American Music & Sound | An Exertis JAM Business

When Calvary Chapel of the High Desert in Hesperia, CA was looking to upgrade their entire PA system, they contacted E2i Design – a total solutions provider that specializes in full-service House of Worship technology and installation. 

“We’ve got a very deep bench – everything from IT, audio, video, lighting, streaming, construction, and architecture,” said Evan Hamilton, CTO of E2i Design. “We can pick up a project at basically any phase and run from there.”

The church was managing with 26-year-old technology, but sought something more powerful and user-friendly for volunteers. “They were unhappy with the flow and format of their existing console,” noted Hamilton. “They also were looking to add a separate mixer to handle broadcast and streaming of their services.”

The design team at E2i, led by Install Manager Jason Horn, suggested Allen & Heath as the optimal solution for their mixing consoles, specifically two 64-channel Avantis desks; one handles their FOH and monitor mixes, while the second is dedicated to broadcast/streaming. “Avantis, bang-for-the-buck, is the number one desk on the market right now,” said Hamilton. “These were probably the 25^th and 26^th Avantis consoles we’ve put in – we’re always happy with them.” 

The third mixer based on the Allen & Heath 96kHz XCVI FPGA engine, Avantis puts next-generation technology in a 64 channel / 42 configurable bus console, with dual Full HD touchscreens, a super-flexible workflow with Continuity UI, extensive I/O options, add-on processing from the flagship dLive mixing system, and a rugged full metal chassis. With two I/O Ports, both capable of 128×128 operation at 96kHz, Avantis was a top choice due to its capacity for expanding and connecting the Calvary Chapel system via an optional Dante card and the possibility for future expansion via MADI and gigaACE if necessary. 

For connections at the stage, they went with five of the Dante-enabled DT164-W wall-mounted I/O boxes – adding network flexibility and reducing cabling significantly. “They had 60 channels of analog snake. We pulled all that out and replaced it with a single CAT6 cable,” said Hamilton. All DT stageboxes simply connect to a single Dante card in the FOH Avantis. The FOH console ultimately connects to a newly installed array of d&b ALi60 loudspeakers which are powered via d&b 40D amplifiers. 

Since the installation was completed in late March of 2022, Hamilton has received plenty of positive feedback from the users at the Church. “We didn’t realize how bad our sound and operations were until E2i Design installed this system,” noted worship pastor Blake Ormonde. “The ease of use with the Avantis boards for our volunteers has been a game changer. The clarity of our new system is top notch and has provided better quality worship for our congregation to engage in. We couldn’t be happier with the new install!” ///

Since its launch in 1987, SXSW (South by Southwest) has grown into one of the largest festivals of its kind, presenting parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences which take place across Austin, Texas. Allen & Heath was there in force for 2022 with a team presenting a number of daily show recap videos, rig rundowns and exclusive engineer interviews, tips and tricks from key Allen & Heath-equipped venues throughout the festival. Operating from their home base at the British Music Embassy’s (BME) new Cedar Street Courtyard location, realtime ‘backstage’ content was posted to their new dedicated ‘Allen & Heath @ SXSW 2022’ webpage (https://www.allen-heath.com/sxsw)

Provided by Texas-based Epicenter Productions and supported by UK-based live events campus Production Park, the BME Cedar Street Courtyard featured a trio of Allen & Heath dLive consoles. A S5000 was at FOH, a connected S5000 also covered monitors, and a compact dLive CTi1500 provided production and continuity functionality. Powered by a trio of MixRacks (one DM64 and two DM0), gigaACE cards provided 96kHz 128×128 interconnects alongside Waves and Dante options as needed. A DX32 96kHz Modular Expander housed 16 channels of the company’s PRIME preamp inputs, offering next-generation DC coupled gain stage preamplification which eliminates the LF distortion typical of AC coupling, vastly improving low frequency linearity and phase response. 16 channels of PRIME output channels will also be nestled within the DX32 frame, featuring improved inter channel cross-talk which results in optimal stereo field and depth. An Allen & Heath SQ-5 served up a broadcast mix feed of the various acts throughout the duration of the event.

