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Why Music Festivals Sound Better Than Ever | WIRED
Did you know that a simple speaker completely transformed modern music festivals? A vertical line array is a loudspeaker system that stacks speakers on top of each other so that sound is more evenly distributed on a horizontal plane. To learn more about line array, WIRED spoke with sound engineer Dave Rat. Dave, who has…
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withershin
April 17, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Give me stacked 28″ bass bins that shake my bones and horns that bleed my ears. This Dave dude is making good money on these line arrays but they sound like crap. I’d rather go to a concert where Dave Rat has hand-drawn speaker locations than ever see another line array. The science is super cool but has no soul.
alakazam
April 17, 2023 at 1:58 pm
hope his arm gets better soon
bassangler73
April 17, 2023 at 2:00 pm
Crank it to 130db like Van Halen and Ozzy did and it sounds good!!!
ntnwwnet
April 17, 2023 at 2:30 pm
and then say bye bye to your hearing for the rest of your life!
bassangler73
April 17, 2023 at 2:37 pm
@ntnwwnet I have been to several concerts and have played guitar for years…I honestly think it has to do with the individual, I seem to be able to hear as well as most my age and have no tinnitus..But I have heard of people going to one loud show and getting tinnitus…
queueeeee
April 17, 2023 at 3:03 pm
@bassangler73 maybe you just have gotten used to tinnitus for so long, you’ve learned to tune it out?
bassangler73
April 17, 2023 at 3:10 pm
@queueeeee could be…but i have never noticed it
queueeeee
April 17, 2023 at 3:15 pm
@bassangler73 dang, that would be awesome. I have to sleep with fan/white noise, or my mind goes 🤣
Gary Cheetham
April 17, 2023 at 2:01 pm
you wrong. i always want to see the speakers. especially rows of bass, and towers of array.
James Stevenson
April 17, 2023 at 2:26 pm
yeah but some may not so they are right
Bros Before Hoes
April 17, 2023 at 2:03 pm
Is audio and video not in sync?
Jack Lee
April 17, 2023 at 2:07 pm
I can’t help but keep staring at his hat
Riding Weeb
April 17, 2023 at 2:20 pm
so it took them like 50 years to figure out stereo?
Smiththebat
April 17, 2023 at 2:23 pm
Nononononono
Tony Lancer
April 17, 2023 at 2:21 pm
Dave Rat is the *THE* man to talk regarding live sound and PA systems, really great depth of knowledge.
Josh neibarger
April 17, 2023 at 2:21 pm
Something tells me there’s someone smarter for this job than this guy sounds like your Anthem concerts by trial-and-error rather than proper testing and physics of all this
Watcher
April 17, 2023 at 2:46 pm
Why was this an innovation? Sounds like moving around speakers is something that should have been found out 60 years ago? Explain.
Lawrence Frost
April 17, 2023 at 2:49 pm
He looks exactly the part of a Californian ganja smoking sound engineer expert of his field.
Johan Sugarev
April 17, 2023 at 2:57 pm
He failed to mention that sound in the real world is not that consistent and all sorts of things affect it.
prepucio
April 17, 2023 at 3:31 pm
his beanie was tripping me out this entire video
no name
April 17, 2023 at 3:33 pm
Honestly, I like to deposit my BTC and ETH on PapayaHub platform. I’m getting 25-30% per month thanks to the fast-growing webcam market.
Stan B.
April 17, 2023 at 3:47 pm
Grateful Dead beg to differ
Joshua Hayes
April 17, 2023 at 4:44 pm
The sound quality may be better but the actual music is worse
Andor_Yoko
April 17, 2023 at 5:41 pm
All this engineering and they’re still too fuckin loud
James Stevenson
April 17, 2023 at 7:09 pm
Depends where you are and who is the mixer I guess. Though I always wear earplugs now
Thought Broker
April 17, 2023 at 6:51 pm
muy interesante senor
DSquaredDan
April 17, 2023 at 7:08 pm
Someone should add robotic motors to speakers so you can move the sound both horizontally and vertically and steer it to where you want it to go in crowd remotely. I wonder if anyone has invented that yet…
Son of Petro
April 17, 2023 at 8:36 pm
Coachella sounded AWFUL the first weekend!
Franco Contreras
April 17, 2023 at 9:21 pm
Never interrupt Dave Rat when he´s speaking please
HazaO DeNorth
April 17, 2023 at 9:24 pm
This was explained so well….❤🎉…
John Smith
April 18, 2023 at 2:51 pm
but line arrays are standard for 30 years now, i mean ….
Wairama Stevenson
April 18, 2023 at 2:53 pm
Awesome now we just bands and musicians worth listening to. At least there’s king gizzard and black midi
Andy Chavez
April 18, 2023 at 3:02 pm
attending Coachella weekend 2, this will now be on the back of my mind
Patryk Siewiera
April 18, 2023 at 3:08 pm
He is a GENIUS
Fiona Apple Rocks
April 18, 2023 at 3:55 pm
Can we maybe get STEREO at concerts now?
David Foss
April 18, 2023 at 6:37 pm
What? All the setups mentioned are stereo setups. The problem with super wide stereo panning in live musc is that it would sound extremely different depending on where you’re standing in the crowd. It could sound amazing at FoH but absolute disgusting on the sides where 50% of the crowd is standing.
