The new Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) located in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, Northern Ireland, has been fitted with iLive and iDR digital mixing systems supplied by Allen & Heath.
The performing arts centre features multiple performance areas including two theatres, which have a combined seating capacity of 470. Allen & Heath’s Irish distributor, Red Sound, was enlisted to carry out installation of lighting and sound systems in the auditorium and studio spaces.
Located downstairs, the auditorium has been equipped with an iLive-T112 Control Surface. This is linked by CAT5e cabling to a iDR-48 MixRack residing in a ‘mic patch’ rack. Upstairs, in the smaller studio space, an iLive-R72 surface is linked to an iDR-16 stage box sitting in a ‘mic patch’ rack. These rack units can be taken onto the stage and connected as required. The iLive consoles provide fully functional digital control, accessible for new users and with preset recall facilities for house and regular visiting engineers.
Martin Audio, meanwhile, supplied the speaker systems and amplifiers, while at the heart of the PA system is an Allen & Heath iDR digital matrix mixer, allowing full control on all inputs and outputs of the PA speaker channels.
Red Sound provided a touch screen panel located in the ‘mic patch’ rack for the main auditorium running PL Client. This enables engineers to select pre-programmed set-ups, monitor master output levels and easily change the speaker settings to suit the room layout and/or production.
A second iDR unit provides full control of a backstage communications system, allowing for paging from three fixed positions and various stage manager stations to any of the dressing rooms, offices, dance and rehearsal rooms, and public areas across the venue. It is also possible to send audio relayed from either performance area to different zones in the building.
“The MAC is one of the most prestigious arts venues in Ireland with a variety of acts from across the world using its facilities. The audio consoles provide the venue with a very credible audio infrastructure that everyone visiting can use,” explained engineer at Red Sound Roger McMullan.
“The venue’s technical staff were impressed with the full flexibility and inter-changeability of the systems, and iLive’s ease of use and functionality, which make it the easiest console to install in a project, simply because it ticks all the boxes,” finished McMullan.