“The dLive source expander and dual threshold expander tools really were put to use at the BME this year,” noted Jez Dabbs, Subfrantic Audio Specialist and FOH engineer. “The gates and presets that were already in the dLive are amazing and the new DEEP plugins from the V1.9 update took things to the next level. We’re getting it to sound better and better all the time. We were also amazed at the stability of the desks. We rarely turned them off in the last week and even with all the dust and the rounds of different engineers and show files and setups, everything was rock solid.”

With thirteen of The Austin Chronicle’s “101 Essential Acts at SXSW” performing throughout the week at the British Music Embassy Stage, the venue is a key outlet for scoping out upcoming bands and musical trends. “Getting a chance to do our part to support up and coming acts from a wide variety of genres via the British Music Embassy Stage is really amazing,” notes Allen & Heath USA Marketing Manager Jeff Hawley. “Not only was the festival a great way to get media attention for musicians and artists of all types from around the world, but we of course got to shine a light on the technical crew and the the support staff and live sound companies doing such great work on the ground in Austin and the touring engineers who are out with the bands ensuring the shows sound their best. We always come away from the event with new friends and great connections being made and the 2022 run was extra special as we returned in person in a big way for everyone.”

Continuing the trend from previous years which featured a range of audio systems in addition to the British Music Embassy, Allen & Heath videos and social content from SXSW 2022 also highlighted diverse applications such as the compact Qu Series at an intimate comedy club setting and an Avantis / GLD / SQ Dante-enabled system supporting livestream broadcasts for the local NPR station and famed Studio 6A (former Austin City Limits) venue. A special live session of the ‘Allen & Heath Mini Masterclass’ training program was produced from the Cedar Street Courtyard venue, featuring Allen & Heath Pro Live (dLive | Avantis | ME) Product Specialist Jack Kenyon and Allen & Heath USA Live Sound / Touring Manager, Mike Bangs. Smaller corporate event ‘rig rundowns’ with the analog ZED mixers and the dLive C1500 were also part of the 2022 content series.

“Whether you are an established engineer looking to pick up some new tips on quick festival changeovers or seeing what compressors and plug-ins are showing up out in the field—or you are an aspiring audio beginner looking for a peek behind the audio production scenes,” adds Hawley, “our goal was to have you covered with this year’s content from SXSW.”

Kentucky based AVL consulting and installation experts JCA Media continue to push the audio, video and lighting technology envelope with their latest upgrade project for the Finley Stadium / Citizens Bank Field press box and connected facilities at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Kentucky. At the heart of the more than nine miles of combined AV cabling across the venue, JCA Media selected an Allen & Heath dLive CDM32 MixRack, a compact dLive C1500 surface and a plethora of remote control options to provide the audio mixing heavy lifting.

“While it is a large building, it is primarily a football system with a few open mics needed for the main PA,” notes JCA Media Project Manager Alex Peake. “The PA mix comes from an Allen & Heath IP8 Remote Control, an 11-1/2” wide motorized 8-fader remote that works with the dLive system. The main PA operator just wanted quick level control for the stadium announcer mic, ref’s mic, and music—a sidecar sort of functionality which the IP8 handles with ease. A dLive C1500 Control Surface lives in the broadcast room where the crew can quickly tweak EQs and compression for the broadcast mix to be a little more hands-on there. It’s really cool just how flexible dLive is when it comes to both control and I/O options, especially since there are two broadcast rooms, a classroom on the second floor, and the President’s Suite on the third floor that all have I/O requirements as well. We used DX168 remote I/O units in each location that flow in and out of the CDM32 to give me the needed connectivity in those rooms. Audio control in each of the spaces is handled by wall mounted IP1s or the more tactile IP8s.”