Fiona Apple Rocks
April 18, 2023 at 6:57 pm
@David Foss and thats why 99.9% of concerts are mono played through 2 sets of speakers, but maybe with this better tech we could revisit the idea.
Michael Dramstad
April 18, 2023 at 4:28 pm
There are limitations to line arrays. Let me go back…. I’m a sound engineer and an avid festival attendee. One of the major issues I find with the line array is when the ground is uneven in the park…. At times you can be in a virtual sound hole, where the sound doesn’t go. Step 10 steps forward or ten steps back, sounds great. But in the hole, the sound hot spot is actually projecting over your head. Not the lines fault. More, the grounds. Just saying. Still, great advancement in large stage format. But let’s face it, point source still has its place. Most of my shows are in beer garden type tents where line arrays do nothing but project into the cloth. Sometimes a point source can and will sound more full in these instances. Depends on the venue. Also, something Dave doesn’t address is the need for front fill cabs at the shows for the pit. Usually a line box that is acting as a point source, meaning it’s not arrayed. For the close up crowd. So yeah, the rigs are amazing, but in some areas are still a hybrid between the two techs.
Dave Knepper
April 18, 2023 at 5:01 pm
Good stuff! Dave is a legend and always willing to break down difficult concepts for those who want to learn.
DanG
April 18, 2023 at 5:05 pm
…*louder* than ever.
Sawako Celeste
April 18, 2023 at 5:13 pm
DAVE THE MAN <3
illenseil
April 18, 2023 at 5:19 pm
Cool video but on open festival grounds like that, a little wind will ruin the sound regardless. Tents = better. For those interested, I recommend looking up Lowlands Festival (in the Netherlands 🇳🇱), they design their own unique and innovative festivaltents that have fantastic sound quality. Their most recent is Bravo, designed like a literal cathedral.
matt keosian
April 18, 2023 at 5:28 pm
dave how do you feel about danley deployments? in my experience they out do most line array setups iv heard. most LA’s are just loud but lack the quality. those danley rigs pack some heat and cover some ground.
Nick S
April 18, 2023 at 5:28 pm
Super cool video
Harry Tuttle
April 18, 2023 at 5:49 pm
Wasnt the point of point source hence the name that youre listening to one mid/high speaker wherever you are in the audience . This whole thing is wrong , only thing line array helped you is in logistics while sacrificing sound . Offcourse just stacking a bunch of point source like in the past with minimal DSP was bad , but today but powerful point source will win over LA for quality no doubt .
Rob Malford
April 18, 2023 at 6:05 pm
They sound horrible. You’re just on drugs.
Jeff Kenney
April 18, 2023 at 6:29 pm
and now we have the next generation of loudspeaker tech : The Multiple Entry Horn – thank you Danley Sound Labs!
François Larivière
April 18, 2023 at 6:35 pm
Really nice info but please don’t make the sound system invisible, this is one of the main feature of a festival setup in my mind😢
polyphony89
April 18, 2023 at 6:46 pm
Is Dave using microphone capsules as speakers?
Dave Merchant
April 18, 2023 at 7:17 pm
Dave Rat, Outstanding Sound Human!
A-Spec Reviews!
April 18, 2023 at 7:49 pm
Are these systems tuned with measurement mics to have a “flat” frequency response at the listening area?
Steve Broggie
April 18, 2023 at 7:52 pm
Dave is THE live sound guru.
Chuck Silva
April 18, 2023 at 8:10 pm
Fascinating!🔥🔥🔥
Dave Garoutte
April 18, 2023 at 8:28 pm
Calling those arrayed speakers point source is a misnomer. Its a multiple point source. Look at Danley Sound Labs, who makes true point source boxes that can compete with the long line arrays with only a few boxes.
daa
April 18, 2023 at 8:36 pm
Love you, Wired!!
Elle guinto
April 18, 2023 at 8:48 pm
Dave rat a w
Scott C
April 18, 2023 at 9:12 pm
Technology advanced. You’re welcome.
Derek M
April 20, 2023 at 1:40 pm
Then you add the fact that PK Sound has robotic line array systems that you can get even more controlled sound.
Google One
April 20, 2023 at 2:19 pm
Now turn the volume down
Fergus McIver
April 20, 2023 at 2:22 pm
This was really interesting, thank you 👍🏻
Caleb KPONOU
April 20, 2023 at 2:24 pm
Wow, I didn’t knew this topic would be so interesting ! 🙃🙃🙃
Auggie Axiom
April 20, 2023 at 2:55 pm
because all the music today is pre-recorded and lip synched
Jimi Mased
April 20, 2023 at 3:10 pm
how doe eyed is this cant
Guilherme Picollo duarte
April 20, 2023 at 3:25 pm
All this tech only for the singers to use auto tune lol
Daniel Edwards
April 20, 2023 at 3:48 pm
I love Dave Rat
Alli Villa
April 20, 2023 at 4:03 pm
LETS GOO DAVE!!!
