Las Vegas' Smith Center Finds its Harmony with Allen & Heath

	Avantis powering a performance of The Nutcracker.

When The Smith Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors in March of 2012, it became a cultural hub for Southern Nevada. The Smith Center provides three venues for performances: Reynolds Hall, a 2,000-seat theater; Myron's, a 240-seat cabaret jazz club; and Troesh Studio Theater, a black box theater that holds 250 people. Key to the center's success is the sound across each venue, made possible by the recent adoption of Allen & Heath mixing consoles.

John Wrote, head of audio at The Smith Center, has been instrumental in shaping the facility's sound since its inception. Faced with the need to upgrade the center's audio systems, Wrote turned to Allen & Heath, a company whose reputation for quality and reliability he was already familiar with. "I had worked with Allen & Heath analog consoles for a couple of different sound companies," Wrote shares. "I knew the brand produced great quality products."

The choice of Allen & Heath was further cemented by the release of Avantis, which had just started shipping at the time. Wrote was immediately taken with the console's capabilities and value proposition.

"It was all about bang-for-buck" Wrote explains, when asked about his decision to go with Avantis. "I was able to get Allen & Heath consoles for all three venues, for less than the cost of a single console from some other manufacturers."

The Avantis, along with the smaller SQ and QU series consoles, provided Wrote with flexible and scalable audio solutions for The Smith Center's various performance spaces. The Avantis system, with its 96kHz processing, ultra-low latency, and powerful onboard processing tools, has been a revelation for Wrote, particularly in handling the demands of large-scale productions like The Nutcracker.

The Smith Center's Avantis also utilizes a GX4816 stagebox, which connects back to the Avantis console via SLink and allows for up to 48 microphone inputs, the company says, enabling comprehensive I/O from the stage. For further scalability, DX168 expanders are strategically placed in the orchestra pit during larger performances. These expanders provide additional analog inputs and outputs, ensuring every musical nuance is captured.

One feature that has particularly impressed Wrote is Avantis' dPack processing, a suite of compressor and preamp emulations that add another layer of sonic depth and character to his mixes. "When I started to play with the tube emulator and PeakLimiter 76, it was a huge revelation" Wrote shares. "I run the PeakLimiter76 on nearly everything."

The Avantis's fully configurable layout, with its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, has also been a game-changer for Wrote's workflow. "It's so easy to just grab channels and move them around," he shares. "We also use that feature to simplify control when less experienced users are working on the SQ in our other venue."

Beyond Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center utilizes an SQ-6 in the Troesh Studio Theater, paired with a DX168 for expanded input capabilities. Lobby events feature a compact Qu-16 digital console paired with an AB168 remote audio rack.

The Smith Center's Official Website: thesmithcenter.com/