Turbosound and XTA provide superior cornering at Notting Hill Carnival
Along with the famously colourful and elaborate costumes, music is a vital ingredient of London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the two-day August event during which many thousands of people come to celebrate London’s vibrant and diverse culture. This year Turbosound Aspect® loudspeakers and XTA processing held several thousand people entranced on a street corner of London W11 throughout the event.
Jeff Woodford of NBS Audio provided his NineBar Sound System to Pineapple Tribe, whose eclectic mixture of DJ styles - including dub reggae, breakbeat, Techno and drum & bass - makes them a favourite at a wide range of dance-orientated events.
Located on the corner of Ledbury Road and Lonsdale Road, the NineBar Sound System was arrayed as a mono stack comprising eight Turbosound Aspect TA-880H mid-highs on 12 thumping custom-built subs. This delivered the perfect balance of heavy sub-bass and crystal clear mid-highs or, as Jeff says, “A seriously upfront sound.”
With an XTA DP448 processor managing the system, it not only delivered awe-inspiring sound, it was also very straightforward to set up.
“We were doing a club event with the system up until 6am on the first day of the Notting Hill Carnival,” says Jeff. “So the speed and ease with which we can set up is a real benefit. It really helps that the cabinets are light and, being a point source system, we can align the cabinets by eye. We control the DP448 via AudioCore on a wireless laptop to fine-tune it, so the whole set up only took a couple of hours.
“With the wireless kit, it is a very straightforward job to stand 50m back and fine tune the system, getting the frequencies exactly where they are required,” he continues.
“That is incredibly useful at the kind of events we do, where there is no traditional front of house position. I use the combination of XTA processors, AudioCore and the wireless kit at everything we do.”
Another key facet of the system is how controllable it is - power and punch are not about sheer volume alone, something which is of key importance when a system is set up outdoors on the corner of two residential streets.
“At Notting Hill the noise limit is 95dB at the nearest residential property and it is strictly enforced,” says Jeff. “But the controllability of the system means that we can be putting out 135dB, which drops off to within the limits by the time the sound reaches the nearest house. And there is no spill behind the cabinets, which is essential in this situation.”
This was the first year Jeff has used the Turbosound Aspect cabinets, which he bought earlier in the year to bring a new, more modern vibe to the NineBar Sound System. As well as power and controllability, they deliver superb audio quality.
“The sound was unbelievable and I have heard only good comments about it from other people,” says Jeff.
“As far as I’m concerned, nothing sounds better than the combination of Aspect and the DP448. The pub opposite (the Walmer Castle) was also happy that we had 2000 people in front of our sound system all day, helping them to do a roaring trade. It was a win-win for everyone!”
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