Showorks Audio Visual, a provider of A/V services for major corporate events throughout the Northeast for over 20 years, is enjoying the considerable benefits of the light weight, small footprint and simplicity of a Pro64® Aviom digital snake.
As the preferred event staging company for a number of Fortune 500 companies, meeting and event planners and producers across the United States, Showorks is responsible for some very critical projects, and reliability, efficiency and crystal-clear sound are always essential elements. With that responsibility in mind, the company chose a Pro64 digital snake to connect the stage to front of house and for signal distribution to monitors and recording.
“Aviom’s Pro64 system is the simplest way of splitting audio between multiple consoles while offering a low noise floor in a design that’s lightweight,” says Showorks Project Manager Mark Allen. “It’s a lot easier to run Cat-5 or fibre than a piece of copper with 64 channels in it.”
The scale of Showorks’ typical events is exemplified by the national sales meeting for Toys”R”Us, Inc., which took place in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and featured multiple speakers on stage and entertainment by Boston legend Peter Wolf, former front man for the J. Geils Band. For the band, Showorks provided an Aviom monitor mixing system, including 10 A-16II Personal Mixers that were fed from an AN-16/i Input Module connected to the monitoring console. This console and the front-of-house console, which each had three 6416Y2 A-Net® Interface Cards installed, received audio from three 6416m Mic Input Modules on stage. The mic pres were able to be controlled remotely from both of Showorks’ consoles using m-control™ for Yamaha® digital consoles. “We used the Aviom Pro64 digital snake with two Yamaha M7CL 48-channel digital audio consoles,” explains Allen. “Splitting 48 channels has never been easier. Our noise floor is getting lower and there are no ground loops, no buzzes or hums when we use the Aviom snake.”
For another large event, the Campbell Soup Company’s annual event at the Tweeter Center in Camden, New Jersey, which was attended by approximately 1,400 employees, Showorks added an additional 48-channel split to its setup. “For that event, we did a three-way split using Aviom: one for front of house, one for monitors and one for recording,” Allen recalls. “To do that with three analog snake systems would be cumbersome, and noise problems would make it even more challenging. With Aviom, there is none of that. You simply connect Cat-5 from console to console and you’re done. That was the most sophisticated system we’ve put together using Pro64, but it was very, very simple to do.”
Another benefit, explains Showorks Senior Audio Engineer Ken Keplar, is Aviom’s reputation for exceptional customer service. “The Aviom staff is the best at communicating and helping us through the process,” says Keplar. “We’re big fans of Aviom because it is a growing company with a great product. The system has been great. We haven’t run into any limitations with it. For our particular application, it’s been flawless.”
According to Jesse Logan, president of Showorks, that flawless performance and reliability are critical to success for live events and demanding corporate clients. “Particularly in today’s economy,” says Logan, “time and efficiency are your best friends—from load in through load out. The more efficient you can be, from load in to load out, the smarter you can work. And Aviom lets us work smarter.”
Aviom pioneered personal mixing with its Pro16® Monitor Mixing System and continues to break new ground with the revolutionary Pro64® Series of audio networking products. With tens of thousands of products in the field today, Aviom has set the standard for high performance, scalable digital solutions. All Aviom systems harness the power of A-Net®, Aviom’s innovative digital audio technology that simplifies system design while enhancing flexibility and fidelity. All Aviom products are designed, tested, and manufactured in the USA.
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