Banyus
April 20, 2023 at 4:21 pm
My only problem is that the music is crap. Doesn’t matter how loud or accurate… MUSIC IS CRAP
Javier
April 20, 2023 at 4:52 pm
This is best video of the week. Thanks! 👌
Bobby Uterus
April 20, 2023 at 5:07 pm
Dave rat is a national treasure!
Mistic DW
April 20, 2023 at 5:14 pm
Line arrays sound soulless bassless
mtl shdr
April 20, 2023 at 5:15 pm
It may sound better, but it cannot help make bad music better.
Nolesy
April 20, 2023 at 8:57 pm
Nope… that’s what we-
Weeding out fans by putting up set times and so forth, you only go see what you paid for thereby making it worth your while
True-say
April 20, 2023 at 5:58 pm
Seems like a real sound guy
Tino Schulz
April 20, 2023 at 6:15 pm
There are so many sound engineers on youtube that try to explain line array and the effect that comes with it. But Dave Rat is just a true hero. The way he explains it, even a 5 y/o could understand it. And even me, 32 years old, who experiences quite a lot of PA-setups as a mobile sound engineer, i’m always amazed on his profession and lessons.
I also love his videos that he does in his workshop / garage. He goes deep into a topic, and it just never gets boring
Romulus
April 20, 2023 at 6:20 pm
What a cool guy.
Ben
April 20, 2023 at 6:23 pm
At least 3 people notice the difference in the audience
Anonymous Hippopotomus
April 20, 2023 at 6:26 pm
I hate these kind of speakers. They are ridiculously loud and boomy with no prioritization of volume, dynamics, nuance. It’s just pure loud mud the entire time. If this is an improvement of what used to be, I would be scared to know how bad it was. Also, this isn’t new? This sound system has been used for at least 20 years.
ltandrepants
April 20, 2023 at 7:08 pm
great
TrefwoordPunk
April 20, 2023 at 7:13 pm
The best gigs I’ve ever been to have no pa for guitars and drums, just a vocal pa, and volume on stage. That’s real music. That’s how the who, Hendrix, everyone played at the marquee etc. todays concerts sound so clean and sterile….it’s not worth going
George Morales
April 20, 2023 at 7:42 pm
I wanna see a 80ft tall electrostatic speaker set up, then we’ll talk.
Joseph Bui
April 20, 2023 at 8:06 pm
Good lord, wtf are these people thinking, she’s a 70 year old woman. She got swatted, someone needs to answer to it, among all the
others.
Jdaddyaz
April 20, 2023 at 8:23 pm
Dave living the dream! Imagine being able to be mentored by him. Bet you he’s got some great stories, and equally great insights about sound design. Keep doing your thing Dave!
Duffy
April 20, 2023 at 8:53 pm
Clair?
Nolesy
April 20, 2023 at 8:56 pm
Trivago
phosgene2
April 20, 2023 at 11:13 pm
i don’t understand why line array wasn’t the initial solution. there doesn’t seem to be anything about it technologically that was inaccessible in say 1985 or before.
Darren Williams
April 20, 2023 at 11:33 pm
Dave is great!
Chanie M.
April 20, 2023 at 11:56 pm
nah i still wanna see some of the sound thanks
Billy Coda
April 21, 2023 at 12:34 am
this isn’t the guy sampled on Skrillex’s Rock and Roll is it?
Superbustr
April 21, 2023 at 2:18 am
The real question. Why music festivals are so expensive. Why are we paying over $1000.00 for a festival ticket and some accommodation? I would rather listen to some torrented flac music on my comfy audiophile over ear headphones than get the next covid at a festival.
speakersCorner
April 21, 2023 at 2:54 am
Completely forgot to mention or got cut out: the Line-Array Speakers do have horns for the Highs, so there is no comb filter vertically and also a huge increase in throw. Mids and bass drivers have a nice effect if you put them together, which is called D‘appolito effect: deeper frequencies have longer waves, which allows them to form one very loud wave (overlaying). The waves of the high fequency drivers are way too short for the effect, so there have to be horns.
ElectronAsh
April 21, 2023 at 3:18 am
Dave really is a sound human.
S
April 21, 2023 at 3:44 am
The sound was so powerful, it shattered his left arm the second he turned it on.
Nick Tamer
April 21, 2023 at 4:11 am
Line array is the best french contribution to audio world.
xdz80
April 21, 2023 at 6:29 am
Kinda missed the question coming up like so why didn’t they use line arrays back in 1982 at US Festival for example? Answer is – practical and technological limitations. Theoretical background of course existed, but they simply could not make loudspeakers that’d meet the requirements (or, I guess it’d have been insanely expensive totally prohibiting their use). There was no way anyway to easily fit and iteratively optimise acoustic parameters to the necessary requirements and mathematical models, which is now only a question of running MatLab.
Raynhardx
April 21, 2023 at 6:34 am
I was just at life concert of a band I adore. The sound was complete garbage though :(. I wish every sound designer was as passionate as dave rat. Or maybe they just lacked time to setup. Dunno.
Mike Jobson
April 21, 2023 at 7:15 am
Ehhhhhh Rat Fans
(Sorry not sorry)
Sy Borg
April 21, 2023 at 7:36 am
It was Owsley and The Wall of Sound for The Grateful Dead
A Void
April 21, 2023 at 8:19 am
So concerts are louder now? Millennials and Zoomers are going to have awful hearing in their old age.
