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Eli Takes a Bow on Broadway
A-Line recently took its custom design work to a... Click here to read full article
Custom Design Installation Brochure
A-Line’s extensive experience in CUSTOM speaker... Click here to read full article
On The Road Again
1/1/2012 - 3/31/2012
EMMA at Eissey Theatre
Flying Venues
Houses of Worship
AL10s on Genie Lifts
TESTIMONIALS - What the pros say about A-Line...
Curtis Craig
Assistant Professor of Sound Design, Penn State University
"Since we have now used the EMMAs on two very different types of shows, a musical - Parade & a play with music - Mother Courage and Her Children, I thought it would be worthwhile to give you some feedback as to what we thought of the speakers in what could be considered non-typical usage.
Parade
The EMMAs were used as a Left-Right music system for the acoustic enhancement of a full orchestra. Understand that this is likely the hardest thing for a speaker system to pull off -- transparently emulating acoustic instruments alongside of real acoustic instruments. That said, the results were very impressive, with the speakers being able to be forceful when necessary, and still not sound 'forced' or 'pinched'. We were extremely pleased with the overall transparency of the EMMAs sound - there were many times over the course of the show that amplified and un-amplified instruments acoustically blended without the typical differential in the quality of sound. For reference, the EMMAs were in a system that included components from Yamaha, QSC, Crown, EAW, and d&b audiotechnik, the pit had transducers from Earthworks, Rode, Sennheiser, AKG, Audio-Technica, CAD, Shure, and Audix; the Yamaha DM2000 was clocked at 96k.
Mother Courage
In a completely different style was Mother Courage and Her Children; a play with music that used the EMMAs as principle components part of a very large distributed surround sound system (forget 5.1, more like 18.4). The score consisted of sounds ranging from metallic bangs and clangs to the ever-present rumble of the war looming in the distance. Once again, the relative size of the acoustic image from the EMMAs was extremely effective and impressive; the ambient sounds and music were not confined to the 'box'. The sound image emanating from the speakers seemed much larger than the surface of the boxes, and allowed the sounds of the score to sound less like electronically amplified sounds, and more like acoustic entities. In using the EMMAs for the light amplification of speaking and singing voices, the sound could best be described as extremely lifelike - at times it became difficult to hear where the acoustic voice left off and the EMMAs took over. Once again the EMMAs showed they could work at very subtle levels and be able to effectively produce very musical and pleasing results.
For two very different projects in two very demanding applications
the EMMAs were very impressive alongside of some very well
established traditional performers in the sound industry. They more
than held their own, they flourished; I would not hesitate in using
them from any of our projects here at Penn State, or in my freelance work."
"Thank you"
Curtis Craig
Assistant Professor of Sound Design, Penn State University
Scott Dupre
Live Sound Engineer, Annie Moses Band
"The Annie Moses Band are a group of virtuosic instrumentalists and vocalists playing styles ranging from classical to bluegrass to pop. Their dynamic instrumentation and arrangements demand consistent sonic clarity in a huge variety of spaces, and their performances have really tested the limitations of many varied sound systems. I have found the A-line Acoustics EMMA Solutions-1 to be the defining tool in their performances, providing unparalleled clarity and high definition sound--pure sonic excellence. I never find them to be harsh or fatiguing, as I have found with other boxes. They set-up and tear down in Annie Moses Band with EMMA Solutions-1 minutes and they look great too. With the EMMAs, mixing has become a real pleasure and they have taken the Annie Moses Band's live performances to a new level."
Sean Patrick McGraw
Country Singer
My band and I first worked with an A-line system [EMMA Solution] last summer at an outdoor show. For a set up that took up so little real estate I was quite impressed (to say the least) with clarity and muscle of these speakers. I received many, many compliments that night—from folks who’s heard my group many times before with other P.A’s.
We recently tested out two other A-Line setups in different venues, setting one of the systems up ourselves and mixing from onstage. One of the venues we’d played many times before, knowing it was a difficult room to work with. I heard compliment after compliment from audience members regarding the quality of our sound that night (and may I add that we’d been there on previous occasions with much larger systems and the luxury of a front house engineer) . The A-Line system takes up much less room in our trailer than our old system, sounds waaay better, and could not be easier to set up. I LOVE it
Ken Olowin
Owner - Ken Olowin Enterprises
Read the Letter Ken sent us regarding his use of A-Line's EMMA and Elijah systems...
Gary Greyhosky
Alliance Audio & Event Technolgy LLC
Thoughts on A-Line Acoustics and an installation at St. Nicholas Eastern Serbian Orthodox Church:
As with any installation, a number of factors contribute to the
final design and implementation of a sound system. In this case,
speech intelligibility was the paramount factor for the performance of the sound system. The visual aesthetic was also of great importance and budget, as always, was a big issue.
The acoustics in the space leave much to be desired. The arched vault in the ceiling runs the length of the sanctuary and reflects acoustic energy back down into the center of the sanctuary, much like a parabolic dish reflects sound into a microphone on an NFL sideline.
We've installed systems in several difficult acoustic venues and this was no exception. It was alarming how much sound was being bounced into the center of the space. The difference in intelligibility
between the seats near the walls and those in the center was so pronounced that it was as if they were in different venues. Whatever we did, we had to keep as much sound as possible off the ceiling. The back wall is a combination of brick and glass, so we also had to consider the reflection there.
We attended an A-Line Acoustics demo not far from our shop over the summer and we were impressed with their products, both sonically and from a practicality standpoint. A-Line’s Eli system came to mind immediately as we designed the system for this church. Because we were dealing with a speech only situation, we didn't need a large extended low frequency component and we didn't need to generate high SPL (although the Eli rig will get quite loud!). What we needed was a small, full range speaker with well defined vertical pattern control. We thought an Eli rig might be a viable solution, but had only heard one in an outdoor space at the demo and we didn't really know how it would perform in this quirky space.