“These IP1 and IP8 units are so powerful,” Peake adds. “They are a quick way to give control of a dLive or Avantis or even an AHM. We connected them via a standard TCP/IP network connection and easily interface with other controllers and computers—all on a standard ethernet infrastructure. Campbellsville has an IP8 in front of the Play-by-play operators. Layer A is the monitor mix for Play-by-play 1 while Layer B lets Play-by-play 2 adjust their monitor mix. This is a pretty cool application with two of the six IP8 fader layers used as a monitor mixer for multiple folks.”

“When they play stingers or commercials that show up on the huge stadium display and PA, they didn’t just want that audio mix to be managed in the Tricaster,” noted Peake. “They instead wanted to bring it out to fine-tune via the dLive along with their play-by-play mics and ref mics that then would route back to the Tricaster. Dante allows us to pull from the Tricaster media pool and send to the dLive to combine and mix as needed and roundtrip it back to the Tricaster program feed. This routing used to be much more technically complicated in the previous system design, but now Dante and dLive combine to add the power and flexibility and simplicity they need.”

dLive Director is also in use across any zone in the venue which requires audio control. From exterior tailgating zones and over to the press box and various interior zones, access points for dLive Director offer audio control where and when it is needed. A multi-platform editor and control software for dLive, dLive Director allows for system configuration offline before the game starts and full control of the mix live using a Mac or PC laptop or touch tablet. “If someone doesn’t have quick access to the dLive C1500 in the broadcast room,” Peake notes, “they can pull it up right where they are on their Mac and run what they need to. Pretty much wherever we have a screen, we’ve got access to Director—and therefore access to the dLive.”

Named after Campbellsville University’s longest serving football coach, Ron Finley, the Finley Stadium / Citizens Bank Field press box contains a wide array of state of the art AVL gear. With over 20 Danley cabinets, Shure QLX-D microphones, a Blackmagic 288×288 Videohub, nearly 50 Green-GO comm drops, Panasonic PTZ cameras, Lyntec power control, Winsted production room command consoles, and lighting from Chauvet and The Light Source, Finley Stadium is equipped to excel in live, streamed and distributed audio and video well into the future.

With combined record sales of over 70 million units, 100 years of performances across world stages, and storied histories spanning from gospel to classic rock, the Little River Band and The Oak Ridge Boys each meet the definition of musical icons. After a search for a more modern and flexible mixing console to serve the diverse needs of both acts, Nashville based Brantley Sound wholeheartedly recommended the Allen & Heath Avantis Digital Mixing System.

“Little River Band had been carrying a [non-Allen & Heath] console for quite some time at monitors,” noted Brantley Sound Director of Operations Zachariah Orbin. “Avantis checked all of the boxes and then some when it came to finding a next-level replacement. Its compact design, overall ease of use, and horsepower under the hood were primary factors in that decision.”

Avantis is the third console based on the XCVI engine, pioneered by the Allen & Heath R&D team using next generation FPGA technology, with parallel virtual processing cores generating enough power for 88×42 channels of processing (including FX returns) at a 96kHz sampling rate. The massive power of XCVI (25 billion operations per second) allows Avantis to its high channel count full audio processing duties, variable bit depth for ultimate precision and noise performance, virtually infinite mix headroom thanks to a 96 bit accumulator, and class-leading latency at an ultra-low 0.7ms.

“We set it up for a day of rehearsals and I used that time to get the console in-between the artist and their inputs,” adds Orbin. “Immediately their was response was an overwhelming, ‘Yes, this is it!’” Speaking to his approach during the demo process with the band, Orbin explains how he configured an easy A/B comparison by “using the free Director software, cloning EQ and dynamics from the previous console and setting them out on various channels and busses.” For the initial test, Orbin “didn’t engage them since I wanted to see what the Avantis would do naturally.” Using this method, the band could hear a close approximation of the previous desk, the more direct ‘flat’ Avantis mix and then an easy flip to engage Avantis preamp models and more advanced sonic tools.

