compact Line Arrays per side and 16 WLX subs; but for the ensemble of six musicians (including second guitar, two keyboards and drums) this time around, they knew they had considerably raised the sonic bar. Simon’s overall verdict? “MLA is vastly superior to anything on the market and this system provides a great neutral platform to mix on.

Neil Kavanagh, Director at Old Barn Audio attended the gig with live sound engineer Lee Woodger and was ‘blown away’ with the sound.  Chatting with Simon after the show, the pair agreed that ‘new rules for sound had been written and the other would now b’e playing catch-up for many years to come.’

Starting from scratch, Old Barn Audio demonstrated the brilliant Martin Audio W8VDQ which offered wide dispersion characteristics which suited the shape of the room.  These were supported with Martin Audio WS218X sub speakers.  The system was amplified by Martin Audio MA amplifiers and controlled by and Apex IntelliiX-48 digital system controller.

During the demonstration, song material from all genres of the music were used to show the dynamic range of the system and what could be achieved.

A final audio solution will be decided in the near future to suit the decor of the club and obvious budgets.

Jesus Gonzalez, main DJ at The Room, requested that Old Barn Audio return to Spain to complete the install as the work carried out at Club Demode and Charada have been so successful.

The specifications of Martin Audio W8VDQ and Martin Audio WS18X cabinets are perfect for the club.  The wide angle dispersion characteristics of the Martin Audio W8VDQ cover all parts of the dance floor with a smooth powerful sound needed for the club.  The entire system will be amplified by Crown and controlled by a Martin Audio Engineer controller.

‘We’re delighted to be the chosen contractor for this project’ commented Phil Clark, Director at Old Barn Audio. ‘working abroad is always a challenge, but as long as the project is planned well, the installation will be fairly straight forward’

Utilising a Martin Audio 418 Engineer and Martin Audio AQX controllers, the whole system will be controlled and used for differing daily uses via wall-mounted remotes supplied with the Martin Audio Engineer.

Installation is to be completed in early May.

Huddersfield University - Martin Audio - Old Barn Audio Ltd

Huddersfield University have just  purchased a brand new Martin Audio system for their Barnsley Campus.  Designed by Old Barn Audio Ltd for use in their training theatre, the Martin Audio WT3 along with Martin Audio WS18X subs worked perfectly.  The system was driven by Martin Audio MA5.2k, MA2.0 and MA1.4 amplifiers and controlled and limited by a Martin Audio DX2.  The DX2, even though bigger than required, was specified to allow for future expansion of a monitoring system.

Jamie Vizard, one of Huddersfield Universities lecturers, said “As a professional sound engineer I have used (and owned) a lot of Martin Audio equipment over the years – and have always found it to sound great and remain reliable. This combined with the fact that we at University Campus Barnsley wanted industry standard, high quality equipment – lead to our decision to go with the Martin system control, amps and speaker boxes to be supplied by Old Barn Audio Ltd.”

Old Barn Audio Ltd, pre-wired the whole system into a turn-key rack and supplied all cabling for the system too.

The next phase will be for a number of Martin Audio top speakers, amplifiers and controllers, to match the exisitng compliment of Blackline S18+’s.

Old Barn Audio Ltd were appointed installers at the prestigous Charada Club in Madrid.  The design of the new system contained the excellent Martin Audio W8VDQ with Martin Audio WS218X bass enclosures.  To enhance the bass experience, custom brackets were designed by Neil Kavanagh, director of Old Barn Audio Ltd, and a pair of Martin Audio WS18X subs were flown over ther rear of the dance floor.  The ‘Red Box’ as its known in Charada (the downstairs club to you and me!) was also upgraded to Martin Audio.  Four AQ10′s were strategically placed to ensure full coverage and supported by a single Martin Audio Blackline S218+.  Both systems were powered by Martin Audio MA amplifiers and controlled by two Martin Audio Engineer controllers.  Both systems were linked for ease and use.

Kevin McNally, UK Sales Manager for Martin Audio, visited Madrid with Neil Kavanagh and Phil Clark of Old Barn Audio to handover the system and was extremely impressed with the sound, installation and overall atmosphere in the club.

Neil Kavanagh, director of Old Barn Audio Ltd admits ‘working for The Salvation Army is an honour and a relationship we look forward to servicing for many years’. Installations at Notting Hill, Norwood, Balham and Barnet are first to be upgraded.