ALBION RISES FROM THE ASHES WITH CDD AND DISCO DOCTORS
Melbourne-based audio-visual integration company, Disco Doctors, recently completed an installation at the Albion Hotel in the south of the city, using a Martin Audio CDD solution.
The equipment was supplied by Technical Audio Group (TAG), Martin Audio’s long-term Australian distributors, with whom Disco Doctors has also enjoyed a partnership stretching back eight years.
“Prior to that myself and my business partner had worked in many other various areas of the audio industry so my experience with Martin Audio dates back to the early club systems from the 90’s,” explains Disco Doctors’ Justin Mackay. “Since we started Disco Doctors we have utilised Martin Audio on many of our projects.”
As bigger club installs made way for smaller multipurpose venues and bars, versatile and quality distributed sound assumed paramount importance “both for their patrons enjoyment of the space as well as suiting the venues’ requirements to go from busy bar/restaurant to night club on the fly. CDD has more than delivered on this,” he said.
Our favourite feature of these boxes is the excellent near field off axis response, giving a comprehensive coverage in rooms that typically do not have a single point source for audio.
Explaining the story behind the Albion Hotel, Mackay continues, “This project was originally a complete refit of an existing venue with a new rooftop extension and we had specified a full Martin Audio series system for the venue. Unfortunately, there was a fire at the venue just prior to the project’s completion. Making matters worse we had just delivered most of the main room audio days before the fire destroyed the place. It is a testament to the owner’s determination that the venue rose from the ashes bigger and better than it would have been before.
Matt Darcy, Albion’s owner, was already a fan of CDD. Says Justin Mackay, “Our favourite feature of these boxes is the excellent near field off axis response, giving a comprehensive coverage in rooms that typically do not have a single point source for audio.” And these zones included a reception area, main bar and dancefloor, with booth seating and VIP spaces, a dedicated VIP lounge, rooftop bar with DJ’s, outdoor spaces and bar area.
All of the primary spaces utilise Martin CDD boxes and subs, the smaller areas equipped with the ultra-compact CDD5’s with CSX112 subs concealed in wall cavities and furniture.
The dancefloor in the main room uses two CDD12’s either side of the DJ, a pair of CSX212 dual 12 inch subs built into the DJ console, CDD8’s for infills on the dancefloor and then CDD5’s for bar and booth fill with CSX112 subs to fill the back of the room.
The VIP lounge runs CDD5’s with CSX112 sub. The rooftop, which is mainly an outdoor space, runs CDD5’s and CSX112 subs.
“Of course we had to work with the architect and owners to have audio seamlessly integrate with the décor but with such compact boxes this wasn’t difficult,” he confirms.
Disco Doctors handle all their own system design, software development and system EQ’s, and all systems offer clients convenient iPad control as well as hard wired wall controllers.
Consequently, the venue can run live music and corporate events on either level, as well as DJ’s and PC based background music during the day — all of which comes from a central rack in the office area. And thanks to CDD, they can run events from local DJ’s to international headline acts without the need to add to the existing production package offered by the venue.
Summing up, Matt Darcy said, “The audio-visual component is extremely important. We’ve used Disco Doctors on a number of previous projects and we’ve always used Martin Audio sound systems. I think there’s an increasing level of appreciation for good sound by clubbers. It’s something you certainly don't want to skimp on and we invest a lot of money in our audio and visual systems because it’s such an important component of the business we’re competing in. Martin Audio has been great in creating that product and that vibe we look for here.”