Susanne Sundfør: FABEL
Located on the historic Stavanger seafront in southwestern Norway, Fiskepiren is a purpose-built cultural hub housing a music venue and several multi-purpose rooms for community and corporate hire, which opened in the second half of 2023 and has already hosted shows by popular Norwegian acts such as Kvelertak, Susanne Sundfør, and Backstreet Girls.
With sound at the heart of Fiskepiren’s offerings, the choice of audio system was critical, so the venue approached Norwegian pro audio distributor Benum to specify and install a system that could handle everything the venue could throw at it while providing simplified control for non-technical users and smaller events.
“When we were asked to come up with a technical solution for Fiskepiren we quickly understood that this had to be a flexible and versatile system,” explains Daniel Glaister, Allen & Heath Product Manager Systems and Installations at Benum. “The needs varied from large-scale productions to small corporate events, so it was almost self-evident that a system driven by AHM64 for self-service and easy zone control with a digital umbilical cord to a dLive system for the concerts and larger live events was the way to go. Both Benum and many of Benum’s customers have deployed this combination successfully and it has a track record of being very reliable, easy to set up and cost-effective regarding infrastructure.”
The dLive system, comprised of a DM32 MixRack and a dual-screen, 24-fader C3500 Surface, was chosen for its ability to comfortably handle the venue’s concerts and larger productions. In addition to the DM32’s 32 mic/line inputs and 16 line outputs, a pair of DX168 remote expanders are deployed to add a further 32 mic/line inputs and 16 line outputs to the system. Like all dLive MixRacks, the DM32 offers 128 input channels and 64 mix outputs with a configurable 64-bus architecture and class-leading 0.7ms latency.
An AHM-64, a 64×64 audio matrix processor capable of handling up to 64 zones, is utilised for audio distribution throughout the building, with 64×64 Dante cards installed in both systems enabling a digital connection between the dLive and wireless systems, plus a feed from the AHM to the Dante-equipped LAB Gruppen amplifiers which power the Adamson speakers.
To facilitate the connection between the dLive and AHM systems, a gigaACE card is fitted to the dLive and connected directly to the AHM-64’s integrated sLink port. The link provides the AHM-64 with mix outputs from the dLive system to be sent to the amps, while direct outs from the AHM-64 are sent to the dLive so that inputs normally used for self-service applications on the AHM-64 can be mixed by the dLive during live events manned by a sound engineer.
To enable basic operation of the system by non-technical staff, CC-10 and CC-7 touch panels – featuring 10” and 7” touchscreens respectively – in combination with the free Custom Control app are used to control the bar and pre-show music levels as well as a few microphones for speech-based applications.
Additionally, an IP6 remote controller, featuring six assignable rotaries and 19 assignable SoftKeys, is available for basic control. The IP6 is configured as a self-service controller for unmanned events using inputs connected to the AHM-64, a pair of wireless channels, two XLR inputs, and a stereo line input. The second layer on the IP6 also has preset recall buttons to easily switch between setups.
“We were after a flexible system that could handle large live productions as well as smaller corporate events all the way down to one-mic-productions,” says Daria Zarbeeva, Fiskepiren’s Technical Manager. “The combination of a dLive mixing system with AHM Matrix Processor, DX audio expanders plus CC tablets and the IP6 controller fulfils all our needs.”
“The system is working great, and we are always improving and updating along the way as we encounter new ways of solving technical challenges. That’s the wonderful thing about the Allen & Heath universe: it works great from the very start, and it is easily programmable to expand the whole system in the future.”
