Fargo, ND (March 9, 2020)—Regional audio provider Purple Hat Productions (Fargo, North Dakota) has provided sound for national touring acts like Robert Plant, REO Speedwagon and Dropkick Murphys, but a substantial part of its annual business is derived from supporting Hairball, an arena-rock tribute act that hits the region hard, playing 150 shows a year.
Roof Garden Ballroom Revived with Electro-Voice
Purple Hat provides production for roughly half those shows, but the company’s owner, Sean Boe, is always on the road with the act, working at its tour manager and FOH engineer. With that in mind, Purple Hat recently purchased a new sound system built around Electro-Voice line arrays and the latest DSP-equipped amplifiers from EV’s sibling brand, Dynacord.
Boe explained, “It’s a big 80s-style arena rock show, and this EV and Dynacord system delivers the rock ‘n’ roll energy required for a show like Hairball and other touring acts. We’ve already used it for shows with.”
Purple Hat’s purchase included 18 XLC127DVX array elements along with eight X12-128 dual-18” subwoofers. Networked power and control comes courtesy of three Dynacord TGX20 system racks. The preconfigured racks came from the factory with three TGX20 DSP amplifiers, two independent network switches, power distribution and I/O interfaces. Purple Hat bought three of the 10-RU rolling racks with sliding doors, for 180 kW of network-controlled output power across 36 channels. Four EVC-1082 two-way 8” loudspeakers from EV’s new compact EVC series serve as front fills.
“With Hairball, I mix on a lot of different PA systems, so I’ve heard all the major brands,” he says, “and I’m convinced that EV has the best products out there. The XLC is a great compact three-way 12” box, and the X12-128 is easily the most impressive sub I’ve ever used. It’s a nice, tight punchy, warm sub that I can’t imagine anyone not falling in love with.”
Electro-Voice • www.electrovoice.com
