Applications
Festival and Outdoor Event Sound Systems
Open air takes the room away. Every decibel now comes from the system, and the weather is part of the design.
What this application asks of a system
Indoors, the room gives you level back. Outdoors it does not: there are no boundaries to reinforce the low end and no reflections to fill in the gaps, so coverage has to be built entirely out of loudspeakers. Distance also costs more than crews expect, which is why open-air sites past a certain depth need delay towers rather than a bigger main hang.
The atmosphere then moves the design around during the show. Wind shifts high-frequency coverage downwind and shortens it upwind, and a temperature gradient over an evening bends the top end away from the audience as the ground cools. None of that is fixable with EQ at the console, so it has to be anticipated in the coverage plan and in how much headroom the system is carrying.
Off site, the neighbours are part of the brief. Low frequency travels furthest and complains loudest, which is why cardioid subwoofer arrays that steer energy forward and reject to the rear are now standard practice rather than a refinement. And the whole rig has to keep working through rain, dust and direct sun on a site with no roof and a hard curfew.
What we look at first
- Coverage built entirely from loudspeakers, with delay positions planned rather than added on the day
- Wind and temperature gradients, and the headroom to absorb what they do to the top end
- Cardioid subwoofer arrays for stage rejection and for the perimeter noise limit
- Weather and dust exposure for cabinets, amplifier racks, distribution and LED
- Power: supply quality, distribution and redundancy on a temporary site
- Load-in, build and strike windows that are usually shorter than anyone plans for
Recommended SSOUNDS products
Grouped by the job each product does in this kind of system. Specifications live on the product pages and in the data sheets, so nothing is restated here.
Main hangs
Flown left and right, sized to the field depth rather than to the headline act.
FeaturedSSOUNDS
SSOUNDS XTO 12P
Large-format element of the XTO System, 3-way quad-amplified, 149 dB peak SPL from a Socapex-loomed touring element.
FeaturedSSOUNDS
SSOUNDS XTO 10P
Mid-format element of the XTO System, 3-way 10″, 100° constant directivity, 144 dB peak, 0°–14° splay.
FeaturedSSOUNDS
SSOUNDS LS310
Flagship of the LS series, large-format quad-amplified line array, 143 dB peak, 110° × 8°.
Downfill, out fill and delay
The pit, the outer edges of the field and the delay positions that keep the back of the site in the direct field.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS XTO 8P
Compact element of the XTO System, 2-way bi-amplified 8″, 110° constant directivity, 141 dB peak, 0°–10° splay.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS P15-X
3-way long-throw point source, 2 × 15″, 4 × 6.5″ and 2 × 3″ behind a 70° × 40° waveguide, 2,000 W.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS M-15
15″ two-way point source, 55 Hz – 20 kHz, 137 dB peak, passive or bi-amplified.
Subwoofers
Cardioid-capable arrays that steer low frequency onto the audience and away from the stage and the perimeter.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS XTO S218
Dual-18″ subwoofer module of the XTO System, massive, defined low-end with cardioid-ready configuration for touring and stadiums.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS XTO S18
Single-18″ subwoofer module of the XTO System, flyable on the shared track for arrays that hang with the tops.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS LS310 Sub
Flyable dual-18″ subwoofer for LS310 arrays, 23 Hz reach, 143 dB peak, flies on the same hang.
Stage monitors
Wedges, side fills and drum fills for a changeover schedule that does not wait.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS CQ15
15″ coaxial stage monitor, rotatable point-source wedge with reference-class SPL for demanding stages.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS CQ12
12″ coaxial stage monitor, low-profile point-source wedge with high gain-before-feedback.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS SM15
15″ stage monitor, full-bodied wedge for lead vocals, drum fill and loud stages.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS SM-12
12″ low-profile stage monitor, compact wedge with high gain-before-feedback for tight stages.
Amplification and processing
Amplifier racks for tops and subs, with networked monitoring so a fault is found from the console rather than at the tower.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS D24X
High-power 4-channel DSP amplifier, subwoofer-grade output with full FIR processing.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS D14X
4-channel DSP amplifier with FIR, line-array power plus full system processing and presets.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS A24X
High-power 4-channel subwoofer amplifier, 4 × 4,400 W @ 4 Ω for XTO sub arrays.
SSOUNDS
SSOUNDS A14X
4-channel touring amplifier for line arrays, 4 × 2,000 W @ 4 Ω, analog input.
LED video
Weather-rated panels for main stages, with transparency options where wind load on a tall hang is the limiting factor.
Gloshine
Gloshine CB MAX
Outdoor concert touring flagship, 1 m² cabinets, integrated wind bracing, hangs to 20 m.
Gloshine
Gloshine VA MAX
Large-format outdoor rental LED with ~30% transparency option, wind-resistant to 20 m/s.
AIXCEL
AIXCEL RX-O Outdoor Rental LED Panel
P3.9 / P4.8 outdoor rental LED. IP65, 4,500 nits, festival-proof quick-lock cabinets.
AIXCEL
AIXCEL OD Outdoor Fixed LED Billboard
P6.6 / P8 / P10 outdoor fixed LED, 6,500-nit billboard cabinets built for African sun and weather.
Why these products. The XTO S18 and S218 are described as cardioid-capable when arrayed and carry CardioSteer presets, and the LS310 Sub is described as having water- and dust-resistant treatment for outdoor work. On the video side, the Gloshine CB MAX is described as an outdoor festival panel built for main stages that cannot cancel for weather, the VA MAX as wind-rated with a transparency option, and the AIXCEL RX-O as an IP65 outdoor rental panel.
Guides for this application
Get this specced for your room
Send us the drawings, the seat count and what the room has to do. Our engineers model the coverage and come back with a product list, a rigging plan and a budget.