Co-hosted by Radio RPR1, one of the biggest private radio stations in south-west Germany, this year’s show in the centre of Mainz was a Bee-Gees special headlined by Robin Gibb, with support from Australian singer/songwriter Gabriella Cilmi. It was also the platform for some interesting new system design techniques, inspired by Pro Musik’s technical director Elmar Hubert.
Pro Musik has been an enthusiastic supporter of NEXO systems for more than 10 years, stocking GEO T and S12 line array modules as well as conventional Alpha and PS R2 Series cabinets. Rheinland-Pfalz Open Air deployed 23-box hangs of GEO T for its main stage PA, with GEO S12 for outhangs and delays. New in Mainz was the whole approach to subbass.
24 of NEXO’s new RS18 subs were set up in omni mode as a time vise spreaded horizontal array, with a pair of subs in each of 12 evenly-spaced positions at the front of the stage. The subs were driven by 24x mono-bridged CAMCO Vortex 6, delivering an impressive power output of 158.4 kW.
“We didn’t need this amount of sub-bass for the gig in terms of level but there were two reasons for designing and amping the system in this way,” explains Pro Musik’s Elmar Hubert. “Firstly, I wanted the horizontal dispersion over a very wide audience area, which was necessary in this venue. Secondly, it was a great chance to test what these new RS18 subs are able to handle, so that we are prepared for bigger applications that are coming up in the near future. I had the support of Reinhard Steger and Stuart Kerrison from NEXO so the quality of the system was assured.”
Planned and set up by Pro Musik technicians Roland Pfeiffers and Michael Wirth, monitored and controlled via an EtherSound monitor network, the system offered the mix engineers a lot to play with.
Reinhard Steger of CAMCO, NEXO’s distributor in Germany, says the performance of the new subs in the Rheinland-Pfalz concert system “eclipses all the outstanding and satisfying characteristics I’ve heard from the RS18 since its launch. Nothing negative appeared, nothing positive was lost they sounded really formidable.”
Main PA: 2 x NEXO GEO T 22+1
Subline: 24 x NEXO GEO RS18
Outhang: NEXO GEO S12 6+1 and 4+1 active
Nearfill: NEXO GEO PS15 R2
Delays: NEXO GEO S12 6+1 active, 2 x CD18
Wedges: NEXO 16 x PS15 R2
Sidefills: NEXO ALPHA
Drumfill: NEXO PS15R2 + NEXO RS15
Controlled and amped by NX242-ES4, CAMCO Vortex 6 and NXAMP 4×4.
Further information:
Reinhard Steger
CAMCO GmbH
Tel: +49 2762 408-0
Fax.: +49 2762 408-10http://www.camcoaudio.com