Located northeast of Jinjing Bay, in the Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Area of the Fujian Province, Pingtan International Performing Arts Centre seats 1,500, to witness productions such as the stage play Pingtan Impression, directed by famous Chinese dancer Yang Liping.
When A/V solutions provider EZPro was handed responsibility to supply the sound reinforcement system for the theatre, reliability and versatility were high on the list of priorities, as was the ability to meet the demands of different types of performance.
‘Flexibility is absolutely critical,’ confirms EZPro Technical Manager, Fan Gaoqing. ‘With a dLive system, we could store and recall different modes by using Show Files, Scenes, and the Preset Librar,- allowing us to achieve very efficient changes.’
Alongside this the dLive audio engine resides in the MixRack, which makes transporting the surface super easy and efficient – another big plus for the theatre.
EZPro opted for a dLive S7000 Surface as the main, and a dLive C3500 as backup. The dLive S7000 is the largest Surface in the dLive range, providing 36 faders and dual 12-inch touchscreens, with 26 assignable SoftKeys for workflow customisation. The C3500 offers 24 faders and dual screens, with 19 assignable SoftKeys, making it a space-saving backup option for the main S7000.
A DM64 MixRack in the control room, connected to the S7000 via the integrated gigaAce port, handles audio processing with a gigaAce audio networking card installed for connection to the backup C3500 Surface. The DM64 is the largest MixRack in the dLive range. Built around the same 128-input/64-output 96kHz processing core as the rest of the dLive range, the DM64 is equipped with 64 mic/line inputs and 32 line outputs, plus redundant power supplies and a trio of 128x128 audio networking ports.
To provide additional analogue I/O that can be relocated throughout the venue, a DX32 Modular Expander was deployed, equipped with three analogue input cards to provide 24 more analogue inputs to the system.
Elsewhere in the building there were third-party Madi devices that needed to be on the same audio network. To accommodate these devices, EZPro fitted a SuperMadi audio networking card to the S7000 to deliver 128 channels of Madi I/O at 96kHz with highly flexible routing options.
EZPro also used a compact IP8 Controller to provide tactile control of levels away from the main mix position. Connected through the network port on the S7000, the convenience of the mixing system was greatly enhanced.
‘The dLive system ticks all the boxes. A flexible FOH position, ease-of-use and fast set-up,’ Fan says. ‘And the variety of built-in Deep Processors greatly helped FOH engineers to deliver a studio-quality mix in the large venue.’
