Red Square Audio

APG headlines at FOM Fest with Uniline

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Paris, France – APG’s line array system, Uniline, was deemed a resounding success after its first outdoor UK appearance at FOMFEST (The Friends Of Mine Festival) Manchester over the weekend of 20th-22nd May. Uniline was in excellent company on the main stage with Mancunian legends such as the Charlatans, the Buzzcocks, Bad Lieutenant, The Cribs, The Fall, and many more over the course of the three days. APG was also specified for stage monitoring using a combination of SMX15 and DX15 monitor wedges plus TB118 subs and M3000 Side Fills. All of the audio requirements for the festival were handled personally by Paul Nicholson from Red Square Audio/Midas ProSound, and APG’s Mathieu Delquignies assisted Paul with the Uniline system tuning.

“It’s great to have such amazing support from the manufacturer,” commented Paul. “We were particularly pleased to have Mathieu with us on this occasion, firstly because it’s the biggest Uniline system we’ve had out in the UK to date, and secondly because we really weren’t helped by the weather that weekend – we had strong, blustery winds to contend with for most of the set up and show days, which turned into gale-force blasts with occasional hail storms on Sunday. It’s a challenge making any system sound good under those conditions, but Mathieu and the team did a great job, and the results were truly stunning.”

Paul’s comments were backed up by punk rocker Goldblade’s frontman, John Robb, who posted a review of The Fall’s performance at FOM Fest (which was engineered by Paul Nicholson, incidentally!) on his website Louder Than War, where he noted that, “It really did sound good. Rare for a festival, the PA was crystal clear and the blustering winds couldn’t ruin it.”

For FOM Fest, Paul specified L and R hangs of 9 x UL210 full range mid/hi cabinets supplemented by 2 x UL210D downfill cabinets and 8 x UL155B bass cabinets with a total of 16 x TB218S dual 18” subwoofers (four units beneath each hang and eight across the front of the stage). APG was also in evidence on stage, where bands benefitted from a combination of 16 x SMX15 wedges supplemented by 2 x DX15 drum fill monitor speakers plus 2 x TB118S subs. A pair of 3000C’s were also used for side fills. DSP throughout was handled by APG DMS26 digital loudspeaker processors.

“I think that APG proved without a doubt at FOMFest that Uniline is a system to be reckoned with and deserves its place amongst the “big names” of the industry,” remarked Paul. “Despite challenging conditions, we had nothing but compliments for the sound, both for the PA and the stage monitors. At FOMFest we were using Uniline in what APG refer to as its “complete” mode for a high power system. Our aim was to provide coherent coverage with constant directivity throughout the listening area up to a distance of 75m from the stage. We achieved that easily – in fact, we might need to rein it in a bit for next year! However, the compact modular design of the system means that it can be adapted to pretty much any sized event, large or small, so it’s a really versatile system for any rental inventory. I have to say that FOMFest was a great success and as close to perfect that I could have hoped for, and we’re all looking forward to doing it again next year.”

APG reinforces Fun Lovin’ Criminals

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

Paris, France – Alternative NY hip hop/funksters, the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, are currently on tour in Europe for the first time in three years with their new album, Classic Fantastic. Paul Nicholson of Red Square Audio was asked to specify the PA for two of their UK dates – the Arena in St Albans and City Hall, Salisbury. Nicholson opted for a full APG Uniline compact line array system complete with SMX15 stage monitors along with an Eclipse digital mixing console from Innovason.

“Both APG and Innovason make high end systems that, in my role as a consultant, I have no hesitation in recommending,” said Nicholson. “It’s not just because RSA distributes these brands that I recommend them either. I’m a very proactive engineer who uses different systems all the time, but I genuinely believe that they are the best on the market at the moment. It just so happens that I am lucky enough to have them in my RSA portfolio! Saying that, we had to go to considerable lengths to get hold of a Uniline system as there wasn’t one available in the UK at the time. But it was well worth the effort; the results were superb and FLC’s FoH engineer Walter Jaquiss was very impressed.”

The Uniline system comprised twelve UL210 full-range mid/hi cabinets; six UL115B 1 x 15” subs and six TB218S 2 x 18” subs. This was complemented by eight SMX15s which were used as floor monitors and listening wedges. All the processing was provided by APG DMS26 digital loudspeaker system processors. The system was flown in City Hall, Salisbury, with the subs configured in Left/Centre/Right cardioid mode, whilst in St Albans, Nicholson opted for a ground stacked configuration with a conventional L/R sub array. Nicholson reported that the system performed beautifully in both configurations “the vocal, guitar, snare and hi-hat were right there in the near-field with an exceptional degree of clarity and power, which is something I’ve not witnessed for many years.” and Walter Jaquiss commented on the high quality of the Uniline mids and highs.

On stage it was a similar story. “The SMX15s provided an impressive amount of power and clarity for all three band members,” noted Nicholson. “Huey [Morgan] and Fast each used a pair while drummer Frank had a TB118S behind him and a pair of SMX15s to each side. During the soundcheck no-one asked for any extra gain or EQ which was impressive given the heavy duty backline that was also on stage. All in all a thoroughly convincing UK debut with an internationally recognised band for APG’s Uniline system.”

APG reinforces Fun Lovin Criminals

Plus 4 Audio invests in DX12 from APG

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

Paris, France – Plus 4 Audio is one of the leading suppliers of PA and monitor systems to the UK TV industry. Operating out of Surbiton in Surrey, Plus 4 Audio serves the London Studios, Fountain Studios, Maidstone Studios and the BBC as well as various OB events with shows such as Dancing on Ice, Mercury Music Prize, Must be the Music, Over the Rainbow, Strictly Come Dancing and Sports Personality of the Year to name but a few. The company has just taken delivery of twelve DX12 compact, low profile monitor speakers from APG for rental stock from APG’s UK distributor, Red Square Audio.

Plus 4’s Stewart Chaney is extremely satisfied with his new investment. “I had been looking for a micro wedge monitor for our smaller shows for quite some time, but I just couldn’t find anything that met our requirements,” he explained. “They were either too big or simply not good enough, or both! Then Paul Nicholson said he’d got something that might interest me, and gave me a demo of the new DX12s from APG. I was more than pleasantly surprised . The DX12 is a light, compact unit that presents an extremely low profile, and sounds good enough for me to put in front of any major artist with confidence. They are a very welcome addition to my inventory.”

“I have known Stewart for many years,” remarked Red Square Audio’s Paul Nicholson, “and I can state quite categorically that he wouldn’t put anything in front of his clients that wasn’t 100% in every aspect of its functionality so this purchase is confirmation that APG has what it takes to become a logical and realistic acquisition for any rental or installation company.”

“APG is a new and exciting brand for RSA and it’s also totally new to the UK,” continued Nicholson. “The entire APG range is beautifully designed and every product is class-leading. Clearly, we want to convince the market that APG is a major competitive brand, and being able to cite clients like Plus 4 Audio as the first UK customer goes a long way to establishing market credibility.”

APG’s Xavier Pion agrees. “Apart from anything else, this sale confirms that we made the right choice with Red Square Audio. It’s also validation that the new generation products from APG position us as a class A player in the field. There’s still a lot of work to be done yet, but it’s a tremendously encouraging start.”

Following a brief introduction at the ABTT show, the APG range will be making its full UK exhibition debut on the RSA stand at PLASA 2010.

APG Plus 4 DX12