Das Aero 12 Line Array.
It's been a while, I have spent the last few years listening to various Pa. manufacturers tell me that their products are the next great audio reinforcement revolution, nothing so far has managed to excite me enough to want to spend an awful lot of money. Until now, In early September 'The Blockheads' played at Stockwell Park in Luton, I knew that there was an M7 for me and hadn't actually bothered to ask what the Pa. was, I got a very pleasant surprise. From the moment I ran music though the DAS system, I was hooked, the deep and spacious sound was totally enthralling,. now if I get excited I just got to have it.This Article is from T.P.I. and was written by Sarah James of Gasoline Media.

DAS Aero Line Array Reaches Lofty Heights With Codex Audio

Northamptonshire-based Codex Audio is a rental company for whom only the best is ever good enough.
For someone whose highest priority is that the audiences who pay their hard-earned money enjoy the best quality possible, when Codex owner Dave ‘Lofty’ Lockhart first heard the DAS Aero 12 line array, he knew that he had found his ideal system.
Lofty does a lot of work with The Blockheads, The Animals & Friends and The Beat. It was with the former band that he first came across the DAS Aero system, at a show in Luton’s Stockwood Park last year.
“I walked into the festival and said ‘OK, what’s the PA?’” said Lofty.
“Dave Wooster, Sennheiser UK’s sound reinforcement specialist, told me that it was the Aero 12 and my reaction was that I’d never heard of it!”
He continued: “I put some music through it and it was immediately evident that the system had beautiful depth and definition. What I really like to hear is being part of a soundscape - with a really good system you’re completely immersed in the sound, so it’s not obvious that the sound is coming from those speakers there and those speakers there.”
Having been impressed with the Aero system at that show, Lofty looked further into it. Not only was he excited by the sound, but the philosophy behind it and ease with which it is transported also had an impact. He is the first to hold up his hand and admit that it changed his thinking.
“I said that I would never buy an active system,” he said. “But one of the biggest losses in a speaker system is the cables, no matter how good they are. I realised that the reason the Aero system sounds like it does is because the amps are in the enclosures. It was a bit of a revelation, really.
“When you travel all over the world mixing bands, you listen to everything, hear different kit and you get to know what feels good and what’s right. You really get to know what you want out of a system and, for me, clarity and projection is everything. I put natural sounds in and I want natural sounds to come out.
“Everything about the Aero 12 system is designed for quality audio transfer. I use it for lots of different applications and it’s really flexible. It’s very loud, very stable, and the projection is fantastic.”
The system got a good test of its credentials at this year’s four-day Cambridge Rock festival, where rock (The Hamsters, Eddie & The Hot Rods) met blues (Larry Miller, The Quireboys), progressive rock (The Enid, Caravan), tribute bands and many other styles.
Lofty’s Aero system for the event’s main stage featured 10 Aero 12a loudspeakers per side with eight LX-212A subs, four Aero 8A for front fills and eight of the new Road 15A wedge monitors.

Although the system is of extremely high quality, as with any cutting-edge technology, getting the very best from it means ensuring that there are no weak links in the chain.
“To fully complement the quality of the loudspeakers, the key is getting it balanced throughout and making sure that the right cabling is used at every point,” says Lofty. “We have the system on a balanced length network, so that left and right are the same distance away from the system processors. We even minimise the cable lengths for the monitor system, so we’re feeding four wedges off one side of the stage and four off the other.
“I also had the entire system running at 96kHz - the clarity is ten times what you get off 48kHz, but you need a bright, clear system to invigorate it. That’s exactly what the Aero system is.”
But, whatever the scientifics of his approach, Lofty appreciates that the DAS system helps him to deliver what he wants, from a job he clearly enjoys.
“I’m a hippy in a field with a big expensive load of equipment and I love it,” he smiled. “I actually think I’m really, really lucky to have found the thing that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning.
“People come to gigs to enjoy themselves, they pay good money, so the quality and the presentation of everything really matters. If people come to an event and they see and hear good stuff, it makes the show exciting and enjoyable. And live music is supposed to be exciting.”
On top of ensuring audiences have an enjoyable show, Lofty is also acutely aware of the commercial benefits to Codex.
“I’m really lucky to have found this system, the sound quality is incredible,” he continued. “A lot of people use the rig and they really like it. If promoters, agents, engineers and bands like what we do, it means we get more work.”

www.codexaudio.co.uk

www.sennheiser.co.uk

www.dasaudio.com