GEAR HEADS
d&b audiotechnik KSL SYSTEM
d&b audiotechnik’s Matthias Christner, Head of R&D Acoustics, talks to TPi’s Stew Hume about the company’s forthcoming KSL System.
When did development for the new KSL System begin? Was it always the goal to have a younger sibling to the larger GSL System? When we started the GSL project, we targeted applications that our large line array, the J-Series, would usually handle using a comprehensive system. The J-Series is used successfully in a wide range of applications from medium-to-large clubs all the way up to stadiums. The GSL had to deliver even more than the J-Series – it had to sound great and establish a more efficient workflow for these larger applications. The work on KSL started when the GSL’s electroacoustic properties had been finalised and most of the mechanical and hardware details had been clarified. This is typically the start of the ‘industrialisation’ phase in product development. It was around the time of the GSL preview events, that we‘d mention – if asked – that we were investigating the possibilities of scaling down the GSL. The idea of making the SL-Series feature set available in a smaller system package for a broader range of applications was clearly in place from the very start. Our experience of working with GSL and its prototypes set up the necessary development tools to design
the system’s electroacoustic properties, so the knowledge was already there to understand how we might deliver these same properties in a smaller format. When we started to work with the GSL in the real world, we fully understood the practical value of its features for a huge range of applications. One example of this was using a GSL test system in a large arena, in a mock situation that replicated a shareholder meeting running lots of table microphones. The full range directivity of the system enables a much higher gain before feedback in the low-mids, and the difference in vocal quality and intelligibility was really obvious. It gave a very clear indication of where to proceed: the features of the GSL in a smaller format. Another example of the requirement for a little brother for the GSL was out-fill deployment: when there is a system in place that has well-defined directivity across its entire range, the out-fills need to work with that system, not against it. The KSL is great for out-fills. It became obvious that we could add an accompanying system that offers a larger splay range in order to cover an arena’s side seating efficiently. If the main system 86
