EAW To Manufacture, Distribute MicroWedge Series
Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) is pleased to announce that it will be the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of the renowned MicroWedge Series of stage monitor products under the terms of a new agreement between LOUD Technologies Inc. and MicroWedge developer Rat Sound Systems Inc. of Oxnard, CA.
The Perpetual License agreement between the two entities calls for current products to be branded “EAW MicroWedge,” fully supported by the resources of EAW. Further, Rat Sound Founder Dave “Rat” Levine, creator of MicroWedge and other acclaimed sound reinforcement designs, will be working closely with the EAW Engineering Department on the development of new MicroWedge models as well as other EAW touring products.
“In securing this preeminent floor monitor line for our worldwide customer base, EAW is once again demonstrating its commitment to true performance audio by bringing the best in both design and talent to the EAW brand,” explains Jeffrey Cox, Vice President of the EAW Brand Group, shown in the above photo with Dave Rat. “We continually populate the EAW family and brand relationships with experienced, talented visionaries who combine their unique skills to push audio forward. Our partnership with Dave is a prime example of this philosophy.”
MicroWedge is noted as the choice of hundreds of discerning performers and has earned widespread touring rider acceptance. The highly respected product line has been cultivated over Dave Rat’s decades of audio industry experience, a process enhanced because he also heads up Rat Sound Systems, a leading concert touring company noted for its work with U.S. and world tours by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters and dozens of other top-line artists. In addition, the company is the primary sound vendor for Coachella, one of the largest music festivals in the U.S.
As a result of this experience, Dave Rat is uniquely qualified to develop products directly with sound engineers at a grassroots level, and even more specifically, for the critical ears of monitor engineers. Consequently, MicroWedge is a product line developed to meet the wants and needs of working sound professionals, rather than products created in a vacuum and pushed into the marketplace. (A MicroWedge 8 is shown at right.)
“As a system designer, sound engineer and president of a sound rental company, I have considerable exposure to the needs of the artists, audio engineers, sound vendors and the realities of design challenges. I feel like I am an adapter between what the artist/engineers seek and the technical engineers,” notes Dave Rat. “I speak both languages and am comfortable moving in the worlds of both design/development and usage/execution. That is one of the key things I hope to bring to the table for EAW and for our future product development relationship.”
The result of several years of research, the MicroWedge Series was inspired by the seemingly obvious oversights and lack of addressing key issues in commercially available stage monitor designs. Tenants of the approach include a smooth, clear and consistent response with exceptional gain before feedback in a compact, coaxial design offering high power handling and processor enhanced - rather than processor dependant - “plug and play” operation.
“Over the past 27 years, I’ve devoted a tremendous amount of effort to designing and building innovative products for real world, live performance audio, and this is exemplified by the MicroWedge Series,” Dave Rat adds. “The new partnership with EAW is an exciting step towards realizing the product the way I have always envisioned it. The brilliance of the people, the culture of the company and the knowledge and desire to push audio to it’s highest level that is evident at EAW makes working with them a dream come true. I am excited as this alliance will allow MicroWedge and other designs that I have been working on for many years to finally come to fruition.”