Studio Instrument Rentals Installs DriveRack™

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – July, 2002 – Usually our install of the month features a theater, church or nightclub that has installed the DriveRack as part of their control system, but this month we have a unique application. Studio Instrument Rentals (SIR) has installed the DriveRack system as part of their roving in-house Monitor and FOH systems.

Studio Instrument Rentals is the premier rehearsal facilities in Hollywood, CA. On any given day, you’ll find the worlds top performers, artists such as Ziggy Marley, Pink, Robin Thicke, Mick Jagger, Kiss, Limp Bizkit, Cyprus Hill, Incubus, Mark Anthony, Crazy Town, Britney Spears, Live and LeAnn Rimes preparing for a studio date, video shoot, TV performance, concert or tour.

In July 2002, Studio Instrument Rentals upgraded their 5 rehearsal studios to utilize the dbx® DriveRack products for their entire monitor system. Each of the five studios utilizes the dbx 480R remote controller with flying faders paired with two DriveRack 442’s as insert EQ’s for their 8 monitor mixes. SIR is also using the DriveRack 480 on the Meyer front of house system in stage one, which serves as both a rehearsal site and performance venue.

One of the things that most impressed Jesse Stewart, their rehearsal studio manager, was the ability to use the 480R remote control as an RTA to get a visual as they make equalization corrections on the monitors. “When you’re doing monitors, you can’t always hear what’s on the stage. With the RTA on the 480R, I can visually “see” the frequency spectrum and make corrections on the fly.” Jesse also spoke about the 442’s offering a tremendous advantage in processing per rack space. “With the 442, you’ve got 8 channels worth of EQ in 4 spaces, (each unit is 2 spaces) plus all of the other compressors and other processing”.

If it doesn’t sound great, it won’t work for what they do at Studio Instrument Rentals. Jesse continues: “Since the early wood-side dbx 160’s, I’ve always considered dbx compressors to be the best sounding compressors available. We love the sound of the compressors on the 480’s and 442’s. Talk about saving our monitors! They’re a great safety for rehearsals.”

Each of the 5 rehearsal studios is also equipped with a dbx 1074 Quad Gate and a dbx 1046 Quad Compressor. These are used as channel inserts. “The 1046’s are great. They offer a lot of bang for the buck for one rack space. Having 4 channels in one rack space is such a huge convenience factor here at SIR.”