DeGange Sound Solutions joins installation market

After Daddy’s Junky Music Store, a New England retailer, closed all twelve of its locations, one employee walked away and started over again, and with a client list in hand, established industry contacts, and a working knowledge of the industry, John DeGange decided to start his own installation company, DeGange Solutions, LLC.

DeGange explained: “The installed system division was very different from the rest of Daddy’s Junky Music Store chain, so I was perfectly positions to fill the void in the install market. Right around the same time Symetrix introduced the Jupiter series and ARC-WEB smartphone-based control, giving me the ability to provide my clients with leading edge technology at surprisingly low cost.”

DeGange is relying on the Symetrix Jupiter processor for two recent New Hampshire installations, Unitarian Universalist Church in Concord and Boscawen Elementary School in Boscawen. Both use the Symetrix Jupiter 12 in combination with Symetrix ARC-WEB technology, which allows users to control system aspects from their smartphone.

The Unitarian Universalist Church used DeGange to help upgrade their sound system so that it could flexibly accommodate plays and other types of programmes.

DeGange said: “They had an old six-channel powered mixer wired up under the pulpit so they couldn’t move the pulpit out of the way for plays!”

DeGange removed the old equipment and gave the church a Symetrix Jupiter 12 which has 12 inputs, enough to accommodate a sizable dramatic production, and 4 outputs – enough for a stereo FOH, a stage monitor mix, and a mono record feed. A pair of self-powered QSC K10 full-range loudspeakers provides stereo coverage for the oddly shaped, octagonal room. The inputs include wireless and wired microphones for spoken word, vocalists and instruments.

For day-to-day sound system adjustments, DeGange gave the church Symetrix ARC-WEB control. With password protection, approved users can access customised controls that select input sources and adjust volumes from any internet-connected computer or a smartphone. For dramatic performances, DeGange handed over control of the Jupiter’s ‘Gainsharing App’ to the tech crew.

He commented: “It’s not something I normally do. Best practice is to hand over only a user interface, such as ARC-WEB or SymVue. But in this case, the most cost-effective solution was to give them complete control over EQ adjustments and the like. They start from a template and save their adjustments as a new file that can be loaded whenever they are performing the play.”

At Boscawen Elementary School, DeGange replaced an inflexible, semi-functional microphone reinforcement system with a Symetrix Jupiter 12 using ARC-WEB control in the ‘cafe-gymnatorium’.

DeGange concluded: “The school district was an old client of mine. They wanted a flexible system that would allow them to use the two spaces as one system or as two independent systems.”

The ARC-WEB interface that DeGange designed for the school allows approved users to select any permutation on/off/combined/separate and gives them the volume control over any input. A hardwired Symetrix aRC-2e wall panel remote provides redundant control. Four QSC K10 self-powered loudspeakers provide output.

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