Serving the US upper Midwest from Fargo, North Dakota, regional audio provider Purple Hat Productions has built a reputation among national touring bands for delivering sound rigs and crews. Company owner Sean Boe is also tour manager and FOH engineer for Hairball, a celebration of arena rock that tours both regionally and nationally.
Purple Hat recently invested in a new sound system built around Electro-Voice line arrays and the latest DSP-equipped amplifiers from EV’s sister brand Dynacord.
‘Hairball are a significant part of our business, which was the main motivation for upgrading our systems,’ Boe says. ‘They do about 150 shows a year, carrying Purple Hat production for roughly half of them. It’s a big 80s-style arena rock show, and this EV and Dynacord system delivers the rock ’n’ roll energy required for a show like Hairball and other touring acts. We’ve already used it for shows with Robert Plant, REO Speedwagon and Dropkick Murphys.’
Purple Hat’s purchase includes 18 XLC127DVX array elements along with eight of EV’s X12-128 dual-18-inch subwoofers. Networked power and control comes courtesy of three Dynacord TGX20 system racks. These preconfigured racks come from the factory with three TGX20 DSP amplifiers, two independent network switches, power distribution and I/O. Purple Hat also bought three 10U-high rolling racks with sliding doors, for 180kW of network-controlled output power across 36 channels. Four EVC-1082 two-way 8-inch loudspeakers from EV’s new compact EVC series serve as front fills.
‘With Hairball, I mix on a lot of different PA systems, so I’ve heard all the major brands, and I’m convinced that EV has the best products out there,’ Boe says, ‘The XLC is a great compact three-way 12-inch box, and the X12-128 is easily the most impressive sub I’ve ever used. It’s a nice, tight punchy, warm sub that I can’t imagine anyone not falling in love with.’
Coupled with the fully networked power and processing from the Dynacord amp racks, including FIR presets for the XLC boxes, Boe feels ready to tackle any challenge with the system: ‘The flexibility on them is great, and they’re easy to reconfigure for different sized shows. Plus, the factory support that EV and Dynacord provides, even for a fairly small company like mine, is amazing. When I call with a question – for example, about programming the new amps – I actually get a call back, even on a weekend. Where else do you get support like that these days?’
Boe is also impressed with other benefits his new system provides, starting with the networking and power efficiency of the Dynacord amplifiers: ‘I can take my three compact amp racks and run 12 tops a side, 12 subs and front fill with ease,’ he says. ‘When you run sound on the road, efficiency matters – especially being based up in Fargo. Whether transporting it or mixing on it, this system does what I need better than anything else.’
More: www.electrovoice.com
