Digital Beam Steering Meets Live Sound

News

Andy Wood Jun 23 2008, 9:00am

Renkus-Heinz IC Live Charts A New Direction for Event Production

InfoComm 08, Las Vegas - US audio manufacturer Renkus-Heinz has introduced the IC Live, a new product line that applies the company’s innovative Iconyx Digitally Steerable Array technology to live event production.

“Originally designed for permanent installation, Iconyx arrays have been used for charity galas, corporate presentations and concerts throughout Europe and the US,” says Renkus-Heinz President Harro Heinz. “IC Live meets the needs of PA rental companies, with high output steerable array configurations and a versatile hardware system that is optimized for portable applications."

IC Live is engineered to supply natural, musical and intelligible sound for live events from meetings with background music to high-energy theatrical productions and concerts.

“Vertical pattern control is often the key to providing good sound in difficult conditions,” says Renkus-Heinz Senior Vice President

Ralph Heinz. “Line arrays have become the accepted way to achieve vertical control, but of course the smaller the box, the shorter the line and the less control the system actually has. With IC Live, we have turned the line array on its end and applied digital steering technology to deliver better vertical pattern

control and reduce sidewall reflections with few cabinets.”

With the interlocking hardware system, IC Live users will be able to quickly and easily assemble four array configurations from two components: the full range IC Live array module and the ICL215S subwoofer.

The IC Live module incorporates five neodymium 6.5-inch cone woofers and three neodymium compression drivers on purpose-designed waveguides.

A multi-channel DSP/amplifier controls each transducer individually. Complex signal processing shapes the array’s output and steers it in the desired direction. Steering the sound and not the box, the enclosure remains vertical, keeping sightlines open with a tall, narrow profile.

IC Live arrays produce narrow vertical beams of 30 degrees, 25 degrees and 20 degrees that can be steered up or down by up to 30 degrees at 0.01 degrees resolution. Horizontal dispersion is a wide 150 degrees. Onboard memory stores up to seven combinations of beamwidths and aiming angles for instant recall via rear panel pushbuttons. For higher SPL and an extra octave of beam steering in the lower midrange, two IC Live modules can be arrayed “horn to horn.”

The ICL215S is a dual 15-inch bandpass subwoofer that supplies the extra bass impact needed for high level music. A single ICL215S can be used as the base for one IC Live; a pair provides sturdy and safe support for a two-module array. IC Live arrays can also be suspended using industry-standard Aeroquip hardware.

IC Live systems are available with comprehensive Connect / Control / Supervise networking over standard Ethernet via RHAON, the Renkus-Heinz Audio Operations Network. RHAON delivers audio signals via CobraNet, AES/EBU digital or analog inputs. System operators can use a networked computer for real-time control of system and room tuning functions such as 12 parametric EQ filters, 340 milliseconds of delay and dynamics processing.

renkus-heinz.com