Atlive has expanded its professional audio inventory with additional VIO L1608 line array modules, with a clear focus on greater production flexibility and easier handling. Atlive is adding a total of 32 units of the active three-way VIO L1608 line array to its stock, along with accessories and two CONTROL 24A system controllers with A2NET connectivity via USB and Ethernet.
Alongside the system’s sonic performance, the deciding factor for Atlive was the output-to-weight-and-size ratio. The VIO L1608 now takes the lead role in the Atlive inventory, at a markedly lower weight per cabinet. What reads like a detail on paper makes itself felt at every stage of the production chain: the loading list, transport volume, handling during the build and, not least, the structural loading.
“The VIO L1608 line array delivers the same results as comparable larger line arrays, at noticeably less weight and size, that is enormous. We feel it in logistics, transport, and handling on the floor. Rigging points and permissible loads come up repeatedly on productions. That is exactly where the lower weight gives us room to move – and that room often decides whether a design can be realised the way it was planned,” said Jens Szczygielski, Managing Director of Atlive, explaining the purchase.
A second argument was commercial. The VIO L1608 works with the rigging and transport accessories Atlive already has in stock. The DRK-28 flybar is designed for the VIO L1608 and other dBTechnologies systems, and the DT-28 dollies are matched to the same cabinet geometry. “The L1608 is compatible with the accessories we own anyway. On an investment of this scale, that is an argument you shouldn’t underestimate,” Szczygielski continued.
The two new CONTROL 24A units integrate the line arrays via A2NET, so that monitoring, preset management, and status feedback from every module run over a single, consistent network infrastructure, either via USB or via Ethernet over a single cable. In combination with Aurora Net, system states and parameters can be monitored and changed in real time during the show.
Ahead of the purchase, the Atlive team formed its own impression of the system at the dBTechnologies Audio Arena in Cologne, listening to it under controlled conditions. “We were on site with the team, took our time listening to the system and were able to clear up every open question there and then. After that, the decision came quickly,” Szczygielski added.
Since the purchase, the VIO L1608 modules have already been in extensive use, most recently at the Rheinkirmes in Düsseldorf, Germany, the largest funfair on the Rhine in the Uerige tent. This year, Atlive is covering the tent with VIO L1608 and other VIO components in a novel configuration. The DJ booth sits at the centre of the tent, with the subs directly beneath it, radiating in a circular pattern. Four line arrays of four VIO L1608 each are likewise arranged in a circle in the truss to cover the tent.
