22live, the UK’s newly-created ‘next generation pro-audio service provider’, founded by a group of established industry professionals, has invested in three Outline Newton units (so far) as part of their initial hire inventory. The Midlands-based company have hit the ground running, having already supplied touring systems for The Australian Pink Floyd Show and Sigur Rós as well as completing a run of O2 Arena shows with UK rapper D-Block Europe.
Technical Director Simon Gladstone commented: “We are using Newton as our front end processor with the Martin Audio Wavefront Precision series. The Newton lives in the FOH drive rack, sending PA returns to the Martin Audio IK42 amplifiers at stage end via our Dante enabled fibre backbone which carries control and comms.”
22live’s ‘no legacy equipment’ approach has allowed them to create state of the art drive racks which also feature MIPRO’s ACT-800 wireless system. This enables high quality wireless transmission of measurement mic signals back to the drive racks, where they can be analysed, alongside processor direct transfer data, within Smaart via Dante.
Gladstone continues: “Keeping the signal path as clean as possible, consoles are connected with AES3 by default, with the option of Dante where possible. We use Dante for PA returns, with an analogue backup which is also generated from the Newton. Additionally we are using the Smaart integration, as well as the Smaart direct transfer. The Newton meets all of our requirements, as well as having an intuitive and powerful interface giving a high level of control over the EQ and system elements, as well as comprehensive clocking features which is vital in today’s digital world.”
The units were supplied by UK distributor CUK Audio and their Live & Events Sales Specialist James Lawford adds: “We’re delighted that 22live have placed their faith in CUK Audio, Outline and Newton. The device has a phenomenal feature set which attracts interest from many companies, but the benefits to users include its very flexible design and straightforward software control. We offer full training on Newton to all our rental partners and their engineers, but often this is simply some hand holding, reassurance of operational best practice and of course some tips to get the most out of the device.”
22live’s Hire Director Paul Timmins was one of the first in the UK rental community to recognise Newton’s potential, soon after it launched in 2017. He commented, “Newton was an easy choice for us as our go-to drive processor and one of the items that we had to add to our rental stock as soon as we could. It’s now well established as the industry’s leading device for that role, as it should be – its flexibility and reliability are unmatched.”
He continued: “22live are taking a very disciplined and streamlined approach to our inventory and in particular we are only investing in products in which we all have a personal belief. Newton fits that view perfectly.”