Taiku Bruno
April 21, 2023 at 9:14 am
i prefer funktion one or void sound system dude
Sarah Jones
April 21, 2023 at 10:01 am
Awesome video. Dave Rat is always on point!
slowpuff
April 21, 2023 at 10:57 am
I’ve seen plenty of churches with line arrays for years
Obi-wan Kenobi
April 21, 2023 at 11:31 am
I was enjoying line array PA’s on dead tour in the 1980’s
Quantum Epoch
April 21, 2023 at 12:24 pm
There’s something to be said for baffle area of large scale point source. Combined with the heat of incandescent lights and copious amounts of distortion it is an experience the younger generation never experienced. Loud and pure are not what you went to an AC/DC show for. It was the seven semi’s full of sound gear that left your body feeling like you got hit with a 2×4. Line arrays solve problems and sound fantastic. No argument. But the psychology of concerts has changed. For the better is a matter of opinion of the experience, and economic reality. Your 2by arrays are a great compromise and mix isolation is a vast improvement over single feed straight lines.
NaRhala
April 21, 2023 at 12:40 pm
dude, we do want to see the stacks, cuz it looks cool
Fenthule
April 21, 2023 at 1:41 pm
Yet to think there’s companies like PK Sound that are driving line arrays even further by having them be fully roboticized, so micrometer movements are possible on the fly even during a live session. Concerts have changed A LOT in the last half century.
NegativeROG
April 21, 2023 at 1:50 pm
I got a contact high just listening to Dave.
Mac Tonite
April 21, 2023 at 2:29 pm
i dont listen to men that break their arms
Eddie Chang
April 21, 2023 at 3:22 pm
That beanie with white background really bother me
Gwynbleidd
April 21, 2023 at 5:16 pm
dude knows what he’s talking about.
Adam Trayling
April 22, 2023 at 9:09 am
Wait and see what d&b soundscape can do
Peter Tauscher
April 22, 2023 at 10:33 am
You just know this dude is a good sound engineer, cause he’s got a broken arm! xD Source:I’m a pretty passable sound engineer and I get hurt all the time.
Sheriff Hightower
April 22, 2023 at 11:13 am
That looks way better than the Rush concert I attended at the Capitol Arena back in the early 90’s. I’m sure if they had LA’s back then, it would’ve sounded better too.
Jacob Rael
April 22, 2023 at 12:26 pm
Went to lost lands as my first music festival, I’ve never heard music that was so extremely loud while sounding absolutely perfect before
Head Band by Brian Lundeen
April 22, 2023 at 1:11 pm
I tried listening to the stream of the first night of Coachella and it was not listenable. So BAD !!
WeWillFckUp2
April 22, 2023 at 2:37 pm
Dave Rat sounds like matthew mcconaughey
Daniel Evans
April 22, 2023 at 2:39 pm
As a sound engineer this is beautiful 😍
Moee Turbin
April 22, 2023 at 2:42 pm
badvss video! Learned some things today already! Thank you!
Davide Piovesan
April 22, 2023 at 3:04 pm
I think that alredy in the 97″ at the “music for monserrat” concert Mark Knopfler used vertical rack of speaker
Skougi
April 22, 2023 at 3:06 pm
best of the best right there.
geffel
April 22, 2023 at 3:11 pm
I’ve been going to big shows for over forty years. They often used to sound terrible, even when the audio engineers tried hard to make it sound good. Exceptions included Rush and Pink Floyd. The quality at live shows now is outstanding, especially impressive at outdoor gigs. However, at smaller gigs there’s still a tendency for bands to want everything as loud as possible rather than as clear as possible, which is a shame.
IndianTechSupport
April 22, 2023 at 3:16 pm
Wow, line arrays are such a new invention🙄
BlackHoleSun97
April 22, 2023 at 3:34 pm
Technology becomes better over time? Omg no way.
Apu
April 22, 2023 at 4:23 pm
“we want to hear sound, we don’t want to see it” – i agree at a mainstream festival sure, but in smaller settings I quite like standing in front of a nice system and just admire it and maybe put my head inside a bass bin.
Josh's Gadgets and More
April 22, 2023 at 4:33 pm
Danley Sound Labs has entered the chat…. LOL
Bubble Skunker
April 22, 2023 at 4:59 pm
Meh, funktion one non vero (line array) still slaps at festivals and is better than 99.9% of line arrays.
yourgflikesit
April 22, 2023 at 6:30 pm
Dave rat, just threw speakers anywhere, then was told where to put them… the man the myth the legend.
Li Ryan
April 22, 2023 at 6:45 pm
I used to design mobile antenna patterns, exactly same challenges and techniques used.
posthocprior
April 22, 2023 at 7:24 pm
The physics of line arrays should have been explained. (Now, am going to read about why the physics of line arrays works so well.)
Rezin 8
April 22, 2023 at 7:35 pm
NRG HOUSTON IS TRASH FOR CONCERTS 😂 RIP ASTRODOME
What I learnt today
April 22, 2023 at 8:15 pm
So it’s not because of the police with sniffer dogs who strip search teenage girls?
