XLD: Sonic Perfection for Slalom Skiing World Cup

The FIS Men’s Slalom World Cup brought the Alpine skiing elite to Garmisch-Partenkirchen on February 9th, 2008, to compete on the legendary Gudiberg—this time over a longer route than in previous years. Ten thousand skiing fans gathered at the Olympic Skiing Stadium in the newly designed finish area.

 

For sound reinforcement, the event organizers placed their trust in TC Showtechnik, a production company based in the Upper Bavarian town of Uffing am Staffelsee. Martin Schulze and his team, who only a few weeks earlier had provided the acoustic backdrop for ski jumping’s Neujahrsspringen, the Garmisch leg of the prestigious Vierschanzentournee (“Four Hills Tournament”), deployed on each occasion the Electro-Voice XLD line array they acquired in May 2007. For this application, the EV system spec included 12 XLD 281 enclosures and four PX1122M monitors, powered by CP4000S amps, and processed by Dx38.

Schulze is full of enthusiasm for the equipment used in Garmisch: “The XLD is rock solid in its construction and yet very light—exactly what we need for winter sports events,” he says. “Despite the severe weather conditions to which the equipment is invariably exposed, we have never experienced a single failure. Opting for Electro-Voice certainly makes our day-to-day work far less stressful.” A highly experienced sound engineer who has toured with bands like The Notwist and Console, Schulze is the very essence of professionalism, yet he admits: “Normally, these days, we just don’t bother with backup equipment. Admittedly we did pack an extra amp this time but, because nothing ever goes wrong, it requires a considerable effort of will to bring along even the most basic precaution!”

 

Peter Fischer, President of the Garmisch Ski Club, was another person who noticed the outstanding quality of the sound system. “He came over and asked what was different this year,” says Schulze. “He’d noticed that the level of intelligibility had risen considerably, so our decision to invest in an EV XLD line array certainly met with his approval!”

 

Based in Uffing am Staffelsee in Upper Bavaria, TC Showtechnik forms with TC Promotion Bayreuth and TC Lasergroup Weiden a successful group of companies. Between them, the three firms handle over 1,500 productions per year. These, in the case of TC Showtechnik, cover a diverse spectrum: from trade fairs and sporting events like the UEFA Super Cup and the European Athletics Championships to festivals like the Tollwood in Munich and the Zündfunk Bavarian Open Festival and tours with bands like The Notwist, Lali Puna, Slut and 13andGod. TC also provides lighting design for bands like Liquido and events like the “Air & Style” snowboarding contest.

 

  CP4000S

  PX1122M

  XLD281

  Dx38

  Text Only Version

  PM_EV_0308_Slalom_1.jpg

  PM_EV_0308_Slalom_2.jpg