With the forthcoming release of Jack Johnson’s new album All The Light Above It Too, Johnson played some North American shows using Rat Sound’s L-Acoustics K1/K2 system.
Because Johnson’s shows included larger venues for this tour, the K1/K2 was ideal for these concerts.
“This system has been the perfect size for the tour,” said Bjarne Hemmingsen, Rat Sound System tech and crew chief. Hemmingsen was responsible for designing the loudspeaker model in L-Acoustics’ Soundvision software each morning.
“The show sits at around 94dbA with some very soft delicate parts, and K1/K2 is great at providing even coverage throughout each venue while still keeping a full sound at the very back,” he added.
The tour’s standard loudspeaker array configuration included a dozen K1 plus four Kara downs flown per side, flanked by far left and right hangs of up to 12 K2. The setup also included six ARCS II enclosures, eight SB28 subs per side, and LA8 amplified controllers.
“I appreciate that I can easily configure this system in so many different ways to perfectly suit each venue,” Hemmingsen adds. “For venues that don’t require side arrays but are still quite wide, we used four K1 paired with eight to 12 K2 for the mains—or sometimes just the K2s alone for even smaller venues. Being able to control the horizontal HF with K2 solves a lot of reflection issues, especially for the side arrays. Its ability to cover 70 degrees and keep the HF off the walls really helps a lot. And the results that I get in Soundvision are always spot on.”
“This system has a great, full, natural sound with a very controlled low end and requires almost no EQ,” he said. “Jack covers a lot of musical genres with his set—from folk and reggae to pop and rock—and each variation of the L-Acoustics system worked well with them all.”
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