Lasse Huhtala
April 22, 2023 at 8:20 pm
Dave has an awesome channel here on Youtube, that I recommend everyone follow, who’s interested in things like this.
Brett Cameratraveler
April 22, 2023 at 8:33 pm
Any bands or festivals doing True surround sound out there? (At least 4 discrete channels)
Mika Laybourn
April 22, 2023 at 8:50 pm
It’s always fascinating hearing people talk about something they’re really passionate about! Great job explaining, Dave!
1789Bastille
April 23, 2023 at 6:16 am
and yet there are so many places with bad sound out there.
Expander
April 23, 2023 at 8:05 am
Thank you sound engineers.
Kaustubh Yadav
April 23, 2023 at 9:17 am
This is not related to sonics but can someone please tell what pen is he using at 1:06 and 3:10 ? is it a brush pen ? Looks nice to use
DROID - @marsdroid1
April 23, 2023 at 9:54 am
awesome many thx!!!!
doni herald
April 23, 2023 at 9:58 am
it’s called hanging speaker in here, people like it when concert use it
Y2Kvids🪬
April 23, 2023 at 10:38 am
They should make big soundbar
Dani
April 23, 2023 at 11:03 am
At the 28th of august 2010 I was at a A-ha concert in Bergen Norway and they had this exact set up for the speakers. 13 years ago…
Trabbs
April 23, 2023 at 12:10 pm
This guys 50
Will Mire
April 23, 2023 at 12:22 pm
Looks fun
Tobias
April 23, 2023 at 1:01 pm
BP Lisa in the intro at 4 sec 😀
Intrepid Traveller
April 23, 2023 at 1:09 pm
Good ole grateful bear
Lewshwa Music
April 23, 2023 at 1:10 pm
Anyone else think there was a filter on the video until he bent forward and showed it was just a gradient on his hat?!?!
BlackReaperMetal
April 23, 2023 at 1:17 pm
If ya’ll don’t know and are interested, Dave Rat has his own YT channel.
Jatin Shetty
April 23, 2023 at 1:33 pm
It sounds better cause no one actually “plays” anymore. 95% of what you hear is pre-recorded
gratefulklani
April 23, 2023 at 1:43 pm
I believe the Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound” was one of if not the first instance of line arrays used for live music. And this was back in 1974! Thanks to the crew at Alembic.
elocrian
April 23, 2023 at 1:49 pm
I wish this was three times longer!! Great video! Let’s talk about the Dead’s infamous 70’s sound system: The Wall of Sound!
Andrew
April 23, 2023 at 1:53 pm
I read about this theory in an electronics mag in the early 1980s. Why did it take them so long to put it into practice? They were first used in public address systems such as leisure centres using 100v line drivers so you could run long cables without too much loss.
Tokr Qui
April 23, 2023 at 2:54 pm
this is microphone capsules used as speakers?
Pie 4life
April 23, 2023 at 3:59 pm
Basic logic this guy isn’t smart at just feed what to do by the speaker maker aka engineers
Wittgensteinien
April 23, 2023 at 4:03 pm
Awesome.
LandoLegend
April 23, 2023 at 4:19 pm
Yeah but what about the aussie festivals see what I mean
Farizzaky Imam
April 23, 2023 at 4:24 pm
Ada sobat Promedia kah yg sudah sampai sini?
Peter Bellek
April 23, 2023 at 5:46 pm
No offense because I trust his expertise but tbh I enjoy the look of old sound arrays bc it just seems so concerty to me lol… like an old school AC/DC concert with a wall of speakers 😂
Jan Van Est
April 23, 2023 at 5:50 pm
Could someone explain to me the difference between this setup and the setup one might see at a Broadway musical? They look so similar to me, but I’m sure there’s a difference!
that one lonely eagle
April 23, 2023 at 6:07 pm
It’s so amazing how they could manage to get rid of those ‘wall of sounds’ and replace it with line array ‘pole’ speakers! I used to hate the line arrays as I thought they were cheap and sounded crappy but now after watching this video, I absolutely love them and can’t wait to go to a live concert to here them for the first time! I loved seeing the old school wall of sounds set ups but those line arrays, very appreciative that they’re taking over the sound of the concerts!
jbones360
April 24, 2023 at 12:08 am
He has an Ayima t9, great little Chinese class D amp with a stereo valve buffer filter, and Bluetooth connectivity! Cheap Audio Man subscriber here.
Kiere Luurs
April 24, 2023 at 3:04 am
You mean HOW.
The ‘why’ is obvious.
Invox
April 24, 2023 at 4:05 am
When you can make the sound only be eard INSIDE the concert area… Then I’ll be impressed.
richard *
April 24, 2023 at 4:32 am
Too bad when they put flames in front of the speakers and the flames come up, you lose the high and mid frequencies for a second…
TheGreatAtario
April 24, 2023 at 4:59 am
The man’s name is Rat? That is unfortunate
Sool
April 24, 2023 at 6:59 am
Skipped the best part? The BASS assembly, simply genius.
Michiel Lombaers
April 24, 2023 at 9:13 am
And now you have the next generation; the same control that a line array has over the vertical axis can be done over the horizontal axis. There is this Berlin company Holoplot. They can even isolate sound to a single spot in the field.
