The American Airlines Center recently provided the setting for Placido Domingo’s first performance in the Miami area in over a decade. Locally owned Mix3 Sound was tapped to provide sound reinforcement for the sold out event, providing a full PA that featured EAW Anya and Anna Adaptive Systems.
Jerry Eade, FOH engineer, notes, “It provided a really clean, pure vocal and a very natural, open sound — that’s the mark of a great system. It was also easy to use – no fighting with EQ and masses of gain before feedback. I’d love to use it again.”
John Ferlito, owner of Mix3 Sound, designed the Adaptive PA that consisted of left-right columns, each made up of 12 Anya modules and six Anna modules for outfill. Twelve SB1002 subwoofers – 24 total – were stacked in a cardioid configuration under each column for additional low end. Eight KF730 enclosures were placed along the lip of the stage for front fill.
“One of the reasons we invested in the Adaptive System was the flexibility it provides,” explains Ferlito. “Because EAW’s Resolution 2 software controls the processing of each acoustic cell individually, it is easy to modify the system for the unexpected. In this case, when the concert sold out, management decided – at the last minute – to open another seating section for 1,000 fans. Normally this would require physically reconfiguring the arrays to ensure coverage. In this case we merely modified the coverage parameters in the software and we were set.”
This was Ferlito’s first time utilizing the more compact Anna modules along with Anya in a live sound setting. Anna is essentially a smaller version of Anya, with eight high frequency and four mid frequency drivers. The module utilizes the same design as Anya – which boasts fourteen HF and six MF drivers.
The drivers in both enclosures are loaded on a proprietary manifold joined to an expansive horn that almost fills the entire face of each enclosure. Each five-inch MF cone transducer uses a Radial Phase Plug and Concentric Summation Array technology to enter the horn and sum coherently with the advancing HF wavefront. LF cone transducers employ Offset Aperture loading to extend horizontal pattern control in the LF range.
Anna and Anya array flybars connect together horizontally to present a very small flown footprint – important when keeping sight lines open.
“Anna is more compact with a wider coverage pattern, so it works extremely well for outfill – providing even, consistent coverage throughout the area,” Ferlito adds. “It also works seamlessly with Anya so the sound characteristics moving throughout the arena are cohesive. You don’t even notice a difference.”
