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| Boy, there’s a lot to cover here. Speakers … Three words … Dee and Bee. Actually two letters and an ampersand … as in d&b … Overland has gone all d&b, all the time. What’s d&b you ask? d&b is shorthand for d&b audiotechnik, a German manufacturer of what we consider to be the best audio speaker systems on the planet with the emphasis on SYSTEMS. The d&b “system reality” approach is unlike anything we have seen to date and it has so impressed us, we stocked up our inventory with their products and basically sold off every speaker and amplifier in our inventory (save a few powered monitors) that does not have their logo on it. To read more about what makes d&b so special click here for the readers digest version or here for the extended remix version. Wireless … We have added Shure UHF-R series to our wireless mic inventory. The R series systems offer a great improvement in agility of frequencies over the past generation UHF product from Shure. With the ever shrinking space in the RF spectrum for wireless mics, suffice it to say the more channel choices you have the better off you are. We are also now employing the Intermodulation Analysis System software from Professional Wireless Systems to assist in wireless frequency coordination. As available RF spectrum space continues to shrink, the ability to find the holes in the available spectrum is becoming more and more critical. (Particularly on those shows where you have 40 wireless mics and 8 drops of wireless intercom) Rest assured our acquisition of this application will ensure the best results for your show’s wireless needs. Digital, Digital, Digital … Consoles. We’ve wanted to add one to our tool kit but we have been waiting for a digital console with a friendly intuitive user interface. With Yamaha’s release of the M7 our waiting has reached an end. The M7 has overcome one of our major peeves with digital consoles; layers. The M7 is the first large format (48 channel) console to have all its faders on the control surface. It also has a touch screen which, after using, has made us say “why the heck isn’t everyone doing this?” Amplifiers. We spoke about our fanatic appreciation of the wonderful products from d&b audiotechnik above. One of the features of their amps we really love is their ability to accept a digital signal. While not in place at the time of this writing, we do have short term plans to add a digital snake system to our inventory to complement our M7 digital mixing console. With the addition of a digital snake, we will have a completely digital signal path from the “stage box” to the point where the amplifiers turn the signal back into an analog voltage that drives the speakers. What does that mean in the real world? The chance of buzz from ground loops and hum from running signal cable near high current sources like feeder or lighting mults is cut to somewhere between .001 and zero percent. At the same time, overall system noise becomes practically imperceivable. |