Allen & Heath has announced the release of Avantis firmware V1.2, a major update delivering new features including a next-generation RTA engine, Sennheiser wireless integration and a trio of new additions to the dPack bundle of DEEP processors. 

Front and centre in V1.2 is Allen & Heath’s new RTA engine, built around a comprehensive 61-band bar or line display which can be displayed behind the PEQ curve to enable swift and accurate EQ decisions. Additionally, a sonogram view is provided making it simple to identify room resonances or mix imbalances. With all RTA views also visible on iPad and Director, engineers can rely on accurate visual feedback anywhere in the venue. 

The dPack bundle has been expanded to include three new DEEP processors from the flagship dLive system: Bus is modelled on a legendary hardware compressor renowned for its ability to glue together mixes; Source Expander offers quick and easy control of threshold and depth for set-and-forget operation; while Dual Threshold Expander is perfect for challenging environments where expert control is required. Additionally, the existing OptTronik compressor has been updated to include “Model B” for a new flavour of classic 2A style optical compression. Existing dPack owners receive all new dPack updates and models for free. 

Avantis’ wireless integration has been extended to include Sennheiser’s 300/500, 2000 and 2050 wireless microphones, which can be monitored from both the mixer and Director. Key wireless information, including mutes, signal level and battery bars, is visible from the Bank view, with detailed information and control accessible via the Preamp page. “Following very positive feedback on the recent dLive integration, we are excited to see this expand to the stunning Avantis console” says Simon Beesley, Manager Strategic Alliances at Sennheiser. “Engineers and technicians will be able to remotely monitor and control our most successful wireless microphone series — the evolution wireless G3/G4 300 and 500 as well as 2000.”  

The release is rounded off with multiple workflow improvements including extended functionality for the iOS apps, enhanced DCA spill functionality and new SoftKey options. 

“V1.2 delivers a powerful suite of tools which minimises the need for extra devices running measurement software, external processing and wireless monitoring,” says Jack Kenyon, Avantis Product Specialist at Allen & Heath. “This gives Avantis users a quicker and smarter workflow in all live sound applications.” 

Avantis V1.2 is available now from the Allen & Heath website.

Co-founded by famed bassist Matt Garrison (Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul) and co-founder Fortuna Sung, ShapeShifter Lab is a 4,200 square foot performance space in Brooklyn designed to serve as a hub for like-minded genre-bending musicians and artists. Developed as a unique outlet for the presentation of art and music events, ShapeShifter Lab has recently expanded its activities to new spaces and projects with the Allen & Heath SQ-5 and SQ-6 at the centre of the production.

One recent special event was held in New York supported by Apple Inc’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI) and the Entrepreneur Camp programs, which served up a live stream in support of a new interactive iOS app, aptly called Matt Garrison. The app contains a living and evolving archive of Garrison’s creative works including past albums, audio and video content, music charts and scores, lessons and live streams all in one place that will be continuously updated as new content is developed.

“We are excited to push the boundaries of what a performance space and creative community can be through the launch of the iOS app,” notes ShapeShifter Lab co-founder Matt Garrison. “We’ve been presenting live streams and tackling video and audio capture at our current primary physical venue, but this latest event was done in conjunction with Apple as it involved launching the app we developed.”

Utilising the company’s XCVI FGPA processing core, SQ Series provides 48 full processing channels at 96kHz while keeping latency down at a class-leading <0.7ms range. The XCVI power also allows for every input to contain a HPF, a super-fast gate with side-chain and filter options, a musical 4-band parametric equaliser, and Peak/RMS compression for control and shaping of levels and transients. Mixes have both a parametric and 28 band graphic EQ along with compressor as standard, all ready to switch in when required — a necessity when dealing with the complexities of streaming audio.

Featuring renowned artists Ravi Coltrane on tenor sax (Elvin Jones, Jack DeJohnette, Terence Blanchard, etc.), Marcus Gilmore on drums (Chick Corea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Disney’s “Soul”, etc.) and Garrison on bass and electronics, the app launch event—which included a live performance presentation and marked the release of Matt Garrison’s new album called, “Generations,”—relied on SQ to deliver on multiple fronts. “The power of SQ is just insane,” adds Garrison. “Not only were we able to make the physical space and the monitor mixes sound great, but we could capture great audio and push out a dedicated stream mix. We’ve used other compact digital mixers in the past, but this was an entirely different level of sonic purity and control and flexibility. And somehow SQ is still fast and easy to navigate and configure. We dialled in a great mix quickly and could step back and focus on making great music. With the help of our friends from Apple, Allen & Heath, Fodera Guitars, Epifani Custom Sound Systems and Keith McMillen Instruments, the event was a huge success.”

With the technical production for the Matt Garrison app launch event wrapped, Garrison followed up with a live big band recording a few days later. “We also recorded a big band, the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra [3 Grammy wins, 5 nominations],” says ShapeShifter Lab co-founder Fortuna Sung. “We commissioned the band to play arrangements of Matt’s compositions, featuring the arranging skills of Winnie Dahlgren. That was a total of 20 band members—all first-call NYC and Los Angeles musicians—and we used both our house SQ-6 and an additional daisy-chained SQ-5 to cover all the inputs of this expanded group. The main audio engineers on both events (Miles Bentley, Astrid Asmundsson, Caroline Olbert and Jason Llaguno) had nothing but positive feedback about the desks.”

