Hi guys,
I attended a Harmon product showcase/demo today. They had seminars and product onhand for use to see, some that we could actually play with also. I left there today with mixed emotions. The paperwork said that there would be gear from AKG, BSS, Crown, Soundcraft and JBL (STX, VTX, PRX 400).
I really wasn't interested in the AKG and BSS stuff so i didn't attend any seminars, but 1 AKG product caught my eye. AKG has a wireless mic system that uses 1 AA. So what you say, 1 AA, but if it's a rechargeable battery you can buy the charger kit where the whole mic sits in to charge the battery. They also claim 8-9hrs on one AA.
Soundcraft
They had an Si Compact 24, 2 Vi4's and 1 Vi1. We have had an Si Compact for a few months now so I didn't spend much time looking at one. I will say that they are great consoles for the price, lots of features, ouputs etc....
I haven't heard a big format Soundcraft digital console before, so I tried to go in there open minded. I was blown away from the sound quality on the Vi's, they sound fantastic. The functionality and work flow on this desk is really something else. Everything is infront of you, and easy to get ahold of. Really impressed. We tried to make the console crash, so we had 4 guys constantly changing things at the same time on one surface, not one hiccup at all. We where also playing music at one point and someone kicked the power loose on the console. The console goes dark, but the audio keeps on signing along, power it back up and everything goes back to where it was. Took what seemed forever to power back up, but didn't miss a beat.
They did announce that the Ipad app should be released by the end of April for both Si Compact and Vi series.
Crown
There where a bunch of XLS, XTIs (series2), Itech HDs, 4x VRacks full of 12000's and one 4x3500 HD. The VRacks where powering up the Vertec 4887a's and 4880. Two hangs of 10x4887s, the 4880s where ground supported. The rig sounded great, missing alittle bit of low mids.
One XTI was used to power up PRX 415. The 415 sounded ok. I went to check the input strip on the GB console and it was flat, so then I went to the XTI "DSP OFF" was on the front panel. We didn't hear it full tilt, and with some "DSP" I think JBL has a pretty good replacement for the MRX line.
The lone 4x3500HD was used in the seminar running SA. We went over some of the features of the amp and how Harmon is trying to intergrate all there brands together.
The 4x3500 can be configured in the following ways.
-Input 1 drives output 1
-Input 2 drives output 2 and so on, this amp has 4 input and 4 outputs.
-Biamp FOH or wedges? No problem. Input 1 drives outputs 1+2 while input 3 drives outputs 3+4
-3 way system input 1 drives outputs 1,2 and 3
-3 way+aux subs input 1 drives outputs 1,2,3 and input 4 drives output 4
-4 way system input 1 drives all 4 outputs
The 4x3500 has all pass filters, IIR and FIR filters. There is also a sweep generator that load tests, and does impedance and frequency responses. The sweep load tests are saved to the presets, so if you cross rented your gear to someone you can have just a loose amp on a test bench and sweep load the speakers. If anything is wrong with them from frequency or impedance, the amp will notify you that something is wrong. Unfortunately the 4x3500 was not plugged in to any speakers, so we didn't get to hear how it sounds.
I asked if there where gonna be any other models in the 4xXXXX series. Nobody said yes or no, but they beat around the bush. I also asked about STX presets for the ITECH HDs and YES they are coming. They realized that they made a big mistake with the srx in not having any Itech settings. That's a step in the right direction, and shows that they are listening to people.
JBL
I was dissapointed with the JBL camp. Yes we had a Vertec rig setup, PRX 400s, PRX 600s, VRXs, but the info that was sent out said VTX and STX, but none insight. They hinted that the PRX 400 series is going to replace the MRX line. Like mentioned above the 415 sounded good, but can sound better with some dsp. There was 1 PRX412 setup as a wedge but wasn't powered up. Talking to the JBL guys, the biggest reason in the driver change from neo is because of the price. They did assure me that the boxes sound great, and they should be hitting stores by june. The SRX line will die a slow death, they are not pulling the plug just yet but soon enough.
JBL is taking a different approach with the VTX. This system will only be sold as a complete package 24 tops, 16 subs and either VRacks or 4x3500 to start. They want all the VTX systems to sound consistent so only V5 presets allowed. They realized that not doing so in the past hurt them, you could have had a great sounding Vertec rig one day and a crappy sounding one the next day.
HiQnet
Performance Manager will be leaving the beta stage very soon, possibly by June.
It was a long day for me so I might have missed some stuff. If you guys have any questions feel free to ask, maybe it will make me remember something.
