In today’s loudspeaker systems market there are myriad contenders that offer varied quality and performance, rendering a purchase decision quite daunting, writes Greg Bester.

Line array technology and popularity has seen massive growth over the past decade or so and has virtually pushed point source and traditional touring systems to the sidelines for large scale events.
This is largely due to the fact that line arrays are easier to rig, have smaller footprints, are scalable, and if properly engineered, can provide clear, powerful sound to a large audience with ease. Not to mention the fact that audience coverage can be finely tuned with line array calculation software and adjustments made on the fly either physically, or via DSP.

These are just some of the advantages that line arrays offer, so it’s easy to see why they are so popular, why so many companies now manufacture them and why so many more AV companies are purchasing them.
One manufacturer that has been making waves (pun intended) and has posed themselves as a serious competitor in the line array market has been the Valencia, Spain-based company D.A.S. Audio.

DAS has supplied high quality pro audio equipment to the pro audio community for the past 40 years and has grown from a small audio laboratory, which started out supplying sound systems for the emerging dance club scene in Spain in the early 70s, to the global force that it is today. With headquarters in Valencia spanning 24 000 square metres and their network of distributors spanning the globe, DAS is now truly a force of audio technology to be reckoned with.

South African DAS distributor Complete Event Solutions has also been making waves of late – literally – by supplying the audio systems for H20 2012 at Wild Waters in Boksburg, along with the many other events they cater for year round. I had a chance to catch up with CES technical manager Leslie Wahl and managing director Dylan Bridle at Wild Waters to check out their flagship DAS line array rig for the main stage, to talk shop, and to take a listen.

First impressions

Arriving at Wild Waters and parking my car, I was warmly greeted by Leslie and his team and then given a quick demonstration of the system. Having personally had experience with DAS rigs (big and small) for the past 10 years, I knew that they would have no problem producing the volume that is needed for such a dance event where big bass and a smooth mid-range is a must.

You can’t have a rig up there spilling out uncomfortable frequencies at the volumes needed to get peoples’ hips gyrating and their heads bobbing. What you need is a rig that can comfortably push 115dB without becoming strident or piercing and, of course, the bass needs to be full and chest pounding. Before I get into the specifics of the system, suffice it to say that this is a large format line array with lots of power and is comprised of (mostly) current DAS products.
A wide variety of music was played for me from the typical dance music that would be the focus of the event to UB40 and Sade to showcase the versatility of the system. My first impression was that the bass was definitely large and in charge, but not uncomfortably so. It was, shall we say ’bumped’.

Given that this is a dance event where there will be lots of bodies soaking up both pressure and water waves, I could understand why this approach was taken. Speaking about the low end dispersion, Bridle remarked: “We’re not allowed to go too loud so we’re trying to stop the bass here,’ as he pointed to the edge of the wave pool. Interestingly, this is exactly what I noticed while taking my initial walk-around because as I stepped towards the fringe of the water, I noticed an appreciable drop in bass. I would say their aim was achieved.

Addressing the mid-range, I felt it was smooth, unobtrusive and clear. There were no uncomfortable frequencies in the upper registers either, and I stood impressed at the overall listening comfortability of the system at the volume at which it was presented. There are many line arrays – cheap and expensive – that tend to have an ugly bark in this range and this system clearly did not have it. The top end too was pleasant, not fatiguing, and brought out that highly sought-after “airy’ vocal quality.

Finally coverage of the main dance zone was consistent and broad with very little phase interference and minimal spectral dropouts. When walking to the outer extremes of the main dance zone, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the reproduction of the music suffered very little from end to end as the top end and mid-range retained its clarity and the bass remained fairly consistent. This system, for all intents and purposes, was clearly set up correctly.

Nitty gritty

DAS systems were selected for all the entertainment areas of H20, from the main stage to the surrounding supplemental dance zones. The main stage was outfitted with eight of DAS’s large format Aero50s per side as the core system, and then adaption frames loaded with four self-powered Aero 12As per side were fitted to the bottom of each array to supply near fill.

Powering the Aero 50 boxes came courtesy of Lab Gruppen, with one 10 000Q model being used per two Aero 50 boxes, albeit running at around 60% power. Completing the mid-high system, two self-powered Aero-28 eight-inch line array boxes were positioned on top of the center subwoofers for centre fill.
For the low end, two models of subwoofers were used to supply the pounding bass that was going to be necessary for the night ahead. First, 12 dual 18′ LX-218 subwoofers per side were positioned under each main array. These boxes are part of DAS’s current Aero range and, to my ears, provided the very low stuff where sub-synths and bass drops reside. These boxes extend all the way down to 28Hz from 100Hz!

Then, to supplement the LX-218s, twelve older model dual 18′ horn-loaded ST-218s were positioned at centre stage. These boxes extend from 300 to 35Hz so, to my ears, this is where the chest pounding, “thuddy’ 100 to 200Hz frequencies were emanating from. They made, in my opinion, a great marriage with the otherwise “lower register’ LX-218 boxes and filled in the gaps nicely. Crown Macrotech and MC² E100 amplifiers were chosen to power the subwoofers.

Speaker management and system DSP duties were handled by two DAS DSP processors: one DSP-4080 eight-way controller running the Aero 50s and the subs in four-way system configuration, and one DSP-2060A running the Aero 28s and the Aero 12s. The system was configured to be as flat as possible with virtually no EQ being applied at the program level, which is testament to just how good this system sounds without any processing.

In conclusion

It’s easy to think that there are very few line array manufacturers out there who are getting it right. What we really want, after all, is a system that doesn’t require too much trickery and fiddling to supply high quality sound and one that is also easy to set up and utilise. Once you get over the hype and mass marketing that we sift through on a daily basis all that is left to do is to simply listen with your ears. An answer will come.

Well, I can tell you, that after taking a listen to CES’s DAS rig with my own ears, the honest answer is that it is excellent! I have no qualms at all about calling this a fantastic sounding, good value, high quality line array system that will stand up confidently to any of the competition. CES has certainly chosen their products wisely and I am confident they will be making many more feet stomp and heads bob for years to come.

By Greg Bester