Glendale Community College’s vocal jazz
ensemble—featuring up to 16 vocalists, a rhythm section, and student sound
engineers—has long faced obstacles using wired microphones. During practices
and performances, on campus and on the road, the wired mics created unnecessary
complications. Bryon Delto, associate professor of music at Glendale Community
College, wanted the freedom of wireless without any complexities. With advice
from systems and services company Hollywood Sound
Systems, a proud Shure dealer for more than 50 years,
Delto found the answer with Shure’s ULX-D® Digital Wireless System.
Brett Grossman, project manager at Hollywood Sound
Systems, recommended the audio system.
“In analyzing Delto and his ensemble’s requirements—high
channel count, managed frequency deployment, digital audio networking, and
intelligent battery operation—ULX-D was our product of choice,” said Grossman.
“We took each of these needs into account when designing the rack, while also
ensuring the unit easily paired with the Yamaha CL5 console we provided
earlier. The result was one of the most compact, high-channel racks Hollywood
Sound has ever done. Everything packs in nicely and even better, we can deploy
the 16 channels Delto requires in just an 8MHz range. A few years back, this
wouldn’t have been possible at this price point.”
Eliminating tangled wires and streamlining audio
management, Delto’s adoption of Hollywood Sound Systems’ carefully designed
Shure ULX-D rack has brought the ensemble’s performances to new heights. The
school’s set-up involves four ULXD4Q Quad Channel Digital Wireless Receivers
combined with 16 BETA 58A® handhelds. Each of the 16 channels is operated from
two single rack units, providing important space savings for Delto and the
ensemble, as the gear provides the mobility to move freely from rehearsal rooms
to the performance stage.
Delto commented: “With Shure ULX-D Digital Wireless, the
switch to a wireless platform was easy. In a school environment where student
sound engineers are in charge, the system must be intuitive with a short
learning curve. Students have quickly picked up ULX-D, and the sound we get out
of it is incredible. Additionally, it’s extremely convenient to have everything
centralized in a small rack space that rolls right into our confined storage
space.”
The Glendale Community College jazz ensemble has also
benefited from ULX-D’s rechargeable batteries, which eliminate the need for
disposables. With the rechargeables, student sound engineers can monitor run
time and metering accuracy in hours and minutes. Another highlight of the
system is its Dante™ digital audio integration, offering multichannel audio
networking over a single Ethernet connection and computer-based playback,
recording, and signal routing.
Delto added, “ULX-D is a ‘wow’ device. Everything is
compact, easily moveable, and scalable should our performance ensembles grow
and require additional audio support.”
Glendale Community College has a college-credit
enrollment of about 25,000 day and evening students, and approximately 10,000
additional students in the adult education program and specialized job training
programs.
