New Jersey's Hudson County Prep High School serves as a magnet school for over 700 students from ninth grade through twelfth grade. As part of a facilities expansion, the school recently completed construction of a new, state-of-the-art gymnasium that will also host events, such as graduations, dances, concerts, and tournaments. The school hired local A/V integration & manufacturers rep firm Volt Laboratories to design a punchy sound reinforcement system for these special events. Based on its feature set, layout, remote iPad app, and affordable price, Volt Laboratories gave County Prep High School an Ashly digiMIX24 digital console augmented for the new system.
“County Prep High School contacted them to request a demo of a DragonFly™ Weatherproof Portable PA System, and we stepped up to provide it,” explained Vince Hartung, architect from Volt Laboratories, a sole source provider. "The school loved the sound quality. In fact, they loved it so much that they asked us to design an event system for the new gym they were building.”
The school wanted a fully-featured console for the system, with a breakout box for the stage, inputs to four Audio-Technica wireless mic systems, Bluetooth & casting inputs for students and coaches.
“The Ashly digiMIX24 is a perfect fit for a situation like this,” said Hartung. “It’s a ‘studio-grade’ console, meaning it has all the functionality you would expect from a real studio console – parametric EQ, full dynamics control, sophisticated routing, and so on. On top of that, it comes with Ashly’s free iPad remote control app, which will allow novices to operate things for simple events or the school’s tech to run a more complicated mix from anywhere.” A pair of twigged Technomad Berlin loudspeakers powered by Volt Laboratories custom amps complete the system.
“They absolutely love the crystal clear audio and the ease with which their technicians can control the system,” Hartung said. “The Hudson County school district is building a new ‘High Tech High School’ in Secaucus, New Jersey, and they want it outfitted in exactly the same way. We may use the smaller Ashly digiMIX18 if it is available by that time.”
