The 2016 Rock im Bergbad open-air festival saw four high-profile acts perform in front of the panorama of Harrl and the Weser mountains of Bückeburg in Lower Saxony. For its sound set-up, technical service provider Auditiv deployed an Alcons LR18 pro-ribbon line array.
Featuring latter-day Genesis frontman Ray Wilson, The Lords, the glamrock icons Sweety Glitter & The Sweethearts, and local hardrock hero Jabba’s Cortex, the 35m x 55m audience area was served by nine Alcons LR18s per side and RR12s as near-fills. The bass was handled by six Alcons cardioid BC543 boxes, with even Sentinel S10s for power and control the system.
The compact LR18 three-way line source system combines very high SPL and long throw, using Alcons’ pro-ribbon driver technology for mid/high frequencies – giving an ultra-fast impulse response with up to 90 per cent less distortion. The LR18 offers linear reproduction with high speech intelligibility with consistent sound balance at any sound level.
Timo Osterberg was on-site as sound engineer, and supervised FOH for Jabba’s Cortex and Sweety Glitter.
‘Headroom, headroom, headroom – that’s what you immediately notice,’ he says. ‘The stereo image was fantastic; stereo effects are extremely precise to locate. The low-mids of the LR18 are so convincing that I do not know when and if I’ve ever heard such a detail. The bass was very clean and tight. Even in very low frequencies, I could not detect any conspicuous resonances.’
In addition to the direct sound characteristics, Osterberg also impressed with the system’s throw and ratio of size to sound of the array. ‘Interestingly, despite increasing distance to the system (>40m), there is hardly any sound loss,’ he says. ‘Sure, it gets a little quieter, but the sound is still there. Pressure and resolution are not a problem with the LR18 at all. Where many systems only carry pressure, but not a nice sound, the LR18 remains extremely honest and faithful even at high levels.’
Respecting the prescribed volume limitation to 100dB was not a problem, SPL averaging 98dB.
‘We have seen many concerts, including world stars in large halls or stadiums,’ says Mathias G Walter, associate of organiser Nordharrd-Concerts. ‘Not infrequently, the sound quality was painful in the truest sense of the word – shrieking highs and completely overdriven bass. We are enthusiastic about the ultra-clean and smooth sound quality that we were able to experience at concert Rock im Bergbad. The entire concert was a listening pleasure. We are already looking forward to our next event – preferably with the same technology and the same team.’