Jon M
April 24, 2023 at 9:54 am
Are they still face scanning people that these events
Fellow Traveler
April 24, 2023 at 10:32 am
i mean line arrays have been around for a very long time now so i dont get it whats so ”new” about it
Tony N.
April 24, 2023 at 11:37 am
What about the crappy Coachella stream sound quality?
MR G
April 24, 2023 at 11:48 am
Alternate video title: Stoner finally accomplishes dreams that he used to annoy everyone with over bong hits
NickLintner
April 24, 2023 at 12:26 pm
I wanna be buried in a funk 1
Tex
April 24, 2023 at 1:49 pm
I have the idea that the sound is only getting worse here in The Netherlands…
CA Driver
April 24, 2023 at 3:26 pm
They still have a long way to go. Bass is insanely overemphasized these days. At almost every stage at the last ACL the bass was blaring and distorted. I guarantee the musicians had a much more bass-light mix in their ears or else it would have masked their parts.
Bill Krause
April 24, 2023 at 3:56 pm
Dave is a brilliant guy!!
Comes up with some great demonstrations.
OG Clouds
April 24, 2023 at 3:58 pm
Love learning new things, thank you hippie Matthew McConaughey
Anders Mellgren
April 24, 2023 at 5:30 pm
Well…
That’s if you set up your vertical line array as a vertical point source.
A correct line array eliminates the comb filtering in all frequencys. Every wave length needs at least 75% coverage in the line at all points.
justinblin
April 24, 2023 at 5:32 pm
Who’s the person at 0:05?
Rich
April 24, 2023 at 8:03 pm
Does Dave Rat have a scaphoid fracture? I’m wearing practically the same cast, hahaha.
diazzsama
April 25, 2023 at 12:16 am
Speakers are not simple
Crazy prayingmantis
April 25, 2023 at 1:44 am
I don’t want to hear it, I want to feel it tingle my ballsack 🥴
Shockedbywater
April 25, 2023 at 2:09 am
1:19 I want to thank you for the seemingly small point you made about going ‘if you were moving up and down you would hear the problems’ that really cleared things up for me. Sometimes it the little things that make a big difference. This was an interesting video.
ronald broersma
April 25, 2023 at 3:02 am
cool, thx 🙂
GamingShiiep
April 25, 2023 at 3:07 am
In case someone’s wondering: they can’t just use a single speaker because no single speaker gets that loud 😁
t23001
April 25, 2023 at 3:10 am
Very informative! Hopefully something can be done for arena shows, too. Clarity is preferred over raw volume.
Liberality
April 25, 2023 at 3:35 am
The loudspeakers may be technically correct, but the sound of a festival is music plus loudspeaker. Festivals are now a corporate business and the music has not got better. There’s very little genuinely new music being played at major festivals, and the focus is on the tastes of the mainstream.
Coskun
April 25, 2023 at 6:48 am
Lol okay go listen to a danley rig
Paul Matthews
April 25, 2023 at 6:56 am
Average sound to all punters… instead of fantastic sound to most, like back in the point source days. Thats what “Line Array” generally delivers today. And it’s nothing new. Us Aussies were well ahead.. try 60 years ahead of their time…
:
ll
April 25, 2023 at 8:51 am
He’s exactly what I’d think a Coatchella Sound Engineer looks like
Walter White
April 25, 2023 at 9:30 am
Turn down the volume about 50db so you can actually hear the music and not just a ear bleeding mess or noises
lightingman117
April 25, 2023 at 10:50 am
80s tech (point source) vs 2000s tech (line array)… lets compare 2000s tech (line array) with 2020’s (Danley Point Source) tech.
Foxxorz
April 25, 2023 at 11:10 am
Nice to see Dave get some exposure.
Dougal Tolan
April 25, 2023 at 11:23 am
Lìne array aint nothing new. 5 speaker columns have been in churches for way over half a century.
Hastiin Biłééhóziní Binalí
April 25, 2023 at 11:46 am
I knew he was a true audio guy when I saw those vacuum tubes 😝.
mike a
April 25, 2023 at 1:23 pm
They put one of these systems in the local hockey arena and the difference is night and day!
tom thompson
April 25, 2023 at 2:28 pm
Till the wind blows.
CS Soda
April 25, 2023 at 2:36 pm
Present Mic, is that you?
dholt21771
April 25, 2023 at 3:17 pm
The sound in general at concerts has gotten so bad that we’ve stopped attending concerts. I’m not paying to listen to a loud garbled mess. I’m convinced that all sound guys are deaf and hove no idea how bad of a job they’re doing.
Bob Powell
April 25, 2023 at 5:11 pm
Okay…now explain Pink Floyd’s sound system. Those people play tricks on your head primarily with the Doppler effect.
I guess everyone has heard the story about the “advisors” Tripping on Clearlight so hard they can See Sound, then dropping the
Perfect 16th Century Spoon and watching where the sound goes to determine speaker placement.
Whatever it was they did, I never heard anything that compares.
Robert Evans
April 25, 2023 at 5:20 pm
Never trust the opinions of someone who uses tube driven amplifiers even if the are correct occasionally. Get a second source.