I attended a Harmon product showcase/demo today. They had seminars and product onhand for use to see, some that we could actually play with also. I left there today with mixed emotions. The paperwork said that there would be gear from AKG, BSS, Crown, Soundcraft and JBL (STX, VTX, PRX 400).
I really wasn't interested in the AKG and BSS stuff so i didn't attend any seminars, but 1 AKG product caught my eye. AKG has a wireless mic system that uses 1 AA. So what you say, 1 AA, but if it's a rechargeable battery you can buy the charger kit where the whole mic sits in to charge the battery. They also claim 8-9hrs on one AA.
Soundcraft
They had an Si Compact 24, 2 Vi4's and 1 Vi1. We have had an Si Compact for a few months now so I didn't spend much time looking at one. I will say that they are great consoles for the price, lots of features, ouputs etc....
I haven't heard a big format Soundcraft digital console before, so I tried to go in there open minded. I was blown away from the sound quality on the Vi's, they sound fantastic. The functionality and work flow on this desk is really something else. Everything is infront of you, and easy to get ahold of. Really impressed. We tried to make the console crash, so we had 4 guys constantly changing things at the same time on one surface, not one hiccup at all. We where also playing music at one point and someone kicked the power loose on the console. The console goes dark, but the audio keeps on signing along, power it back up and everything goes back to where it was. Took what seemed forever to power back up, but didn't miss a beat.
They did announce that the Ipad app should be released by the end of April for both Si Compact and Vi series.
Crown
There where a bunch of XLS, XTIs (series2), Itech HDs, 4x VRacks full of 12000's and one 4x3500 HD. The VRacks where powering up the Vertec 4887a's and 4880. Two hangs of 10x4887s, the 4880s where ground supported. The rig sounded great, missing alittle bit of low mids.
One XTI was used to power up PRX 415. The 415 sounded ok. I went to check the input strip on the GB console and it was flat, so then I went to the XTI "DSP OFF" was on the front panel. We didn't hear it full tilt, and with some "DSP" I think JBL has a pretty good replacement for the MRX line.
The lone 4x3500HD was used in the seminar running SA. We went over some of the features of the amp and how Harmon is trying to intergrate all there brands together.
The 4x3500 can be configured in the following ways.
-Input 1 drives output 1
-Input 2 drives output 2 and so on, this amp has 4 input and 4 outputs.
-Biamp FOH or wedges? No problem. Input 1 drives outputs 1+2 while input 3 drives outputs 3+4
-3 way system input 1 drives outputs 1,2 and 3
-3 way+aux subs input 1 drives outputs 1,2,3 and input 4 drives output 4
-4 way system input 1 drives all 4 outputs
The 4x3500 has all pass filters, IIR and FIR filters. There is also a sweep generator that load tests, and does impedance and frequency responses. The sweep load tests are saved to the presets, so if you cross rented your gear to someone you can have just a loose amp on a test bench and sweep load the speakers. If anything is wrong with them from frequency or impedance, the amp will notify you that something is wrong. Unfortunately the 4x3500 was not plugged in to any speakers, so we didn't get to hear how it sounds.
I asked if there where gonna be any other models in the 4xXXXX series. Nobody said yes or no, but they beat around the bush. I also asked about STX presets for the ITECH HDs and YES they are coming. They realized that they made a big mistake with the srx in not having any Itech settings. That's a step in the right direction, and shows that they are listening to people.
JBL
I was dissapointed with the JBL camp. Yes we had a Vertec rig setup, PRX 400s, PRX 600s, VRXs, but the info that was sent out said VTX and STX, but none insight. They hinted that the PRX 400 series is going to replace the MRX line. Like mentioned above the 415 sounded good, but can sound better with some dsp. There was 1 PRX412 setup as a wedge but wasn't powered up. Talking to the JBL guys, the biggest reason in the driver change from neo is because of the price. They did assure me that the boxes sound great, and they should be hitting stores by june. The SRX line will die a slow death, they are not pulling the plug just yet but soon enough.
JBL is taking a different approach with the VTX. This system will only be sold as a complete package 24 tops, 16 subs and either VRacks or 4x3500 to start. They want all the VTX systems to sound consistent so only V5 presets allowed. They realized that not doing so in the past hurt them, you could have had a great sounding Vertec rig one day and a crappy sounding one the next day.
HiQnet
Performance Manager will be leaving the beta stage very soon, possibly by June.
It was a long day for me so I might have missed some stuff. If you guys have any questions feel free to ask, maybe it will make me remember something.