Ep.16 - Premium Simplicity: Inside EAW's Newport Series with Jonas Domkus & Chris Wilson

The pro audio production world has a labor problem: crews are smaller, load-ins are shorter, and the person deploying a system isn't always the person who designed it. EAW's answer is "premium simplicity" — and on this episode, Chris and Jonas from Eastern Acoustic Works join Vince and Hugo to explain what that actually means.

They dig into the new Newport Series, starting with the NT206L — a compact line array with onboard FIR processing and simple analog controls, built so a crew can deploy a tuned array without cracking open a laptop. From there, the conversation covers the Online Array Assistant versus EAW's full Resolution prediction software, a walkthrough of the full Newport family (NT206L, NTX210, NT208L, and the NT116S/NT219S subs), and a deep dive into the isophasic waveguide — the unassuming spec sheet detail that keeps a whole line array phase-aligned.

Chris and Jonas also talk through how EAW torture-tests these boxes for weather durability, including a four-month saltwater bath test, and share where 47 years of EAW engineering history is taking the Newport line next.

Whether you're a system tech, an A1, or just curious how "good enough" stopped being good enough in pro audio, this is a look behind the rack at how EAW is rethinking line array deployment.

Guests: Chris & Jonas, Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW)
Hosts: Vince Simoneau & Hugo Chevrette

Transcript

What Matters Beyond The Specs

Vince 0:00

I think that might answer my next question, but it's it's what's something that that's on the spec sheet that that doesn't sound flashy, but people should know about the new port. Something on the spec sheet.

Jonas 0:13

I think okay. So this is something that's unique that we've designed. It's the uh it's the isophasic waveguide.

Vince 0:27

Um are we seeing a shift of um good enough is not good enough anymore?

Chris 0:33

Oh, that's absolutely our our engineers. That's that's them to the T. They they build something amazing and then they break it and figure out how to make it better all the time. That's it, that's the vibe.

Jonas 0:57

Don't be afraid of my.

Hugo 1:06

Very much so uh uh a microphone node too.

Chris 1:09

This is the source that we're reproducing. We're going down that.

Speaker 6 1:15

That's how we're doing it.

Vince 1:17

That's funny.

Why Production Crews Are Changing

Vince 1:19

Gentlemen, it's nice having you here in the studio. So welcome to Behind the Rack. Um, there's so much that we want to talk about. And um again, I think I I first started at SFM almost four years ago. The first tech talk I did was with John Young, and it was about the AC6 and about adaptive. We're not gonna be talking about that today, but um that's when I became a real believer in EAW, and I was just like blew my mind. And I just that was my first introduction to EAW. So I'm really, really excited to to um to have you guys on. Um, there's a lot of things I want to touch on today, uh, especially a bit of a shift that we're seeing, I think in a little bit in all the markets, but specifically in in production audio, where um it seems to have a um uh a workforce problem and and a turnaround problem. In in some some some cases, crews are are smaller, loadens are shorter, um, and the person setting up the system isn't always the person who designed it. So that that could be a little tricky, and the industry is quietly shifting toward uh premium performance that um any competent tech can deploy without cracking the manual. We talk a lot about that. And uh Newport's um is is kind of Newport is EAW's kind of answer aimed right at that shift. So um welcome Chris, welcome Jonas. Um let's talk a little bit about that. So let's talk about a little bit about how the productions world's changed a lot in the last few years. Can you talk a little bit about what you're hearing about how production companies, you know, are um what they actually what they're actually looking for in a speaker in today's today's Day and age. Day and age.

Chris 3:13

Do you want to answer that one first? Sure. Uh yeah. Um, you know, uh COVID happened and it kind of shifted uh a lot of uh train of thought in in how production companies have to run themselves, you know. Um a lot of the uh super technical guys found other means of of uh making income. And you know, we've got a lot of new folks that are coming in, and uh production companies have to, like you say, you know, find a way to kind of crunch time sometimes and have a lot of folks uh in the field at the same time trying to do uh you know the same show, but you know, you've got lighting and and everybody else. So um crew sizes may be smaller these days. Um and uh I think uh especially the NT206L uh helps um bring in a new class of high performance pro audio uh at a uh mid-market, you know um uh scenario to where it has onboard processing and it and it handles itself. Uh but that you don't have to crack open a computer to get into it and and do um a a lot of you know um compute time. So uh it it's able to be you know put into deployment rather quickly. Um what do you think?