Samuel Teegeer
April 25, 2023 at 5:20 pm
hmm there are Point source systems that solve the problem in the vertical area. KV2 and Danley are 2 systems. A Danley J1 on each side is sufficent for 20.000 people and thats only 2 speakers with very good directivity.
Here a video of KV2 point source system. It has perfect audio up to 150meter.
Colin Milburn
April 25, 2023 at 5:31 pm
Dave Rat is not human, he is absolutely brilliant
microcolonel
April 25, 2023 at 6:14 pm
Beam forming is super cool.
Charles Dolly
April 25, 2023 at 6:23 pm
Line arrays still have the same problem vertically and in a room there are still many point sources. Makes the room sound muddled.
The VCLA Agency
April 25, 2023 at 10:28 pm
oh gosh gee, we do love live!
Grimbles
April 25, 2023 at 11:16 pm
does all of this even matter when the music is so loud and bassy it gets distorted? don’t people go to concerts for the idolism/celebrity-worshipping, and not the music?
BRHSpartans
April 26, 2023 at 1:29 am
Line array and Dante changed the game
Remy David
April 26, 2023 at 1:58 am
So I’m really not talking lunatic stuff here. While I try to make it sound funny. It’s not really funny. This is a serious mistake. That everybody is on board with making. Because they are convinced they are right. Without ever hearing it the other way. Without even wanting to know what the other way sounds. Because if they were wrong? Then they wouldn’t be right! Exactly. And they are not. I set up PA systems also. I don’t have any of those problems or need of, Line Arrays. Those simply are just easier to set up. Easier to take down. That’s why they have become popular. They do not solve anything. When the speakers are wired in negative polarity. And then you get all those problems you just talked about. Because everybody was stupid and didn’t wire it correctly. I specialize in fixing wiring problems. DUH! All the way up to a large factory for a legendary company that made one of the world’s great studio multitrack tape recorders. And the two electrical engineers couldn’t figure out why the machines were blowing up? The electrical engineers couldn’t figure it out. It was comical. And it took me 2 weeks to figure it out. My first 2 weeks on the job. Doing something I had never ever done before. But had to figure out what was going wrong? And they asked me for my help. I did not apply for this job. I was requested. That’s really different. That means you already have a reputation people know about. Or have become aware of. And when people say they need your help. I’m a sucker for that.
One day you might figure things out. But I actually doubt it. Because you automatically assume. Because the instruction manuals have mistakenly told you to miss wire everything. You assume they are correct and accurate. You should not assume that. You should listen for yourself. And flip connections where you can conveniently. When you suddenly discover. Speakers that are wired correctly are wired backwards but in phase with each other. A concept most can’t seem to wrap their 3D heads around correctly. And for the life of me I don’t know why? Everyone does this incorrectly. And everybody causes these problems described here. Because the speakers are all in negative polarity together. And nobody understands what’s happening. Nobody understands the concept. Because it’s in 3D in your head. And guys are supposed to be good at that. Or used to be. When they were still really, guys. What is Dave? Is that a manly man? Or is that an adolescent audio dweeb? And remember. Only you can Prevent Forest Fires. By not lighting trees on fire. And not wiring your speakers all backwards in negative polarity. As they will not be able to push wind out to put out the fire. They will be sucking the fire toward it. And that’s what everybody has gotten wrong. And convinced they are right. And then they refuse to try the other way. Because they are a damped, THEY ARE CORRECT! And well… They are not. And that creates a whole can of worms. In acoustic aberrations and cancellations. And everybody then blames something else. Except their own, simpleminded clueless stupidity.
I have not usually written anything this strong before. But I am all about this subject. This is my specialty. It is definitely not yours. Some of us have worked for legendary Pro Audio Manufacturers. Most of you don’t know what that means. It’s kind of like a club. Kind of like, cliques of people. That all gang up like thugs. To enforce their agenda! Regardless of the misinformation.
So I really got hot and bothered with this video. It’s completely screwed up. It is one of the most screwed up videos of the subject matter on YouTube. It is filled with the correct information. When you wire your speakers wrong. So it’s good for that. So that you can all wire you speakers wrong, together and be the same stupids. Bravo! And you are what is wrong with our country, today. The failure that we are becoming. Due to this type of rife misinformation and gangs of thugs. That side with misinformation. Because you know better! You’ve got Jesus on your side. And Jesus has told you your speakers are wired correctly. So there is no questioning that. And the manufacturers could never make that mistake. Yes they have. I troubleshoot manufacturer’s errors. Even on $36,000, studio tape recorders. They have wiring errors in their schematics. The machine cannot be fixed. If you follow that schematic in that area. I have had to find such errors. I’m a Quality Control Manager Expert. And I seem to have an eye and a mind for details. That a lot of people get wrong and think they are right. Until I explained it to them. And the dumbfounded looks is always hysterical. When they realize they’ve had it wrong for between 3 and 40 years. It’s that egg on face expression. You should always have a camera ready for. And I never have! I’m stupid. I could have over a dozen funny pictures! Even by one of the most famous American studio audio mixing console manufacturers. At their studio. It was very funny. Thousands of dollars spent with acoustic engineers. And they couldn’t fix the monitoring problem. It took me only 2 minutes. I listened for 10 seconds. Oh it’s that again. Here it’s fixed. You can’t make any money like that. Because I don’t take hours and hours. I am quick and efficient. I’m in and out. Because most people have just done something wrong. It’s usually operator error. As it’s called. And even famous people make mistakes.
