Meyer Sound M2Ds Are "Stella" in Japan

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"Tuning only took a short time owing to the MAPP predictions we had worked out," says Tomioka. "All the seating areas of the venue had a consistent sound field. The sound merged quite naturally, even in the areas where multiple systems overlapped." - Hiroaki Tomioka Acoustic Technical Lab

Befitting the "smooth jazz" character of the music performed by pianist Bob James and guitarist Larry Carlton, Meyer Sound's M2D Compact Curvilinear loudspeakers provided smooth coverage of the audience of 3,000 people at a fall concert in Japan. The venue was the Lake Kawaguchi Stella Theater, an outdoor amphitheater in the Yamanashi Prefecture.

The system was provided by Meyer Sound's Japanese distributor Acoustic Technical Lab (ATL) at the request of Act 1, the local rental company that supplied the remainder of the PA equipment. Mixing the show was veteran Bob James engineer, Dave Kuhn.

The steep rake of the seating area was an initial cause of concern for ATL's Hiroaki Tomioka "The venue required broad sound coverage in the vertical axis," Tomioka explains. "Using Meyer Sound's MAPP Online, we simulated various combinations and tilt angles. This proved to be an extremely helpful tool for us to calibrate the combination of array, angles and SPL required for the performance."

To further complicate matters, the existing tower used to fly the loudspeakers was constructed with a steel beam that crossed in front of the array at approximately the center of the loudspeaker cluster. The bar was about 30 centimeters wide and would have partially obscured the output from the two M2Ds in the center of the original design. "To cope with this problem, we came up with a design that featured two M2D-Sub Compact subwoofers in the center of the array, the spot that was barred by the obstacle," says Tomioka.

Ultimately the design comprised eight M2Ds with two M2D-Subs flown at each side of the stage and two 650-P High-Power subwoofers placed on stage, per side. Two CQ-2 Narrow Coverage Main loudspeakers and one UPA-1P Compact Wide Coverage loudspeaker positioned on either side of the line arrays ensured further coverage to the sides of the theater while four UPA-1Ps covered the area in front of the stage. A Meyer Sound CP-10 Complementary Phase Parametric equalizer was also used.

After the placement of the system was complete, EQ, delay time and level were dialed in using SIM System II FFT Analyzer. "Tuning only took a short time owing to the MAPP predictions we had worked out," says Tomioka. "All the seating areas of the venue had a consistent sound field. The sound merged quite naturally, even in the areas where multiple systems overlapped."

"The Meyer Sound system that ATL provided for our performance in Yamanashi was a joy to mix on," said Kuhn after the show. " The PA accurately reproduced everything I put into it, and gave even coverage throughout the venue. Even in this difficult environment the system gave me the usual high fidelity sound I've come to associate with Meyer."

February, 2002

M2D

M2D-Sub

650-P

CQ-2

UPA-1P

CP-10

MAPP Online

SIM II