One of the larggest open-air events of its kind in the country, Rock In Japan is held over four days on two consecutive weekends. This year’s event attracted more than 68,000 people each day, totalling in excess of 272,000 in all. Tickets sold out in advance, and many TV stations reported a successful event.
Martin Audio Japan has employed its MLA speakers at RIJ for many years, and covered the main Grass Stage with its equipment for 2017. While this again included the MLA series, all attention was focused on the new XE500 floor monitors along the front edge of the stage, seen for the first time in Japan and or the Asia-Pacific region. Powered by an equally new Martin Audio iK42 amplifier it made an outstanding debut on the main stage. There were seven stages at the event in total, and Martin Audio products featured on four of them.
‘When I tried [the XE500] before the show, I felt it was really suitable for a female singer with a whispered voice,’ says monitor engineer Tomo Nishigawa, who mixed rock band, Dragon Ash on the opening day. ‘We went in without any rehearsal onstage but the monitors caused great excitement. In fact after the show, the band described the experience as really superb. The monitor could reference the sound so clearly that each of the musicians could define whether the sound was coming from the monitor or the DJ set during the show. We have never experienced such a faithful reproduction before.’
Nishigawa was joined by other musicians and sound engineers in expressing surprise at the quality of this monitor during the festival. The highly specified and engineered XE500 combines enormous output capability with exceptional sonic performance, coverage control and consistency. From a touring perspective, the drivers feature powerful neodymium magnet structures, both to maximise performance and reduce weight.
On the Grass Stage, the PA comprised main hangs of 22 MLA elements on each of the two main hangs, with 18 MLA for out fill on each side. A further eight MLA were deployed on the right side only as the park layout is asymmetrical. Martin Audio products also featured on the Lake Stage, with main PA hangs of 12 MLA on each side, and 12 mono MLX subwoofers installed in front of the stage. Meanwhile, Park Stage and Forest Stage each saw ten MLA elements hung on each wing, with complementary sub arrays, the former also with ten MLA Compact.
Following the festival, Martin Audio Japan was anticipating high demand, as it delivers the first batch of XE500s to its Japanese clients.
More: www.martin-audio.com