We called A-line and told them about our ideas for the design and they were generous enough to have a portable Eli rig sent to us to try out in the venue. We set the loaner rig up in the church for a Sunday service and it performed very nicely. Once we knew that an Eli system would provide the performance we were after, we started talking with Tony and Mark about some venue specific installation issues. In order to keep the installation as visually unobtrusive as possible, we wanted to eliminate separate subwoofers from the system. Since the subs normally house the amplifiers, this was a bit of an issue. That said, Tony took all of our needs and desires into consideration and came up with a series of design modifications that met all of our criteria and
exceeded our expectations for performance and ease of installation.
This is truly a custom rig, specifically designed for a difficult
space. It performs unbelievably well, it looks great, the budget
remained intact and the clients couldn't be happier. We consider our first installation of A-Line Acoustics products a huge success. There is no question that we will turn to A-line again in the future.
Chris Dickson
Recording Artist
I was recently given the opportunity to listen to and perform on an A-Line Acoustic's product at the recent GMA Conference, specifically the EMMA Solutions system. I have never played on a sound system that has matched it's ability to amplify sound with such natural quality.
It was effortless to sing with and amazing to listen to! Anyone who has not heard or performed on one of A-Line Acoustics' systems should contact them before purchasing any other speakers! Hearing is believing!
Gary Greyhosky
Alliance Audio & Event Technology LLC
We installed the system and it sounds incredible. Everyone at the church is extremely pleased. The coverage is exceptional and the fidelity has exceeded everyone's expectations.... even ours. I actually had to turn down the choir microphones, as they were too loud for the huge organ!
All of the musicians remarked on the improvement in the stage sound (they used less monitor level than they ever have) and nobody can believe that we took down 6 large trap boxes and covered the room more effectively with two speakers. The large "white bananas," as one musician described them, are a huge hit with everyone.
On a personal note, I've been in a lot of churches over the years,
and as much as I try to be completely objective about how things
really sound, I can't help thinking that this may be the best sounding sanctuary I've ever stepped foot in. Not only does the system sound amazing, you can now walk anywhere in the sanctuary wearing a headset microphone and it doesn't come remotely close to feeding back or sounding hollow, which amazed everyone at the church. There were lots of positive comments from the congregation and the church's technical staff.
I used very little processing on the system (a few minor parametric
EQ adjustments) and there is no console channel EQ in use anywhere - Not on the piano, or the hanging choir mics - NONE! High pass filters are the only thing in use on any of the console channels.
The first services conducted after the system was installed included piano, organ, choir, small orchestra (violin, cello, winds, and percussion) and two singers, as well as the Sr. Pastor's headset microphone, and everything was well under control and sounding great. The stereo image is stunning and the sub woofer (hidden behind the stair riser) is just the right amount of extension for this application.
This is a massive success! Thanks for all of your great work and assistance with this project.
Richard Schiemer & Jim Prothero
Brighton Music and Sound
Brighton Music and Sound is a sound and video integrator in Western PA specializing in quality sound and video design and implementation solutions for the House of Worship and Education sectors and providing live sound reinforcement for many types of events. These are most often highly reverberant spaces with stringent aesthetic, acoustic, sight line and physical configuration requirements. The mics are often out in front of the speakers so gain before feedback is a huge issue, the speakers have to blend in unobtrusively with the sense of the space and the coverage has to be smooth and even overall. These considerations are rarely easy to reconcile with an installed sound system and most often the spaces have had multiple attempts getting it right when we get there. A-line has given us a tremendous tool to solve these problems in the Elijah and Emma systems.
We have had the pleasure of using these systems in two of the most challenging type spaces that a sound designer/engineer faces for very different reasons: the highly reverberant Sanctuary space where hearing and receiving the Word is paramount and in live stage and music production in a gymnasium where a high degree of intelligibility and musicality over a 3 hour production are most important.
The sonic clarity and dynamic range of these speakers has to be heard to be believed. The design principles of the vertical line array are perfect at putting the sound where it needs to be and not where it shouldn’t be in the reverberant space and the engineering, DSP and amplifiers components A-Line uses reproduces that sound incredibly faithfully. The speech is clean and clear and natural and the music is full range and pleasant. Condenser mics in front of speakers don’t feedback, sound throws so much further in the space and more ears are in the direct field.
The unobtrusive look of these speakers complement and fit every Sanctuary and mounting situations and the versatility and capabilities of the line array make both the Pastor’s Sermon and the Praise teams gifts sound tremendous without worries of feedback, sufficient level and coverage. The custom design cabinet and configuration capabilities of the A-line gear makes integration of installed systems into the existing space so nice. The units disappear when colored and cabinets are fitted to the space.
Until now we have been using a JBL Versatec VRX932 line array in our live rig which has given good service. But now, the patrons come up the engineer and tell him how it is so wonderful to hear and understand every word like never before. That’s how you know you and the new gear have done the job better than ever and that’s what we want to give to every client - Unparalleled Sound. And it doesn’t hurt that the load out and truck pack have just gotten way easy.
The A-line Acoustics Elijah and Emma system have met the needs and challenges we have thrown at them and we are excited to introduce these solutions to many more challenging spaces in both live and installed configurations. . The A-line team is really the best: supportive, informative and make things happen when asked. Mark and Mark answered every question, got us in front or every speaker in real life situations and solve problems quickly. These systems and this team give us tools we have never had to take on those tough rooms and we will be able to make some very happy clients with this gear.