Koch Sound Conquers ‘The Last Frontier’ with Allen & Heath

For nearly two decades, audio engineer and production company owner Alex Koch has steadily built up a reputation as the go-to live audio expert in the subarctic South-central Alaska area. From his initial experience mixing audio at area ice rinks and cutting his teeth with the Allen & Heath GL2400 dual-function analog mixer, he has progressed through the entire product range on his personal gigs and via Koch Sound productions. Koch Sound most recently became a rental provider of the Allen & Heath Avantis, one of the first in steady rotation in the state.

“Business has been slowly but surely picking back up for sure. We did three major shows over the last four weeks,” says Koch. “We tackled a couple of them with our trusty GLD-80 paired with AR2412 and AR84 AudioRacks. It was great to get back to mixing, especially in the socially-distanced ‘backyard party’ featuring national acts like Craig Morgan, Matt Stell and Jimmie Allen. Avantis came in later and we are loving it at front of house with GLD shifted to serve up monitor duties.”

In addition to the recent Avantis acquisition, Koch Sound also added a GX4816 48 input / 16 output Portable Expander with DX sockets. Koch continues, “The ability to easily tie in ME Personal Monitors to the system through the GX4816 is such a big deal. Most churches are skipping floor wedges and going in-ear, we get a lot more requests for ME systems now. Simply plug them in to the GX box and call it a day. You can even daisy-chain them or choose to go with PoE power for a super clean and easy setup.”

Rounding out Koch Sound’s Avantis rig is a Flip-Ready Easy Retracting Hydraulic Lift Case from ZCase. The unique hydraulic lift system provides easy movement from a vertical transport position to the horizontal operational position using just one finger.

“And just when you thought Avantis couldn’t be any cooler, the ZCase takes it up a few levels. Push the magic button and it flips up for you. Have FOH done in about 30 seconds,” adds Koch. “I think I definitely fit the description of an A&H fanboy, but who else has this wide range of desks right now and the ecosystem and consistent workflow to actually leverage it all without the headaches? We’re excited to keep ramping it up with A&H as live shows come back more and more.”