Firehouse Productions Delivers Dynamic Sound with Harman's JBL VERTEC Line Arrays for iHeartRadio Event

Firehouse Productions recently provided sound for some of the biggest names in music at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, sponsored by Clear Channel's iHeartRadio social media networking outlet. With performances by Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and many others, Firehouse deployed Harman's JBL VERTEC line arrays to match the dynamic range of performers in the MGM Grand Arena.

The audio system included two main left-right arrays of 17 JBL VERTEC VT4889 full-size line array elements each, accompanied by two flown arrays of 12 VT4880A full-size subwoofers. Side coverage was provided by JBL VT4888 midsize line array elements, and JBL VT4887 compact line array elements provided the front fills. Firehouse also provided two ground-stacked columns of three VT4889 loudspeakers each, on top of three VT4880A full-size arrayable subwoofers each. Crown I-Tech IT1200HD amplifiers powered the entire system using the new VERTEC V5 DSP settings.

Large events like the iHeartRadio Music Festival pose a variety of unique challenges, particularly when they feature so many different artists. "With a show this size, there are different rehearsals taking place at different times, all with information and settings that need to be conveyed back to the main system," said Mark Dittmar, lead design and integration engineer at Firehouse Productions.

With so many variables, the VERTEC line arrays were extremely easy to set up -- one of the main reasons why Firehouse continues to rely on VERTEC for major events and a significant factor in the success of the iHeartRadio event. "Everything went as well as we could have hoped, Clear Channel and MGM Grand were happy and we were even five minutes ahead of schedule on every change-over," Dittmar said. "You can always gauge how a multi-band show is going depending on that; we were always ready to go with no delays, as smooth as could be."

About the new V5 presets software upgrade for the VERTEC system, Dittmar added, "They are stunning and the high end is much smoother. The V5 presets solve all kinds of midrange issues, and the low-end response is amazing. The manager of the building even said that you could hear it blasting two blocks away-- an impressive volume that had never been reached before. Some acts used the entire system, pushing all the amps to the max level, and even when touching the limit it sounded linear and smooth. It's always nice when you don't have to worry about pushing a system too hard and can just let it fly. It's great to have the performance upgrade without having to buy new equipment. The software upgrade was done in a half-hour and we were ready to go. It's simply an amazing value to anyone who uses VERTEC."