One of Australia’s leading centres for live performance, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) offers four exceptional venues in Brisbane and provided the seyying for a recent performance of Mahler’s 7th Symphony by the London Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle. The event was broadcast without incident using a new Allen & Heath dLive system.
Led by engineer John McLennan, the QPAC AV Department had faced an urgent need to replace their previous audio console in their broadcast suite. ‘We had a Studer Vista 5 before, but when it died we needed a quick and budget-friendly replacement,’ McLennan explains. ‘After weeks of searching for options, the Allen & Heath dLive system stood out due to its flexibility, affordability, and remarkable features.’
The DM0 – the most compact dLive MixRack – was a deciding factor for the QPAC team, housing a 128-channel 96kHz XCVI processing core, providing sub-millisecond latency from input to output, complete with three 128-channel I/O ports with real-time SRC for digital audio networking with the venue’s live sound and video systems, plus dual redundant power supplies for increased peace of mind in critical broadcasts.
‘The dLive system with the DM0 rack was a perfect solution for our broadcast needs, and the price-to-performance ratio made it a no-brainer,’ confirms QPAC Audio Visual Manager, Michael Wade.
In the broadcast suite, newly equipped with a 36-fader dLive S7000 Surface, the QPAC team use the DM0 MixRack with superMadi, Waves, and Dante cards installed. The addition of the Allen & Heath DX168 and DX012 expanders provides analogue I/O, while a SoundGrid server complements the system’s processing and effects capabilities.
During the notable LSO performance, the orchestra set-up comprised of six flown Schoeps omnidirectional mics, supplemented by spot mics and room mics where required. The main set-up for the Concert Hall takes a Madi split and word clock from the DiGiCo SD-Rack handling the FOH sound into the superMadi card on the Allen & Heath DM0 in the broadcast suite. The word clock then runs into an Isochone Trinity which distributes word clock, Genlock, and time code via a Rosenburg Mif4 to all broadcast equipment.
The mix on the dLive S7000 Surface uses Genelec monitors and an Auratone mono loudspeaker, and then the is over to video land to be embedded into the recorders.
The dLive system demonstrated its capabilities during the performance, splitting outputs to SoundGrid, Dante or Madi for multitrack recording. The virtual soundcheck feature also provided invaluable convenience, and is now regularly used by the team. Further, the intuitive nature of the system, coupled with powerful scene management, has streamlined the entire audio capturing process.
‘With SRC on all the digital cards, we experienced unparalleled freedom in our audio production,’ McLennan says. ‘The system sounds great, is reliable and, bang for buck, is in a class of its own.’
More: www.allen-heath.com
