Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision system took centre stage at Pickathon 2025, providing high-fidelity audio for the roots festival’s 25th anniversary at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, near Portland, Oregon. The system, supplied and operated by Cascade Sound, was designed to meet the event’s growing need for precise sound management following nearby residential development.
To meet these new challenges for the August festival, the company says the Wavefront Precision series was chosen for its scalable control technology and the ability to tightly manage sound dispersion. Twenty WPC line array elements were deployed with ten SXC118 cardioid subwoofers, supported by THS, FP12 and XE series monitors. The setup was powered by iKON iK42 DSP amplifiers operating in 1-box resolution.
Simon Honywill, festival sound designer, worked with Martin Audio product and application support manager Joe Lima to optimise the system for the Paddock Stage’s wooded, uneven terrain. He said: “We measured the SPL at the boundary, and it tied in with what DISPLAY [software] had predicted, with 35dB reduction at the boundary.”
He noted that the left and right stage wings were tuned separately due to the site’s natural contours, with hangs of nine WPC per side and a broadside formation of ten SXC115 subs across the front.
He added: “We had to explain why, from an audio perspective, it was good to have the PA on show … and agreeing that such a great sounding PA should not be compromised, they went with it.”
Additional system elements included eight FP12s for frontfill and outfill, two THS and two SXC115 for sidefil, and a combination of XE300 and XE500 monitors for artist reference.
Sean Rathbun, vice president of engineering and system designer at Cascade Sound, said the Wavefront Precision system proved a strong fit for the festival’s eclectic programme.
He explained: “The Martin Audio PA worked wonderfully for this festival – the rear rejection, the articulation of the high end and the overall clarity of the PA were exceptional. The engineers I spoke to enjoyed mixing on the system; Joe Lima spent time with each engineer to ensure their experiences were seamless and the system performed phenomenally well.”
