dBS Solutions’ are pleased to announce their recent investment in Martin Audio’s ground breaking WPS System.
We’ve long been advocates of the Martin Audio sound, with both XD/DD point source systems in our hire department. In 2019 we replaced our much loved W8LM system with 40 boxes of the WPM array, which went straight into deployment on The Mercury Theatre at Abbey Field’s outdoor season followed by a UK tour of Queen Symphonic.
After careful consideration we made our first investment in Martin Audio’s more powerful WPS system.
“We’ve added to hire stock a package that will enable us to provide coverage for 2,000-plus capacity concert halls,” confirms dBS Solutions Director, Chris Bogg, “we will certainly be building on our inventory.”
Our initial investment into the world of Wavefront Precision had been driven by the fact that the Abbey Field site is surrounded by local residencies. “This called for a system that could minimise offsite noise while maximising coverage in the tent.”
We made use of the Hard Avoid feature in the proprietary DISPLAY control software to equal benefit with the Queen Symphonic UK tour. “The balance of rock music in a classical environment is always a very difficult one, not least in some of the most reverberant performing spaces in the UK. We chose the WPM as the even coverage and on-stage noise levels were critical to the tour’s success. In addition to the 35-piece symphony orchestra, there was a rock band and four West End musical vocalists. Traditional classical musicians don’t like a loud stage, and in terms of levels we were able to use Hard Avoid to remove much of that.”
As to mitigating venue reverberation, Chris commented, “I have never heard a system sounding so consistent across three or four levels [of a venue] or so tonally balanced when compared with other systems we’ve used.”
In summary, “WPM has been amazing for us and it was the confidence we had in this that led us to invest in the bigger WPS system.”
We are so pleased we invested in a system that has also been recognised with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation. The flexibility of being able to drive this system off the iKON amplifiers and the scalable resolution concept means that wavefront precision systems can offer a cost-effective solution where needed, but are also the perfect tool in very acoustically challenging enviroments.
Photo credit: Gareth Edwards and Nathan Garwood