In his system design for the Envy Nightlife nightclub in the Route 66 Casino Hotel in Albuquerque, NM, Nathan Powell, president and owner of PTC Group, Inc. (Production Technology Consultants Group, Inc.), replaced the traditional analog signal chain with an Aviom Pro64® audio network featuring the AllFrame Multi-Modular I/O System on stage to provide a very clean stage setup and superior sound for this performance-based nightclub setting (InfoComm Booth C10146).
Envy is the first performance venue of its kind to have an AllFrame as part of its Aviom Pro64 audio network. The AllFrame products were added to Aviom’s Pro64 product line late in the summer of 2011, and the Envy nightclub was one of the first installations to include the gear when it opened its doors in October. Powell was mindful about using new technology in such a high-profile installation, so he spent time testing the Pro64 system before including it in his system design. “When I did my testing, the AllFrame mic preamps (the C4m Mic/ Line Input Cards) were very impressive; I’m very excited about this product,” he says.
Based on the same A-Net® protocol and technology principles as the rest of the Pro64 Series product line, the AllFrame offers a modular approach to building a system. The heart of the AllFrame system, the F6 Modular I/O Frame, which can be mounted in or on a wall, rack mounted, or made into a stage box, can be configured with up to six I/O cards per frame, allowing simple field configuration, as well as the most efficient use of network and hardware resources. And it was for this reason in part that Powell chose it for Envy.
The nightclub stage features an AllFrame F6 Modular I/O Frame in the walls at both stage left and stage right. Each of the F6 units is currently fitted with four C4m Mic/Line Input Cards for a total of 16 local inputs and two C4o Analog Output Cards for eight local outputs. In the sound booth, the club’s Yamaha® M7CL console has two 6416Y2 A-Net Interface Cards installed to send and receive up to 32 channels of audio. The system was designed as a daisy chain with the console in the middle of the chain between the two AllFrames, and the layout of the system is very much like the analog equivalent. Despite the fact that it is similar in design to an analog system, John Neill, the sound engineer at Envy, says, “It’s great to finally have a digital signal path from the stage all the way to the processors.”
One advantage of this digital signal path is that Neill can use Aviom’s Pro64 Network Manager™ to manage and control the Pro64 audio network. Some of the many features this free software download makes possible include viewing the network at a glance; controlling mic preamps from a central location: storing, recalling, and managing network scenes and device-level presets; and matrixing crosspoint switching of inputs and outputs at every audio I/O device.
The venue’s entertainment manager, Helmut Perzi, is pleased with the sound quality of the system. He says, “There are only good things to say about the sound in here. People are really impressed. It has the top-tier city feel to it.”
Powell agrees about the sound quality. Soon after the club’s opening, he said, “I must say we have really pushed this technology to the limits the past few days, and it has held up flawlessly. It is easy. It looks professional. And the most important attribute: It sounds great! From the sonic qualities needed from a kick drum to the high input variance that a Las Vegas DJ produces, it never failed and the quality was as good as it gets.”
Another benefit that the AllFrame and Pro64 system provide to the venue is the ability to easily expand the system by simply adding I/O components to the network as needed. Powell says he is “excited to add the C4dio Digital I/O Cards to the system at Envy.” These cards will be available this summer.
Aviom pioneered personal mixing with its Pro16® Monitor Mixing System and continues to break new ground with the revolutionary Pro64® Series of audio networking products. With tens of thousands of products in the field today, Aviom has set the standard for high performance, scalable digital solutions. All Aviom systems harness the power of A-Net®, Aviom’s innovative digital audio technology that simplifies system design while enhancing flexibility and fidelity. All Aviom products are designed, tested, and manufactured in the USA. For more information, visit www.Aviom.com.