So one day. I’m working at a famous hit recording studio in New York City. And we get a call in the shop. They tell me I have to go up to Studio A. They are having problems with the audio console.
(More audio corrections of misinformation continued in next post)
World Class Mind
April 26, 2023 at 2:13 am
I used to met an sound engineer and speaker designer. He told me about this line array design and how the design was amazing!
Tim Wild
April 26, 2023 at 3:29 am
line array + wind + sucky local autority sound level requirements = crap expirience. stand me infront of a huge wall of old school grunt any day of the week.
Snex
April 26, 2023 at 4:35 am
There is also some math involved why the speakers sound closer like he said.
In a normal point source speaker the sound travels spherical in all directions and looses roughly 6dB each time you double the distance.
On a line array the more speakers you stack its properties change. The sound starts traveling more cylindrical which results in much less audio lost up and down. On paper makes it only loose 3dB per doubling the distance. Wich makes an insane difference on those large festivals. But that I’ll call it „beaming“ of sound is frequency specific if the wavelength of sound is longer than the line array those frequencies will become omnidirectional again.
There is a lot more that goes into it but i wanted to share some more detailed insight on why it got such an advantage on large festivals.
Example:
110 dB at 1 m distance
Point source:
at 16m – 4x 6dB = -24dB -> 86dB
at 256m – 8x 6dB = -48dB -> 62dB
Line Array:
at 16m – 4x 3dB = -12dB -> 98dB
at 256m – 8x 3dB = -24dB -> 86dB
On paper a Line Array at 256m sounds as loud as a point source at 16m distance (those numbers are purely mathematical)
TLDR;
Line Arrays loose 3dB of sound when doubling the distance to its source while point sources loose 6dB.
FVU
April 26, 2023 at 5:26 pm
only in the nearfield.
Wrenchin Gear
April 26, 2023 at 4:36 am
1:20 well if you go back and forth you also hear the problems
Alec AM
April 26, 2023 at 6:08 am
great vid
Mawit
April 26, 2023 at 6:19 am
I agree with everything but the part about making sound systems invisible.
i personally love starring down a large bass horn when beeing encompassed by sound
markmooch
April 26, 2023 at 6:39 am
I remember crewing a gig for the Eagles around 2015 and they were using the big old square speaker cabinets FOH as they preferred the sound (perhaps for themselves on stage rather then the audience).
InfoHole
April 26, 2023 at 9:34 am
Line arrays align the high frequency sources vertically. As you walk left to right while you are still in the horizontal pattern of the line array horns, you still see just one line of high frequency sources. And it is easy to solve the problems of an array in just one dimension. Before line arrays became popular, audio system designers and sound system manufacturers were working on ways to make the large side-to-side arrays act like a virtual point source (see EAW KF750 for an example). But it was very difficult to make this type of array behave like a point source because the size and shape of the enclosures and the drive units did not allow those sections of the array to truly converge on a point, so there was still side-to-side spacing of the sources, and separation of the high frequency horns. Tom Danley’s Unity Horn/Synergy Horn principles (and to a certain extent the earlier Renkus-Heinz Co-Entrant horns) are the most like a true point source.
idontusenumbers
April 26, 2023 at 10:15 am
If you’re seeking sound quality, a music festival may not be the best place to look.
Jason Tuma
April 26, 2023 at 10:25 am
you mean to tell me there have been improvements in audio quality over the last 40 years?
no way!
lol, j/k. thats how technology works idiots.
a more interesting video would be if you found something where the technology has regressed since 1983
Nick H
April 26, 2023 at 10:56 am
ok cool, but who on earth doesn’t want to see a beautiful soundsystem???
Robert Hilden
April 26, 2023 at 12:16 pm
I named my first daughter Linaray.
Robert Hilden
April 26, 2023 at 12:17 pm
When he talks in person he actually screams all the time cuz he can’t hear they just edit it in the video to make him sound quieter.
House of Yezod
April 26, 2023 at 1:11 pm
❤❤❤❤
FMphoto Office
April 26, 2023 at 2:17 pm
Now if the lighting gurus would get their head out of (the sand). Too many shows I paid good money for. All disjointed lighting, no spotlights, etc. The main singer in TOTAL DARKNESS! The last show I went to with perfect coordinated lighting was one of Leonard Cohen’s final tours, EVERY song had lighting to fit the lyrics. Really beautiful.
Mark Malasics
April 26, 2023 at 3:13 pm
Funny stuff. As if anyone who attends one of these “music festivals” could really hear any difference or improvement while being fvcked up on whatever their drug-of-the-week choice was. It’s the same as asking Stevie Wonder what looks better, a car waxed in Simonize or Mothers.
Jonathan Chester
April 26, 2023 at 4:32 pm
Cool guy, great mindset. I can testify at the Depeche Mode concert we just saw the sound was so much better using this system. The person I was with had perfect pitch and was totally digging it!
SG
April 26, 2023 at 5:54 pm
Nah bro, I wona see a proper fat stack and stand infront of it. Sound system culture is a lot to do with image too.