Sony Soebowo chooses Waves eMotion
- Details
Soebowo’s setup includes a Waves eMotion LV1 live mixer running on a Waves Axis One computer with a SoundGrid Extreme Server-C, a SoundStudio STG-1608 for FOH I/O and a SoundStudio STG-2412 for stage box I/O. He usually makes do with a single screen, as he uses DCAs (Digitally Controlled Amplifier) as his groups function since the mix is already set - resulting in little need for major tweaking during the show.
For recording and playback/virtual sound check, he uses Waves Tracks Live. The bands use IEMs, and as backup, or if there are wireless frequency issues, they are provided with wedges and he is set up in parallel to switch if problems happen, even if in the middle of the show.
Soebowo comments: “I have been using Waves MultiRack for a long time now, and the ability to use Waves plugins within the console is a major advantage. My must-haves are the Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain plugin, which I use on the Master Bus, as it ensures a really clean and powerful sound. The Vitamin Sonic Enhancer gives that extra ‘shine’ to the overall mix, and the Q10 equalizer enables me to make fine EQ changes, which are needed for different venues.”
He remarks about the Waves X-FDBK plugin: “The X-FDBK was a life-saver when I mixed for a public function that included a speech from president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. He was speaking to a crowd of thousands, while standing in front of a hang of line arrays. The officials were extra cautious, telling me that the sound has to be audible and NO feedback. X-FDBK saved the day and on top off that, it is so easy to use and set up. This would have been almost impossible to achieve without the LV1 and X-FDBK.”
Usually, he has no need for the band to be on stage for soundcheck, except for line check. These two bands draw crowds that can run from 2,000 to 20,000, and whether at a small or large venue, the Waves eMotion LV1 meets the requirements: “I chose the LV1 especially for its portability, along with the crucial fact that its sound is amazingly pristine, almost CD-like.
“As Indonesia is a relatively large country, touring consists of quite a lot of travelling from show to show either by flights, car or trucking, and the LV1 is the only console that can be carried effortlessly and also be easily checked into flights. My current setup travels in just three portable flight cases.”
(Jim Evans)
