AUDIO-VISUAL
MAY | SECTOR FOCUS
The industry’s peak
organisers and supplier
discuss AV demands in
2019
ED JACKSON, TOUR
SOUND APPLICATION
ENGINEER, HARMAN
The best place to put a
sound source is in a position
that is equidistant from every
member of the audience at the
same time, but as this would
mean that we would have
to use hundreds of speakers
that could hover above the
audience. In the real world of
sound engineering we have
to go for the less exciting
option of pointing sets of
speakers at the audience…
generally from the stage end.
Availability of stage rigging,
budget and time are big factors
in system design. So much so
that the actual sound quality
is sometimes a secondary
consideration.
With all of these limitations
you need a speaker system
that you can be confident can
give an even sound quality
to the whole audience easily
and quickly and this is where I
have been very lucky to see the
development of the JBL VTX
A8 and A12 (I’d love to be able
to say that we are working on
hovering speakers).
For speed in set up, the
rigging system is so easy and
quick that even my production
manager can do it, and it
comes down so quickly that we
can have the PA down and the
crew going home before they
realise it. For consistent sound
quality covering the audience,
the product management team
have developed an obsession
with even horizontal coverage,
and this is where a little
science comes in.
Most speakers sound
different when you stand in
Ed Jackson
front of them (on axis) than
when you stand off to the side
of them (off axis). Generally
speakers are measured to
sound good in the “on axis”
position and sound a bit worse
in the “off axis” position.
As an audience member, or
a FOH engineer, it’s actually
very rare that you are standing
in front of the of the speakers,
most of the time you are in the
centre(ish) of two speakers,
in the off axis where most
speakers actually sound a bit
worse.
The JBL VTX A8 and A12
have been designed so that
they sound great off axis
position as well as in the on
axis position, meaning that
the whole audience gets an
even quality of sound. Because
this has been done by some
very clever physical design
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