Hi Fi Alliance Chooses dot2 Product Line to Deliver High-Impact Looks for Hospitality Venues

Hi Fi Alliance, Inc., based in Hollywood, California and with clients nationwide, is dedicated to delivering high-impact sound, video, and lighting technology systems to hospitality venues. To help customers create unique lighting environments for their patrons, Hi Fi Alliance has completed a number of small and medium-size lighting installs integrating MA Lighting's dot2 lighting control products, which are distributed exclusively in North America by ACT Lighting, Inc.

"I've tried placing grandMA2 consoles in boutique venues before, but they were often overkill for smaller sized venues," notes Jeff Konecny, founder of Hi Fi Alliance. "While on a call with ACT Lighting, they suggested the dot2 platform, because it offers many of the control features I was looking for, but at a more accessible price point. After familiarizing myself with the dot2 onPC software, I jumped in and bought a dot2 core console and pressure tested everything. I wanted to see first-hand if the system was intuitive enough to work in a venue that might not have a full-time lighting operator, but that still requires environmental lighting changes throughout the day."

The equipment passed the test and now Hi Fi Alliance installs a range of dot2 core consoles, dot2 fader wings, and dot2 nodes. "There are numerous factors we take into consideration when designing a lighting control system, but the type of venue, the number of different lighting fixture types, and the look the overall look the client is trying to achieve really helps narrow down the options," Konecny explains.

"The dot2 onPC software and a dot2 Node4 can work very well for venues that use only a handful of lighting fixture types, such as a high-energy sports bar that transitions during the day from a restaurant to a bar to a night club. With this equipment the manager can change the environment by recalling a series of stored lighting looks (or cues) for different events on the PC, or remotely by using one of our custom iOS midi control panels," he says.

"Adding a Fader wing is good for more DJ-driven environments where you want to be able to play the lights along with the music. You get real tactile control with push buttons and slide faders without needing to look at an iPad controller or computer screen.

"The dot2 core is an all-in-one lighting desk that doesn't require a computer or monitor to use," he adds. "It integrates well in a DJ booth and is great for controlling multiple lighting fixtures types and multi-layered effects for night club-style environments."

Among Hi Fi Alliance clients is the Texas based Concrete Cowboy micro-chain of bar-restaurants with locations in Dallas, Austin, Houston, Frisco (Texas) at the Star, and in Chicago. Konecny recently installed a dot2 core console in their Chicago location. "We were tasked with designing a lighting system to help the venue transition through its wide range of operating hours. I specified the dot2 core console in this system because the venue is open all day and late night (4am on the weekends) and the lighting system would play a substantial role in transitioning the environment throughout the day. The operations team benefits from the reliable system of being able to turn on the console and simply push a button to recall a preset lighting look for any time of the day. On weekend nights, the lighting operator can move to a different page of programmed controls and put the faders and buttons to use to create energy along with the DJ" he notes.

In the Frisco location, next to the world headquarters of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, he has a low profile lighting control system incorporating the dot2 onPC, dot2 node4, and a custom iPad/iPhone based midi control interface that allows the manager to make lighting changes from anywhere in the venue.

A similar configuration is used at Clutch bar-restaurants in Houston, Dallas, and Chicago. "The dot2 onPC with a Node4 enables them to slowly make changes to the environment as they go from serving brunch and happy hour drinks to becoming a high-energy sports bar and night club," says Konecny. "The equipment helps me integrate control of the environment with the rest of the audio and video systems. dot2 is mostly controlled through iPads with custom programmed TouchOSC software."

He reports that the dot2 products have been "well received" by customers. "They are reliable and affordable, and they are great tools that enable us to deliver on clients' lighting designs with a modest budget. Support from ACT Lighting has been great, and the dot2 software has already been updated with more needed features. It's reassuring that MA has been responding to user requests."

Konecny says the dot2 product range has "helped me broaden my scope of work in design projects. It's great to be able to take big night club technology and apply a scaled version of it to smaller venues. You don't always have to go to Vegas for a sophisticated experience. The technology available now can help deliver that experience to patrons in smaller markets."