“I was excited when I could apply some of the preamp models in this manner on the fly and see how the band would react to them—all with positive responses,” Orbin notes. “Some of the features I appreciate the most is being able to use the console’s setup flexibility mid show, changing my workflow as I become more aware of the breadth of navigation possibilities. I love this desk!”

Marko Hunt, front of house engineer for The Oak Ridge Boys, shared a similar story about their recent transition to Avantis. “I had the pleasure of checking out one of Mike Bangs’ (Allen & Heath Live Sound & Touring Manager) dLive training classes a while back,” says Hunt. “One of the things I took away from Bangs was how simple and straightforward the dLive workflow is. I felt I could just go out and do a show. This type of workflow approach carries through to the Avantis. But the truth is it’s as simple or complex as you want to make it.”

While outfitted with a robust suite of native dynamics and effects by default, an optional Avantis dPack provides an upgrade of additional dLive processing including Dyn8 (up to 16 instances), DEEP Compressors, the Dual Stage Valve Preamp, plus more models as they’re added. Trusted by platinum selling artists on sellout tours, DEEP puts incredible emulations directly within Avantis’ input and mix channels with no third party gear hassles, no burning of effects slots, and no issues with latency or with phase coherency. Avantis dPack also delivers Dyn8, a powerful processor boasting 4 bands of dynamic EQ and 4 bands of multiband compression. With endless applications including taming vocals, tightening sub-groups or adding sonic glue to a mix, dPack enables 16 Dyn8 engines for inserting on Input and Mix channels.

“What struck me from the first show was the clarity of the preamps and how quickly I could dial in the vocals with the channel EQ’s, Dyn8 and great selection of compressors in dPack,” says Hunt. Keen to share a Dyn8 tip he recently picked up, he adds, “To get crisp side-stick on the snare, use the dynamic EQ by setting the high mid just above 1kHz, set narrow and boosted several dB. Adjust the threshold so that when side-stick cracks, the peak remains—but when the snare is hit hard, the peak flattens out. Solves an age old problem.”

Asked to sum up his thoughts on Avantis, Hunt adds, “It’s amazing that a desk that is this compact can be so powerful. The two very large touch screens are less than an arms reach away and with 24 easily accessible SoftKeys programmable for a large variety of functions, I’m not hunched over my desk hunting for stuff when I need it. We’re really happy with the rig all around.”

Little River Band

The Oak Ridge Boys

Brantley Sound

California Vibrations (Cali Vibes) was held over three days at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, CA, with over 60,000 attendees gathering in the 75-degree California sun to celebrate reggae music and culture. Running from noon each day and open to all ages, key festival audio was provided by Smoke and Mirrors Productions. A full service event and production company with over 20 years of experience producing large-scale events, Smoke and Mirrors selected the diminutive Allen & Heath C1500.

Allen & Heath’s first rack mountable (19” wide) console in the dLive range, the C1500 paired with a DM48 MixRack to provide 48 mic/line inputs, 24 line outputs and access to the XCVI 160×64 FPGA core dLive power. Festival interface and audio split flexibility was provided by a trio of network audio cards—Dante, Waves and MADI. With 128 channels of bidirectional audio at 96kHz, the Dante and Waves cards offered low latency, high channel count connectivity to their respective networks and devices using standard networking cabling and hardware. The superMADI audio networking card provided coaxial and optical format options up to 128 I/O at 96kHz each, with redundancy and sample rate switchable per link pair and a choice of Smux or HighSpeed 96kHz mode.

“We had two engineers who had never been on the dLive console before,” noted Smoke and Mirrors CEO and sound engineer Sean Lyons. “Within 10 minutes they were mixing the show and getting around with ease. The dLive layout and labeling and the outstanding sound quality and flexible networking make this console a keeper.”

