Press release
29.07.2011 - Sennheiser UK
DAS Road Series monitors make world debut at UK festivals
With vagaries of the British climate offering plenty of rain from above and mud from below, festival stages provide one of the toughest environments for wedge monitors. But the confidence of rental company APR Audio in the new DAS Road Series meant that they had no qualms about giving them their world concert debut at three major UK festivals.
Seen for the first time in a concert situation at London’s Feis, the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury and the Hop Farm festival in Kent, the trust that APR boss Andy Reed put in one of his engineers was richly rewarded.
“We had never used DAS before, but Sennheiser UK’s Nick Pemberton suggested that we have a look at them,” says Andy. “My monitor engineer Fabrizio went over and said to me ‘Take these on, they’re going to be great.’ I took him at his word and they’ve been way above our expectations.”
The powered Road Series comprises two models, the 12A and 15A. With 12” or 15” bass driver respectively, both feature an M-75 compression driver with 1.5” exit, a 3” titanium diaphragm and EFW voice coil. Each model is powered by a two channel 3G Class D amplifier (delivering 550w LF plus 220w HF) and features carrying handles on each side and a heavy duty Iso-Flex paint finish.
With both available in either right- or left-handed versions, the low-profile design makes minimum visual impact. Alternatively, the inclusion of a standard pole-mount socket means that the Road Series is also ideal for use as a pole-mountable, multi-purpose system.
“We chose them because they’re light, they’re active and they’re absolute dynamite,” says Andy. “They sound fantastic, the power is incredible, there’s no weight to them at all and we’ve got very high volumes with no feedback at all. And we're taking very little out on EQ, which saves a lot of messing around.”
As well as these attributes, the Road Series proved their versatility by being used with a wide range of artists at each festival. These included Thin Lizzy, Christy Moore, Clannad and The Cranberries - in fact every act except Bob Dylan - at Feis; every act on the John Peel stage at Glasto including GlasVegas, Miles Kane, Example and Warpaint and most of the Main Stage acts at the Hop Farm, including Tinie Tempah, Eliza Doolittle and climaxing with that notorious perfectionist Prince.
“We were told that Prince was very pleased with the stage sound, which was fantastic,” Andy continues. “At Feis Thin Lizzy’s guys thought they were outstanding, they said the stage sound was unbelievable. And on the John Peel Stage it was the best stage sound we’ve ever had.
“The stage technicians were also really pleased. On a festival stage it’s important to have really light and compact monitors. When you‘ve got a lot of acts, you don’t want to have to keep moving big heavy wedges. But with the Road Series it was very easy.
“They stood up fabulously well at all three events and we’re continuing to enjoy great success with them. They are already our first choice monitor and we’ve got a number of other open air shows coming up that they’ll be used on this summer. I am also going to see DAS in Spain soon, to listen to their other products.”
The Leftfield stage at Glastonbury also featured DAS equipment, in the form of an Aero12A line array, supplied by SouthWest Audio. Comprising 12 Aero12a, four Aero8a and 12 LX218a subs. Artists using the system included Billy Bragg, Paul Heaton, Reverend & The Makers and Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly.
“We’d done a gig with Newton Faulkner in Bath the week before Glastonbury and the Sennheiser guys had come down to demo the DAS system,” says SouthWest’s Mark Bott. “I was really impressed with it. It’s a really well rounded system and it sounded fantastic.
“We were so impressed we were keen to get it out in the right place and, although this was the first year we’d done the Left Field stage, we decided to go for it. It was a great success with a variety of bands really enjoyed using it.”
SouthWest also deployed a K-array KR400 system during the Left Field stage’s daytime debate sessions, for which a small thrust stage was positioned forward of the DAS system.
“We needed a solution that would get the necessary coverage, but that was discrete,” explains Mark. “The K-array was perfect. It was absolutely seamless and the coverage of the area was impressive.
“We also used the K-array system for an acoustic backstage session for BBC Introducing that also went out on air. It really is such a solution system, it’s amazing.”
Naturally, the Somerset fields also saw a considerable amount of Sennheiser’s own microphones, in-ears and wireless systems. The John Peel Stage featured 2000 Series in-ears in GB-w range, G3 wireless microphones with 935 heads plus evolution radio and wired mics, including e 935 vocal mics.
Meanwhile the Park Stage had 2000 series wireless mics with 935 heads and 2000 series plug-in transmitters on GB-w range, as well as ew 300 G3 IEM systems and further evolution radio and wired mics.
“Mark and Andy from Sennheiser are amazing, their support is always fantastic,” Mark recalls. “If you have any issues it’s one phone call and it’s dealt with. For us, that’s priceless, especially when we’re doing so much across three different areas.
“I had five artics of kit and 40 crew on site this year and what you don’t need are headaches with spurious radio equipment. The great thing about Sennheiser equipment is that there’s never a problem with the kit, it’s always that someone else is going over your frequency. The Sennheiser guys will deal with that sort of thing - that level of support is invaluable.”
“It’s proving a very successful summer for both our own equipment and the brands that we distribute in the UK,” says Sennheiser UK’s Mark Saunders.
“We have been really pleased at the impact the DAS Road Series monitors have made on the guys at APR Audio and the artists and crews who have used them,” adds Sennheiser UK’s live sound specialist, Dave Wooster. “There is no better recommendation than a positive response from end users.
“With the number of UK festivals of all sizes continuing to increase, we are sure that other rental companies will be interested in monitors that address all the requirements of festival stages so perfectly. That is in addition to them being ideal for a wide range of multi-purpose indoor venues.”
Hi res images are available for download here.
All pictures courtesy of Mark Saunders and Andy Lillywhite
For more information about Sennheiser please visit www.sennheiser.co.uk or call:
Sarah James, Sennheiser Pro PR
T: 01372 471472
E-mail: sarahj@gasolinemedia.com