J Sound Services (JSS) of Nashville recently specified two NEXO/Yamaha systems for Drum Corp International (DCI) members, the Carolina Crown of Fort Mill, SC and the Cadets of Allentown, PA in time for the semi final competitions that began at Middle Tennessee State University in July. Both groups will be participating in the DCI Championships on Sept. 11 in Indianapolis.
“The most significant criteria given to us by the Crown team for their new sound reinforcement system was clarity,” said Jason Spence, owner of JSS and principal systems designer. Jim Coates, the CEO/director of Crown, said, “We’re not trying to have a big rock show (referring to SPL); we want clarity.”
Spence said it was the JSS approach to design a system that could reproduce the detail of all the instruments and the ability to balance those details within the entire ensemble.
“The drastic swing in dynamics between a brass section wide open and the soft mallet of the front ensemble is a tall order for any sound system,” Spence said. “As with any sound reinforcement system, careful consideration was given to coverage, especially at the judging area. And, as with any project, we had a budget to meet. We also needed efficient amplifiers with low power draws and a system that was fast and easy to set up. As we evaluated numerous systems and the criteria, the NEXO M10 easily checked all the boxes.”
For the Crown organization, JSS designed, provided, and built a stereo (left/right) NEXO/Yamaha sound reinforcement system with custom carts for the stadium competition. The NEXO rig consisted of a total of 8 (4 left, 4 right) GEO M10 line array boxes, 6 MSUB15s (3 left, 3 right), 2 NXAmp 4x2 Mk 2 amplifiers (1 left, 1 right), and 2 NXAE104 AES network cards. A Yamaha QL5 Digital Audio Console was chosen for its sound quality, ease of use, and remote connectivity of the Rio 3224-D stage box. MY8AE cards for the NXamps were deployed, in lieu of Dante, to minimize setup time.
“The teams have six minutes to role onto the field and be ready,” Spence said. “So, speed of setup is extremely important, and with AES, we don’t have to wait for the network to come online before we can make noise.”
For the Cadets, JSS consulted on the design and provided a 4-cart, multi-zone NEXO/Yamaha sound reinforcement system. 14 GEO M10s (2 carts with 4 M10s over 1 MSUB15, 2 carts with 3 M10s over 1 per side RS15 Ray Sub, each powered by 1 NXAMP 4X2 MK2 amplifier (a total of 4 NXAMP 4x2 amplifiers powered the system), and 4 NXAE104 AES network cards. The console was upgraded to a QL5 to integrate with their existing Yamaha Tio digital stage boxes.
