Ives Mergaerts : "Riedel RockNet really has it all"
Held in October in Ghent, the one-day I Love Techno event is Belgium's biggest dance festival, offering a mix of styles displayed on five stages. The Flanders Expo site attracts more than 35,000 visitors overnight."It was the huge size of the halls and the big crowd that inspired us years ago to start using a separate intercom system as a back-up for our walkie-talkies," says Ives Mergaerts, artistic producer and stage manager of the event. "We started using the Riedel Artist system some years ago, but we were on the lookout for a universal protocol for audio signal transmission over long distance."
Intercom rental company Amubel NV has been supplying Riedel equipment to the event for some years now. The company's engineers have been working with the Riedel Artist infrastructure, which was also incorporated into RockNet 300, so the choice was obvious, says Olivier Immler, managing director of Amubel NV.
"What Mergaerts wanted was a complete system covering both the communication between the individual stage managers and the transmission of the audio signals," explains Immler. "Audio was captured by public broadcaster StuBru, and the StuBru's submix was used for internet streaming."
Immler installed a RockNet 301.MI input module, offering 8 line/microphone inputs and a Rocknet 302.LO with 8 line-outputs on each of the five stages: I Love Techno is a combination of DJs and live acts on stage. The audio signal was routed directly from the FOH's patches and two audience microphones per stage captured the live atmosphere. The connection between the devices in the network was established via Cat5e - in addition, Amubel NV used some 1,600m of fibre optics connecting the RockNet modules to the central radio studio.
"The main advantage of the RockNet system is its modular approach," continues Immler. "Whatever the amount of boxes you have on the network, the whole remains particularly user-friendly, with the option to adjust the gain on the boxes or to configure them via a USB or Ethernet with the RockWorks software for remote control, allowing the level to be adjusted on any stage. The system's redundant loop topology is also a bonus: all of the modules are part of a ring, the signal is accessible from any point and communication is ensured."
Jeroen Sierjacobs, marketing manager of Apex, the exclusive distributor of Riedel in Belgium, adds: "Riedel RockNet is a real-time, low-latency audio distribution network. It is the perfect solution for distributing inputs and outputs and very much behaves like a traditional analogue active split system. It is fully redundant for both power and audio signals, which turns it into a very reliable system. Riedel has recently launched a MADI interface to interface with this system. This allows you to digitally connect nearly every mixing console to the ring in a simple and efficient way."
Mergaerts was happy with the RockNet 300's introduction. "We used the system as a test and it worked out great. We have been looking for a universal protocol connecting our audio and video feed over long distance and this system, also because of its modular set-up, really has it all," he enthuses.
Source: Pro Sound News Europe
Pictures: copyright: rob walbers for i love techno.
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