Swedish composer, arranger and conductor Hans Ek has carved out a unique niche in Scandinavian music, operating at the intersection where classical meets jazz, pop, electronica and folk music.

Bringing Ek’s ambitious arrangements to life is no mean feat – especially as most performances involve a symphony orchestra, multiple vocalists, a 3-5 piece band and, on occasion, a choir – so engineers Peter Fredriksson (MON) from PFL Nordic AB and Hans “Surte” Norin (FOH) from Taking Care of Audio AB work closely with Ek to handle the technically demanding live shows throughout Scandinavia. “We tour around and take our gear to the top-class orchestras here in the Nordics, and we use local PA on-site” explains Fredriksson. “Over the years we have built up a very neat and specialised dLive setup for projects like this.”

At the heart of the touring rig is a pair of lightweight dLive CTi1500 control surfaces, carefully designed to come in under the critical 23kg airline weight limit when flightcased, partnered with a pair of compact 128-channel / 64-bus DM0 MixRacks. The digital split between systems is handled via Allen & Heath’s proprietary gigaACE protocol, a plug-and-play solution offering ultra-low 52μs latency, with MADI and Waves cards installed for virtual soundcheck and external recording.

With so many channels devoted to vocals and classical instruments, where reproducing every nuance across a wide dynamic range is critical, the duo were naturally intrigued by Allen & Heath’s PRIME input and output technology, an ultra-linear circuit design with 32-bit/96kHz converters and extended dynamic range. “When the PRIME preamp modules were released, we had some in for testing” Fredriksson says. “We instantly realised that this would be a real game-changer, especially with high channel counts.”

After the successful evaluation, facilitated by Swedish A&H distributor Benum, PFL Nordic AB and Taking Care of Audio AB invested in fourteen PRIME input cards and two PRIME output cards for their four DX32 modular expanders, delivering a total of 112 PRIME input channels and 16 PRIME output channels for the system. In addition to the PRIME outputs, four portable DX012 output expanders are deployed with a mixture of AES and analogue outputs feeding IEMs and stage monitors for Ek and the multitude of performers.

“I added the ability, via an IP6 remote controller connected to the MON system, for the conductor [Ek] to mix his own monitors with two separate mixes, one for wedges and one for in-ears” adds Fredriksson. “Using the scene recall filter functions to change between two scenes, he can easily switch between the mixes with one button press, and I can take control of his mix if required.”

However, it is the sound quality of the system that has made the biggest impression on Fredriksson. “Having switched over to PRIME on over 100 channels, all I can say is wow!” he smiles. “There’s so much clarity and resolution, the mix almost handles itself”.

Allen & Heath has announced dLive V1.9, the largest firmware release ever for dLive, drawing on feedback from engineers across the live sound, recording, streaming and installation markets.

“With over 45 user-requested features and numerous improvements, dLive V1.9 is by some distance our biggest release to date” explains Jack Kenyon, dLive Product Specialist at Allen & Heath. “We have customers using dLive in every application imaginable, and the unprecedented scale of this update delivers something for all of them. With a host of new sonic tools and an accelerated workflow, dLive once again raises the bar for other console manufacturers.”

Exciting new features for dLive users to explore include powerful RTA and sonogram tools, new DEEP expander and compressor models, a 12-band PEQ option for mixes, and Sennheiser wireless integration.

An exhaustive overhaul of dLive’s RTA engine presents engineers with an array of new options for audio analysis. Two RTAs are now available, with dual-surface applications able to benefit from independent RTAs. Visualisation is no longer limited to a 31-band bar display – a new line display and sonogram view is provided, with the latter capable of displaying the difference between RTAs for system tuning. Critically, the bar and line visualisations can be displayed underneath the PEQ curve, enabling engineers to make swift EQ decisions. To give engineers the full picture, the new RTA tools can always be visible, whether that’s on a dedicated screen, on the PEQ screen and widget, in a dedicated RTA widget, or on an external monitor.

dLive’s arsenal of zero-latency DEEP Processing tools is bolstered in V1.9 with multiple new additions. Two expanders offer increased gain-before-feedback and improved audio separation in live applications. Source Expander allows quick and easy control of threshold and depth for set-and-forget operation, while Dual Threshold Expander is provided for challenging environments where expert control is required. Bus, a new compressor, is modelled on a legendary hardware unit renowned for its ability to glue together mixes, and the OptTronik compressor has expanded to include a new model for an alternative flavour of classic ‘2A compression. Engineers working with IEM mixes will welcome the addition of NEQ12, a 12-band parametric EQ with selectable hi/lo pass filters that can replace the GEQ on any of the dLive’s 64 mix outputs.

Wireless integration has been opened up to include Sennheiser 300/500, 2000 and 2050 wireless microphones, which can be monitored from the dLive Surface or Director software. Key wireless information, including mutes, signal level and battery bars, is visible from the bank screen, with detailed information and control accessible via the Preamp tab. “We are excited to see our hugely popular evolution wireless 300 and 500 plus 2000 series microphones integrated with dLive,” shares Tom Vollmers, Head of Professional Portfolio at Sennheiser. “This will make life for sound engineers easier – and this is exactly what you are looking for in a stressful live situation.”

The extensive feature list for V1.9 also includes preamp sharing with automatic Gain Tracking across multiple dLive systems, LCR+ Main mode with divergence control, screen bookmarks, new screen widgets, and much more.

dLive V1.9 is available now from the Allen & Heath website.