Jonas 4:43

Yeah, I think it's more about um you know the day-to-day problem solvers that's easy to set up, right? Um so you need you know fewer technical people and around it to deploy, right? Um you know, so saving time that way and and having their level of staff being able to, you know, uh deploy these systems is really important because like there was a time where like you know, doing you know large systems or you know, any kind of large event that you would have to have multiple people that knew how to put together these systems and deploy them and their technical expertise just you know there's a level of technician that um you know you don't necessarily have to have to deploy some of these new systems today. I think that helps, right? So so we can help um you know companies, you know, uh do their business with um you know a simpler setup, simpler crew, you know, those sort of things, and

Faster Deployments With Fewer Experts

Jonas 5:55

maintain that high level of you know performance.

Vince 5:59

So premium simplicity. Yeah. That's a new marketing story. So um and it's funny that you mention uh COVID because we've had a lot of people uh on the podcast, and COVID has really shifted a lot of manufacturers into different directions, and it's crazy how that one event has completely shifted everything.

Chris 6:26

It's everything yeah from all avenues software, manufacturing, uh development of products, um and even that answer to labor, right?

Jonas 6:37

Yeah, we said a lot of companies have said that they've lost a lot of availability of of uh people you know, knowledgeable people or not available.

Vince 6:47

Yeah.

Hugo 6:48

That's sad. Can you quantify like uh what it was uh in terms of quantify the time that was uh needed to let's say set up a large venue show, like a uh a mailiner or like a big show, has this crunch by 25%, 35%? Like how how much is it how can I put it? How much is it faster now to set up large gigs, large venues than it was before? Or paint us a picture of what it was before. Yeah.

Jonas 7:23

Well, with any of these types of I would say complex array systems, right? Um setting something up like that's not trivial, right? So I mean you can hang a bunch of boxes up, but um, understanding splay angles and shading and all that kind of stuff, and then also managing the um electronics packages that go with them, especially if you have external amplifiers. So um being able to put that together successfully um isn't, you know, that's not a trivial process, right? So you have to have some really experienced people doing that if you want to have a successful you know performance, right? Um, where I think that like with where we're trying to go with like the NT product is to solve a lot of that complexity and make it easy for someone to deploy. So it's you know, uh, you know, you can get those results faster and easier and simpler because we've tried to design in a lot of that, you know, that process.

Chris 8:27

No, it does. Um especially uh with the online array assistant um that uh we have with the NT product line. Um with any glass you can get into uh the system and put in how many boxes you have and and split you know uh trim height and and how far you're throwing. Um that alone, I believe, uh speeds up you know install because um in a normal situation you'll have like an A1 that's putting together the system design on a computer and that takes a lot of compute time. Uh in a throw and go, uh, we have to have doors in 15 minute scenario. You know, you can have multiple technicians with their phones in their pockets having the splay angles and understanding the value of what's happening at the same time. So you can have left and right going up at the same time without an overseer, you know, A1, you know, or you know, somebody that just doesn't know what's going on.

Jonas 9:26

I mean everybody has this story of of you know having to fly a system and it may not be deployed right, may not be you know processed correctly, and they still just have to run a shove. And so with NT, we're trying to basically make that less of a problem, right? So that you can deploy it with you know with uh without fear of of of doing it wrong. Yeah. Okay. Um and what Chris is alluding to is is yeah, like traditionally uh you might need a software program that does prediction and spend all the time you know um you know trying to optimize you know your what you're about to deploy, right? Yeah. Um whereas with NT, we've kind of also um simplified some of that process and and what you mentioned for is this new thing that we've come out with called the online array assistant, which uh allows you to deploy the NT line without having to pull out a computer and do a bunch of stuff.

Chris 10:33

You still can. It's in the case. You still can, yeah. Yeah. And you know, you would use resolution if you're doing an install with a lot of like our MKC or MKD line for uh, you know, fills and stuff like that. You would still like to see all of those products together. But you know, the OA OAA just is really helpful for production in the field scenarios. Okay.

Prediction Software And Quick Alternatives

Hugo 10:54

And and just for the folks out there who don't know what the prediction software is, can you kind of give a uh couple of sentences of what the audience can be like varies from from from anywhere basically. So can you just talk a little bit about resolution and what what type of software you typically need? Not talking about the anti-systems, but inner yeah.