“The C1500 and its even more lightweight titanium CTi1500 stablemate have been showing up at more and more festivals lately for sure,” adds Allen & Heath USA Marketing Director Jeff Hawley. “I think Sean hit on just why this trend is happening. In many cases the top need for festival mixing applications is ease of use and something that engineers can easily walk up to and quickly get a great mix on without lots of hassle. dLive is a true digital native and draws on the familiarity with smartphones and tablets that we all use without thinking. The Harmony UI and a highly responsive touchscreen feels familiar and pairs with just the right amount of faders and rotaries and SoftKeys to get the job done. We’re proud to see the little C1500 at the helm of festivals of all sizes.”

Peoria, Illinois is home to the fast-growing First United Methodist Church (FUMC). The vibrant and forward-looking congregation turned to veteran technology and IT services company Pearl Technology in a recent system upgrade which spanned their video production studio, recording studio, podcast studio, and sanctuaries — centered around the Allen & Heath dLive Digital Mixing System and ME Personal Mixing System.

Honored as a 2021 SCN (Systems Contractor News) Install of the Year, the project kicked off as FUMC reached out to Pearl Technology to discuss updating their ability to record and live stream their services, enabling new ways to create online content to spread the message of the church via podcasts and other engaging media. FUMC’s two main worship spaces include a traditional worship space with a full audio system, cameras, streaming, and simple video presentation. A second worship center is a more contemporary space with all the same features and an increased emphasis on the praise band and video. The upgrade process spawned the idea of bringing the separate production and streaming systems into one shared space for a more advanced audio and video capability.

Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I, Pearl Technology’s Senior Vice President, Audiovisual Technology, notes, “The camera and presentations systems from both spaces were routed down to the newly constructed production and broadcast room. This was done via HD-SDI over fiber and video IP transport. The audio utilized an upgrade to both sanctuary mixers and one larger console in the production and broadcast space. For this element we conducted a demonstration with the technical team at the church and ultimately selected dLive Allen & Heath mixing systems.”

The two main sanctuary spaces utilize the dLive C3500 and feed signals via Dante to the production and broadcast room housing a dLive S7000. dLive is Allen & Heath’s flagship mixing system, powered by a 96kHz XCVI 160×64 FPGA core which provides 128 input channels with full processing and 64 mix outputs with full processing per system. The worship center and praise band, in conjunction with the C3500, tap into the Allen & Heath ME Personal Mixing System.

Caldera continues, “The new system design is so flexible. The adjacent recording and podcast studio also routes all video and audio into the production room and allows for real-time transport around the building with a live mix engineer for both video and audio. All of these systems create a worship experience for tens of thousands of people each week that are unable to attend services in person.”

Jeff Hawley, Allen & Heath USA Director of Marketing, adds, “Jeremy and the Pearl Technology team has put together an amazing system design which demonstrates the malleability of the dLive range and our personal monitoring solutions. As FUMC continues to grow and push the tech boundaries, it’ll be fun to see how they put the dLive and ME systems to great use. Thanks for choosing Allen & Heath and congrats on the win. Well-deserved!”

https://pearltechnology.com/

https://www.fumcpeoria.org/

TAB Technical Services is one of the first to design with Allen & Heath’s new range of install audio matrix processors and purpose-built touchscreens

By Sound & Video Contractor, Cynthia Wisehart

Todd Bermann started TAB Technical services in 1978, specializing in restaurants with a client roster that grew to include hundreds of franchise-wide locations of California Pizza Kitchen, Islands Restaurants, and over 300 worldwide locations of The Cheesecake Factory. The Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall are also among their bespoke clients for services including CCTV, MATV, and back-of-house systems.

For an upcoming Cheesecake Factory in North Beach, Miami, Bermann and his team designed in two brand new products from Allen & Heath—the AHM-32 and AHM-16 matrix audio processors. TAB has been a longtime user (and fan) of the now-discontinued A&H iDR8 matrix mixers and has widely deployed them for The Cheesecake Factory.

