NOVI SAD, Serbia – Serbian pro audio distributor, Studio Berar, has maintained its long-standing relationship with the EXIT Festival in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia, equipping the three leading stages again this year with premium equipment from HARMAN's JBL and Soundcraft brands. The 13th edition of the EXIT Festival saw around 100,000 people attending over four days from July 12-15. In total there were 20 stages with over 500 bands appearing, and 1,600 volunteers from 60 countries making the whole event tick.
Studio Berar had an all-star lineup to support, including Guns n' Roses, Duran Duran, New Order, Eryka Badu and Plan B on the Main Stage, with Avicii, Luciano, Richie Hawtin, Laurent Garnier gracing the Dance Arena and The Toy Dolls, Eyesburn, Zemlja Gruva, Elektricni Orgazam on the third, Fusion Stage. All were under Studio Berar's charge.
The principal stage was fitted out with 32 elements of JBL VERTEC® VT4889ADP-DA powered fullsize line array elements, with 40 VERTEC VT4880 fullsize arrayable subwoofers, and 12 VT48888ADP-DA midsize powered line array elements providing delay reinforcement. In addition, Soundcraft Vi6 digital mixing consoles were deployed to perform both FOH and monitor duties for the visiting engineers who were assisted by Studio Berar's technical personnel. The desks were again equipped with optical MADI link for recording purposes.
In the Dance Arena, Studio Berar fielded 24 VT4889ADP-DA elements, with 10 VT4888ADP providing outfills on each flank, and 20 VT4880 subwoofers providing the LF extension. A further four JBL VRX932LA Constant Curvature loudspeakers added infill where necessary, with Crown I-Tech and Macro-Tech amps assigned to the passive elements of the system. Mixing duties were performed on a Soundcraft Vi1—an addition to Studio Berar's inventory since last year—and Soundcraft's classic analog MH2 console.
Finally, Studio Berar dipped further into its VERTEC inventory to equip the Fusion Stage with 24 VERTEC VT4888ADP, and eight VT4880 subwoofers per side. Another vintage Soundcraft console, the 48-channel Series FIVE, gave sound engineers a first-class analog experience at front-of-house while a Soundcraft Si3 was provided for monitors.
Held again at the picturesque Petrovaradin Fortress location on the River Danube, Studio Berar's marketing manager Lazar Josanov explained that although the fundamental coverage requirement was similar to previous years, this year the delivery took a great leap forward. “As we are constantly looking to improve each segment of our business, we recently reinforced and upgraded our JBL VERTEC line array system with Crown DPDA processing modules for VERTEC V5 settings, so now it's a fully active sound reinforcement system,” he said.
The company tested the V5 settings on several events prior to EXIT, so that by the time it arrived at Petrovaradin Fortress, Lazar reported, “Everybody was thrilled with the quality and strength of the sound.”
Momcilo and Emil Berar again project-managed the event for Studio Berar, leading a team that included Aleksandar Pejin, the main sound engineer at the Dance Arena stage, with Ivan Paplacko and Zoran Matic taking care of Main Stage and Fusion Stage respectively.
HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.