New York City’s longest-established sound rental company Masque Sound has taken swift and decisive action following a power amplifier shoot-out, held on behalf of Masque’s new Concert Division.
The results of the shoot-out were so conclusive that Masque Sound has ordered more than 100 Vortex 6 amplifiers from German manufacturer CAMCO, with further orders in the pipeline. The new amps are being specified for live concert and touring events, and are playing a key role in Masque’s system design for ‘We Will Rock You’, a new musical opening at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
According to Masque’s head of Concert Division Lucas Rico Corrubia, the new amps have surprised even Masque’s most experienced live engineers, transforming the sound quality of the company’s V-DOSC rigs. “I just couldn’t believe how the CAMCOs made V-DOSC sound like a different cabinet!” says Corrubia.
“Masque is a V-DOSC house, but when we substituted the CAMCO amps, it was quite literally like going from night into day. They have such a smooth and even response, when other amps can be a bit ‘bitey’, and, as an orchestral mixer, I can now hear frequencies that I’ve been missing for a long time. We’re getting a lot more low end, and the amps have really warmed up the V-DOSC speakers unbelievably. And, apart from their very impressive sound qualities, they do things that other amps don’t do: for instance, there is extensive networking capability through CAMCO’s Wincai management software.”
Masque’s Concert Division has already used the V-DOSC/DV-DOSC and CAMCO rig on a number of events this summer, featuring a first-class roster of artists, including Julio Iglesias, Phil Collins, Tony Bennett, Brian McKnight, Tina Turner and Sammy Hagar. Another big test for the system saw Lucas Rico Corrubia get behind the desk himself to mix sound for the ‘Summer of Love’ rally for 40,000 people in New York’s Central Park.
“Because we’ve invested in a lot of Vortex 6 units, we were especially pleased when Christian Heil, the designer of the V-DOSC systems, gave us the thumbs-up for this combination! The CAMCOs may seem a bit pricey initially, but word is getting around that they make a difference, and in my opinion, it is very easy to hear that difference. So far, we’ve had a wonderful response from customers, and I myself can’t stop raving about them!”
The Vortex 6 is CAMCO’s flagship high-power amplifier, featuring exceptionally high efficiency, enormous power (6,000 watts mono into 4 ohms) and the use of micro-controllers to digitally control and monitor all functions and thus ensure first-class audio quality. A mere 2 units in height, it boasts a variety of innovative features: power transistor control with emergency shutdown in case of extreme malfunctions, reliable overvoltage protection up to 400V, thermal protective circuitry for the transistors, hum free operation in case of extreme undervoltage (instead of sound-deteriorating limiters). All in a 12Kg package.
The Vortex 6 is particularly fast, thanks to its current-coupled amplifier stages. The 3-stage switched-mode power supply provides each amplifier channel with the supply voltage it actually needs, while the volume level is controlled by a 12-bit-digital-analog DCA converter (Digitally Controlled Attenuator).