In adopting the just released AHM-32 and AHM-16 and eventually standardizing on them, the TAB team will benefit from the innovations of another popular A&H product—the flagship AHM-64. The AHM-64 debuted two years ago and has found wide adoption in worship, theater, corporate, retail, and education. The AHM-64 was designed to support industry requests for scalable I/O and remote control, rapid setup, and Dante integration. The 96kHz FPGA engine supports high quality audio and low latency. Ready-made remote-control options include an array of PoE remote controllers and the BYOD-friendly Custom Control app.

Now technical features of the AHM-64 have been scaled into these two smaller options, making the AHM series more accessible and, as it turns out, perfect for the new Cheesecake Factory. Two purpose-built touchscreens are new part of the install range as well. The CC-7 and CC-10 will allow TAB to simplify the system design and give the Cheesecake Factory everything they need and nothing they don’t.

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Allen & Heath has announced two powerful new Audio Matrix Processors, AHM-32 and AHM-16, supported by the most comprehensive ecosystem of scalable I/O, control and Dante solutions.  

Harnessing technology from the AHM-64 Audio Matrix Processor, AHM-32 and AHM-16 open up the platform to the full spectrum of installed audio environments – from a single boardroom to a complete campus – with emphasis on simplicity of programming and control, plus expandable audio networking and I/O capabilities.

“We are thrilled to see AHM-64 at the heart of so many installations, from global media networks to theme parks” says Nic Beretta, Head of Product at Allen & Heath. “Many integrators we spoke to were eager to see the same approach and technology deployed in a smaller package to suit a wider customer base, and we have delivered on those requests with the AHM-32 and AHM-16.” 

The AHM-32 is built on a 32×32 processing matrix with 12 local analogue inputs and outputs, making it an ideal choice for multi-room installations in hospitality, corporate and education environments. The optional Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) module is available for teleconferencing and videoconferencing applications.  

The AHM-16 features a 16×16 processing matrix with 8 local analogue inputs and outputs. Out of the box, the AHM-16 is particularly well suited to single room applications and smaller multi-room environments including bars, restaurants, shops and school halls. 

Both units benefit from a 96kHz I/O port for audio expansion and networking, enabling the use of a 64×64 Dante card for integration into Dante networks and connection to Allen & Heath’s range of Dante equipped expanders. Alternatively, a SLink card can be fitted for Plug-and-Play connection to Allen & Heath’s comprehensive Everything I/O ecosystem of remote expanders.  

A range of remote-control options are supported, including an array of PoE remote controllers and the BYOD-friendly Custom Control app, enabling tailored user interfaces for multiple user and device types.  

Both models feature a powerful suite of processing tools derived from the AHM-64, including Automatic Microphone Mixing (AMM), Ambient Noise Compensation (ANC), Priority Ducking, an 8-band parametric EQ on every input and zone, plus speaker processing options. 

https://www.allen-heath.com/ahm-series/

A pair of Allen & Heath AHM-64 audio matrixes power the iconic venue.

For over 100 years, The Muny has captured hearts and sparked imaginations through music and movement. The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical amphitheatre, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. The theater seats 11,000 people with approximately 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first come, first served basis. Each summer, Forest Park is filled with the sights and sounds of Broadway — now powered via a pair of Allen & Heath AHM-64 audio matrixes.

Sound Designer David Patridge specified AHM-64 as the audio hub for the venue, replacing The Muny’s older distribution system with the next-generation 96kHz 64×64 Audio Matrix Processors. “A lot of power built into 2RU and at a price point that blows away alternatives,” notes Patridge. Utilizing the 64×64 channel Dante option card allows AHM-64 to connect to amplifiers, microphones and other devices on a Dante network, including 3rd-party audio consoles within the existing system design. “The AHM provides seamless connectivity to Dante and fits into an audio over IP system well,” he adds.

