Pretty Lights on the road with Powersoft

US electronic music artist Pretty Lights has selected Dowlen Sound to supply audio production for the 2012 Illumination Tour, which includes the use of 58 Powersoft K Series amplifiers.

To help Pretty Lights (real name Derek Vincent Smith) deliver on his pre-tour promise of “beautiful and evolved new music and massive, game-changing new production,” Dowlen Sound, headquartered in Arvada, Colorado, is fielding an Outline GTO line array system, plus additional McCauley Sound subs powered by the K Series.

Dowlen Sound’s amplifier racks contain a mix of Powersoft K2, K3, K6 and K8 amplifiers – all outfitted with the manufacturer’s proprietary AESOP (AES Ethernet Simple Open Protocol) networking functionality. The six models in the flagship K Series offer power ratings ranging from 2 x 1,950 Watts/ch. @ four ohms to 2 x 9,000 Watts/ch. @ two ohms – all in the same 1RU form factor.

Although Outline’s GTO system package typically includes models equivalent to Powersoft K10 amps, Dowlen Sound – the first company in the world to use the GTO line array – opted to custom-configure its racks, appropriately matching amplifiers with speaker modules in order to fully optimise the system’s performance.

“We upgraded 18 of our K2 amplifiers to K3s during pre-production,” said Eric Satre, Dowlen Sound’s system technician on the Illumination Tour. “The upgrade to the McCauley subs required us to put the K6s into bridge mono mode, two of them into one sub. That’s two channels of 7,800 Watts at four ohms, 306V, peak, into one subwoofer.”

In addition to the 58 Powersoft K Series amps, the main audio rig on the tour comprises 24 Outline GTO line array modules, plus two GTO-DF down fills flown 13 per side. 18 GTO-Subs (nine per side), plus four McCauley M421 subs handle the low end. There are an additional 18 Outline Butterfly array modules available to handle arenas and other large venues on the schedule.

“When I first heard the GTO Outline, powered with Powersoft, I was completely floored,” says Phil Salvaggio, production manager and front of house engineer, Pretty Lights Music Inc. “The amount of clarity at a high SPL is untouchable by most other systems out there. And when it comes to the low end and the combo of the M421 and GTO subs, which are all powered by Powersoft amps, we really get the audience to feel the subs – as well as bring down the roof!”

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