Meyer Sound LEO Family and ULTRA-X40 Power Garcia's Forest at the LOCKN' Festival

The seventh edition of the LOCKN’ Festival is in the books after four days of music, dance, and love at the Infinity Downs and Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, VA. Meyer Sound rental partners DBS Audio Systems, Inc., based out of Coatesville, PA, joined the 2019 LOCKN’ Festival for a second year to provide the sound for the Garcia’s Forest and Super VIP stages, both powered by LEO Family loudspeaker solutions and the new point source loudspeaker, the ULTRA‑X40.

Garcia’s Forest, the festival’s second stage and late night hot spot, was equipped with a main PA of six flown LEOPARD compact linear line array loudspeakers per side and two ground-stacked 1100-LFC low frequency control elements. Out fill was comprised of one ULTRA-X40 wide coverage loudspeaker per side, two additional LEOPARD loudspeakers were placed as front fill, and the artist stack included two LEOPARD loudspeakers on one 900‑LFC low frequency control element. Artists at the Forest included Circles Around the Sun, Galactic, Fruition, Town Mountain, Soulive, and The Lil Smokies.

Across the festival grounds was the Super VIP tent, which hosted intimate acoustic sets by the artists performing at LOCKN’, including Bob Weir and Wolf Bros, The Lil Smokies, and Town Mountain. The tent’s system configuration was comprised of three LEOPARD loudspeakers stacked on two 900-LFC subwoofers per side, two ULTRA-X40 loudspeakers for out fill, and six MJF‑210 stage monitors. System drive and optimization is provided by two GALAXY 816 processors, with comprehensive remote monitoring implemented via an RMServer.

“We are so happy with the results of the flown system in Garcia’s Forest, as well as the ground-stacked system in Super VIP. Last year, we deployed two different out fill loudspeakers on each stage, the UPQ-1P loudspeakers for the Forest and UPJ-1P loudspeakers for Super VIP,” Dave Brotman, President of DBS Audio Systems, said, “This year, we used the brand new ULTRA-X40 point source loudspeakers with huge success. From a system engineers’ standpoint, the new ULTRAs were the perfect complement to each LEOPARD system. Tuning the out fill systems [ULTRA-X40] on both stages was quick and easy.”

Over Meyer Sound’s 40 year history, their sonic DNA has been rooted in the decades-long relationship with the Grateful Dead. Similarly, Brotman’s love of audio began while he grew up listening to the Grateful Dead and followed the band on the road for several years. He went on to buy six Meyer Sound systems for his company, DBS Audio Systems. Now, almost three decades later, his company’s inventory is over 300.

“LOCKN’ 2019 was once again a great experience for our team at DBS Audio Systems. We feel privileged that Meyer Sound has enough faith in DBS to showcase their new product as well as existing products. Since 1992, we have always felt like Meyer is our extended family and the same holds true 28 years later,” Brotman reflected.

Backstage, Meyer Sound was the Official Sound Partner at the Relix Roadie Lounge, a chill-out space for all audio professionals at LOCKN’ to relax between shows. This marks the second Relix Roadie Lounge partnership for Meyer Sound at LOCKN’ and the company’s fifth in total since joining Relix one year ago. Other Roadie Lounge partners included Orange Amplifiers, GCI Outdoor, and Pelican Professional. At the lounge, attendees could also enter to win a pair of Amie precision studio monitors.

The LOCKN’ and music community is deeply saddened by the loss of guitarist and singer Neal Casal, who put on his final show with Circles Around the Sun at Garcia’s Forest and his final performance as part of Oteil & Friends featuring Bob Weir. It was an honor to experience his music for the last time at LOCKN’. He will be missed.