AHM-64 deploys next-generation FPGA technology and a 96kHz sample rate, bringing acclaimed Allen & Heath sound quality and sub-millisecond latency to installations of all types. The audio engine has the power to deliver far more processing than the usual open architecture platforms, including 8-band PEQ, gate, compressor and delay on all input channels, and 8-band PEQ / 30-band GEQ, compressor, ANC, source selector, limiter and delay on all zone outputs.

“The system design that David put into place at The Muny is a perfect example of what AHM is designed to offer,” says Allen & Heath USA Marketing Director Jeff Hawley. “More and more consultants and integrators and designers are seeking out options that put audio quality first as they upgrade and configure installs of this type. With the Allen & Heath XCVI engine from SQ, Avantis and dLive behind the AHM-64, there is no question as to just how great things can sound. AHM comes with a well-established touring and critical audio application pedigree.”

Intuitive AHM System Manager software and AHM-64’s flexible architecture allow rapid configuration, striking a balance between the simplicity and set latency of fixed architecture, and the flexibility normally reserved for open architecture platforms. “The AHM-64 user interface is extremely intuitive and clear,” says Patridge. “With AHM System Manager on a Mac or PC we can easily handle sound management, paging, audio distribution, and speaker processing roles as needed. It’s a great system that we’ve put at the heart of the audio design at The Muny.”

On nearly four acres of oak tree-shaded land just outside of downtown Austin, Texas, Meanwhile Brewing Co. has positioned itself as one of the city’s premiere music venues. While it’s not completely unusual for an Austin brewery to be situated on an expanse of land with food trucks, delicious coffee, a cedar playground for kids, a soccer field, and a large brewing facility and taproom on-site, the one-year-old hotspot also touts a versatile outdoor event space. The stage gave numerous Austin and Texas musicians paid performance opportunities and residencies throughout the past year, a year when live performance gigs were hard to come by. Meanwhile has invested in state-of-art technology like the Allen & Heath SQ-6 and 96kHz DX168 portable expanders to create a versatile and intentional event space, thus changing the game for what breweries can be.

The 720 sqft, outdoor stage has an adaptable lighting and sound grid to meet the needs of any event, from DJ to singer songwriter to full on rock band. The venue’s capacity sits at right around 1,000 people, with technical design executed by Meanwhile’s Production Manager, Jamie Wellwarth. In addition to his role at Meanwhile, Wellwarth is a 15 year veteran at Nomad Sound and has held down key audio, tour, and production manager roles for artists like Janes Addiction, Social Distortion, and The Revivalists. When it came time to select a world-class console for Meanwhile, Wellwarth chose the Allen & Heath SQ-6.

“SQ has been a real game-changer for venues like Meanwhile,” notes Wellwarth. “There aren’t many consoles out there that strike the right balance of power and customization with workflow yet remain easy enough to operate for engineers of all levels. Once you throw in the solid build quality, great preamps, and the support of all the folks at Allen & Heath, there isn’t really the need to look anywhere else. The SQ fires out LR to a Neve MBP master buss processor and then to Nexo GEO S12 and RS18 mains. It also has a pile of flexible stereo mixes with both parametric and graphic EQ on every mix that we send to our QSC K12.2 monitors. What more could you ask for?”

Sporting a 3-tier, all metal chassis and an extruded aluminum light bar, the SQ-6 provides 48 channels and 36 busses of 96kHz audio for the venue. Utilizing the on-board SLink connection, audio can be routed as needed to and from a pair of DX168 portable expanders.

“The work that Jamie and the Nomad crew put into Meanwhile Brewing Co. is really amazing,” says Allen & Heath USA Marketing Director Jeff Hawley. “SQ was designed to check all the boxes for these sorts of applications and it is cool to see more and more world-class venues like Meanwhile turning to SQ as they build out new spaces or aim to upgrade existing or even historic spaces. This particular project was extra special as the Meanwhile team shared the love with musicians, technical staff and music fans when times got tough — we are truly honored to be part of the mix.”