Jonas 11:17

So with any of these types of systems, um uh these complex arrays. So when you're talking about multiple boxes that you're flying and deploying, you know, to create um some sort of covers to your audience, um, most of the time requires some sort of um uh software that can predict what the performance is gonna be. And we uh we have a uh program that's uh available to everyone uh to use this called resolution. And in this software, um it can do um uh line array optimization prediction can help you do it. Um you can customize it and create what you need to you know to get the results that you want in there. So um so you you can decide how many boxes you need uh to get the performance you need and check it there. Um and you could optimize the you know array within that software. Um and so in the software though, it's um you know uh we're the industry is pretty used to having to use that kind of tool. Yes. Okay, and um the EAW tool is resolution, and uh it's also a 3D mapping SPL program as well.

Hugo 12:40

Right that basically gives you the opportunity to know where, like if I'm at that space, that place in the room, I know exactly how much decibels I would get at that frequency kind of thing, right? Correct, yeah, yes. As a prediction software, correct, yeah, yeah.

Chris 12:55

Yeah, well we we like to use it as as prediction uh sales tool um and deployment and tuning all in one package. Um and uh it's it's super helpful that we can get our premium you know products uh all the way down to our install MKC products all in within one design and one tool.

Jonas 13:16

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, resolution is really not just a line array uh prediction calculator, but it's also a like uh Krista was alluding to, this tool that you can do comprehensive design with. So, you know, you can design an entire stadium within resolution with line arrays, point sources, and other things and uh do prediction. You can also do control of other products and things like that over electronics in there. So it's a it's a program that does a lot. Um so one of the things, go back to NT though, with resolution. Um you know, you might be at a show or at an event that you know it's let's say it's it's a simple event. Let's say it's just an outdoor thing that's um you know for the day that you're gonna use. You don't need to, you know, spend hours predicting this thing. You just need to get basic coverage, right? And um for some people, um, you know, that might seem like a you know a complicated task, plug your computer, spend some time designing a room, doing all this sort of stuff to set up, right? And and get your prediction. But um, so with NT, we have this option, right? So you can do that. You can spend the time to do that. Um but also with NT try to make it so that you have an option where if you don't want to use a computer, you can still get the optimized array results by using the extra tools that we have, both with you know, on the box along with the online array assistant and and get that very quickly.

unknown 14:54

Right.

Chris 14:54

Yeah, the uh online array assistant is using the same uh operating engine that resolution is, which is just doing it in a server base.

Vince 15:02

Okay. Very interesting. Thanks for clarifying. Yeah. So on that, um why don't we um because I can I'm already getting a better picture painted in terms of even just getting a line array system on the spot is very demanding. And um, I know I when I go to a show, for instance, a lot of people take for granted you know, there's there's no more um speakers on the stage. It's all line arrays. It's very simple, it looks very simplistic, it's actually very complex. Uh, making sure that everybody in the in the room as much as possible can hear the the right sound that the the engineer is or is intending to demo to to get that that sound

Newport Line Overview And Key Models

Vince 15:48

out. Um what is walk us through the family of the end of the new port just at a high level, and um what are the main pieces uh that people um need to wrap their heads around?

Jonas 16:03

So uh we have um several models of NT in the line currently, and uh this will be also expanding, but um so with the same intent and idea of what we've been talking about. But um currently, right now, uh the smallest of the modules is the NT206, uh, which is a dual six-inch. Um that's the one we have here. That's the one we have here on the table. Yeah um this is very very unique in that um uh it uses our FIR-based uh processing built-in. Um the controls are simplified though, so there's no there's no network on the box or anything you need to connect and control it. It's all just there. Okay. Um and also there's an adjustable uh waveguide on the front, which is this is this is kind of a new thing that we've designed so you can change the waveguide um cue from either 80 degrees or 110 or an asymmetrical coverage, right? And so you could do this without any tools, um, that sort of thing. And then um we have its predecessor, which is the NTX210, which is a dual 10-inch uh uh larger box, and that one actually has our control network built into it um as well. So that one's uh a little bit different than these, but we're going to expand um this type of product, and then uh the next one is the NT uh 208L, which is basically looks very similar to this, it's just a larger version of it. Um, there's uh couple of extra features that we've added into that one, which allows the array processing uh a little more uh flexible on the back. Okay, so we've got some more controls there. And with any of these things, one of the things that we just we discovered is that when you're deploying all of these, having a network connection to every box again uh complicates the setup to a degree, right? Yeah, for some people who may not want to or need to have that complex of a setup. So by um keeping this uh in its simple form where it's just uh an analog um IO and everything is kind of um there's a you know a push button on the back to and and uh control to do your array optimization with it and with the adjustable waveguide, we could do all of this without having network control, and so it could be much faster. And then and if you want to use digital audio um distribution, then there's lots of other options these days. You it's really easy to take an array and add a you know a Dante node or whatever you need to send signal to that array, right? So it's so this makes a lot of sense now, you know, for the second product. Yes. Okay.

