Beyonce, Killers and Take That rock MTV Awards with L-Acoustics

The show featured performances from Beyonce, Duffy, Kid Rock, Pink, The Killers, Take That, Kanye West and The Wombats, held at the Liverpool Echo Arena

As the show was being broadcast on MTV, the system needed to be concealed as far as possible, so it couldn’t be too large or obtrusive. Despite these constraints, it also needed to be powerful, provide good dispersion and be able to work with different types of rock and pop music.

Ten V-DOSC line source and three dV-DOSC compact line source cabinets were used per side for the main hangs, with eight SB218 subwoofers per side, 12 dV-DOSCs per side as side hangs, three dV-SUB compact subwoofer hangs per side, four SB218s per side as side sub hangs, six V-DOSC per side for rear hangs, a rear sub stack of four SB218s and 12 MTD108s around the stage for front fill. The complete system was driven by LA amplifier racks.

Systems engineer Sergiy Zhytnikov encountered a challenge when it came to the subs. Apart from the small rear ground stack, it wasn’t possible to put any more subs on the floor around the stage, so the majority had to be flown. This meant that all the subs were concentrated on the balcony, making it difficult to recreate good sub levels around the stage.

“Using L-ACOUSTICS’ presets, I was able to create a smooth low frequency sound throughout the audience, using different combinations of presets and time alignment between the low and sub sections,” he explains. “As a result, we ended up with a system with good coverage, and smooth, clear sound from the top to the bottom, which was hidden enough for the demands of the TV show while also being powerful.”

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