Local events staged in Holland and Spain gave current and prospective dBTechnologies customers their first opportunity to get up close to dBTechnologies’ latest and largest line array module, DVA T12 in a stadium set-up.
‘What better way to find out about the T12 than to actually hear it in a live situation?’ says dBTechnologies MD, Michael Herweg. ‘In my experience this is the only way to fully appreciate what the product has to offer.’
Holland’s Kerkrade football stadium was the backdrop for the Dutch event, where visitors were able to hear different configurations for a DVA system. Twenty-four T12 units were flown (12 per side) and after hearing these, tracks were played through the 36 T4 units (18 per side). Subwoofers were then added to create a full system for each DVA model: four stacks each of three S30s augmented the T12s and the 12 S10 flown centre stage, augmented the T4 system.
‘In order to demonstrate that T12 can be counted among “industry standard” line arrays, we decided to set up a well-known French competitor’s system on the day,’ explains Herweg. ‘It’s not a case of being better, we just want to prove T12 can hold its own when compared to a similar sized system.’
The two line arrays were flown alongside each other and a light was illuminated to show which system was being used at the time. Various tracks were played through each, swapping between the two systems for direct comparison. ‘dBTechnologies was really impressive,’ says Herweg. ‘The T4 at low SPL was very convincing, even next to the T12. The T12 certainly kept pace with the competition; the sound was more transparent and seemed to have a broader frequency range. When we engaged the full T12 system with the subwoofers, it sounded incredible.’
There was a lot of positive feedback about the sound of the system, including Bob Offenbach from Bolution BV: ‘The new line array from dBTechnologies is compact, powerful and extremely flexible.’ But it was the price point that really stunned: ‘Best value for money ever!’ said a spokesperson for De Grooth Audio.
Running concrrently in a private outdoor space in Madrid, local company Sound Service lent a hand with a demo using eight T12 boxes per side, and two T12s with four T4 units in a centre array. Eight S30 subwoofers in clusters of two formed a subwoofer array on the ground beneath. Juan-Miguel Ramonde of dBTechnologies explains: ‘Initially we played a few tracks using just the centre speakers - in mono. Then we added the two sets of eight T12s, at this point still without subs. Finally we played some tracks using complete system, and I’m happy to say the customers were amazed all the way through.’
A representative from Projeccio Visual from Valencia, said ‘I’ve already got some T4s, and there’s no question that I’m going to order some T12s. With their greater throw, they are exactly what I need for more coverage. It sounds great.’
‘Another customer – also a T4 owner – was particularly interested in the sub array set-up of the bass bins,’ Ramonde adds. ‘We definitely had excellent interest during the day.’
Visitors totalled more than 200 at the two demonstration events including new customers, those looking to add to their DVA T4 stock and technicians curious to find out more. Before the listening tests, those visitors new to dBTechnologies were introduced to the brand, then there followed presentations about what led Claudio Ottani and his team to the final design of the T12 and more detailed information about the technology behind the company’s latest digital line array.
‘Both events were a great success,’ Herweg concludes. ‘We hope events like these will help people see that dBTechnologies really is getting serious about line array.’
More: www.dbtechnologies.com
