Allen & Heath's iLive at UK Summer Festivals

APR Audio, a Somerset, UK-based audio company, road-tested several combinations of Allen & Heath's iLive digital mixing system throughout its busy summer events calendar. APR selected iLive systems -- ranging from the flagship modular iDR10 MixRack with iLive-144 and 176 control surfaces, to the fixed I/O iDR-64 and 48 MixRacks with iLive-T112 and R72 surfaces -- to manage various festivals and corporate events.

At the Glastonbury Festival, APR provided PA and control systems to manage the front-of-house and monitor mixing duties on two of the largest stages. On the West Holts stage, an iDR-64 with iLive-144 was provided at the front of house, while a compact system, comprising an iDR-16 and iLive-R72 rack-mount surface, was used to manage compere mics, DJ, and BGM duties at the front-of-house. Delayed near-field monitoring was also controlled by this set up at the front-of-house tower. On the John Peel Stage, an iDR-64 and iLive-176 with iLive MixPad app to make final tweaks were selected for monitors, and iDR10 with iLive-144 at the front-of-house. The systems were networked to provide input sharing and remote control via the iLive Editor PC software. A broadcast feed was also provided, split from the iDR-64 mic preamps and patched via the ACE network to 48 XLR outs on the iDR10 MixRack.

"iLive has proved to be reliable, flexible, compact, easy to set up, and with excellent sound quality, making it a real contender in the pro touring world," comments APR's managing director, Andy Reed. "The range of available hardware -- all offering similar functionality -- is ideal for hire companies like APR who manage a spectrum of events from large festival stages to small corporate events. We also have a reseller division and have already sold two systems to hire customers who wanted to hang on to the gear!"

Earlier in the season, APR provided an iLive-144 surface with iDR10 MixRack as the digital front-of-house option on the main stage at the Hop Farm festival in Kent. Manning front-of-house was Rob Ritchie, who also runs his own PA company, which has a couple of iLive systems in its hire stock. "iLive is such a versatile system, it's really easy to drive and the layout is so simple," he commented.

Another notable festival in APR's diary was the London Feis, where an iDR-64 with R72, PL-10, and iPad were used for system management at main stage monitor position. The PL-10 managed the console flip, while the iPad was used to dial up and set EQ for the stage mixes when needed.