New Subwoofers And Why 16 And 19

Jonas 19:05

And then we also have uh a couple of subwoofers that are being added to the line as well. So um the NT206 is compatible with uh a new subwoofer. Uh it's the uh NT116S, um, which is a 16-inch subwoofer, and then uh there's a uh a NT119S in it. 219S coming out as well. And those are being used with the 208.

Chris 19:33

Okay. 219 for do all the time. Very impressive. Okay. Um and you might say why the odd numbers, why a 16 and a 19? Yeah. Um the overall uh conversation to that is uh uh the ability to move more air and uh the the cone diameter being smaller uh allows more of an excursion value. Um and then creating the enclosure uh in a way uh to allow uh more linearity of the driver in those uh far excursions um allows it to uh go high and low within octave. Uh but uh that gives us a very punchy, uh very um uh low octave uh subwoofer in the same enclosure. Uh so having a 16 in an enclosure the size of a normal 15 would be, but having almost an 18 vibe because you're putting out more uh more SPL uh and you can reach higher and lower within that you know operating range. It's a very impressive uh subwoofer. Uh and then we take that same concept to the the 19 and the dual 19. Um uh like I said, more more output in you know an enclosure that's very close to like 18.

Jonas 21:04

Really the key is like you might wonder like, well, why didn't we just use a uh 18 and a 21? But it's the size. So we're able to make a smaller, smaller subwoofer with the performance of the larger driver, yeah, right, with the output and the response both out of something that's in a more compact size. This is the the future.

Vince 21:29

Well, what led you guys to to to dig into that that rabbit hole?

Chris 21:33

I mean, to tell you the truth, there's um I believe uh not only in like history of popular music and culture, I believe that uh PA follows that popular culture. Uh and these days we're seeing a lot more um like EDM shows and uh performances that last 10 to 13 hours. And anytime you're requesting a subway. To do that kind of work and also provide uh uh impulse for a very long time without getting hot and changing the dynamic flux, you know. Um uh you you have to start looking at other ways to to create the output, but um still be able to keep uh a sharp transient in you know hour eight. You know, so I I think our engineers are just uh super focused on the content that's being requested.

Hugo 22:30

That's very interesting. Like the the the rave culture came came created new products. That's interesting.

Chris 22:38

You know, it's it's it goes through everything now. Everything is requesting a lot of you know, rave culture, there's there's different kinds of um electronic music, you know. Um some of it's requesting a lot of transient response, some of it requesting a lot of very low infra sub. Um and you know, for a uh PA provider, sometimes it's very difficult to carry both in one trunk truck back. So, you know, um not only that, you know, you have uh a good amount of low frequency in country now. So I mean like uh in country always requests uh you know uh transient response, you know, uh out of the you know, kick is very you know transient in in country music. So um I think it's just something that's being requested across all forms of music now. It's again following the culture of of what's happening.

Jonas 23:31

Also, I would add that you know, just like you're seeing this NT206 on the stable, it's a very small box, right?

Speaker 6 23:40

Yeah.

Jonas 23:40

And I would think that years ago, you know, you wouldn't consider something this size to do certain you know, size, you know, performances with, right? But we've advanced the the speaker technology to um even in something this small to have really big performance capabilities. Same thing with these new subwoofers is you know, we're able to build something that's more compact, more easy, use, you know, um that goes with that has the higher performance. Yeah. So so we're getting smaller, bigger, better and performance.

Chris 24:20

Yeah, basically we're we're uh the the popular culture is reaching the the market, the mid-market, the um, you know, stage line shows, you know, that kind of stuff, and they're requesting high performance, premium quality um at these shows. And yeah, so this is why the NT product volume is built.

Vince 24:39

And so you know, a lot of flexibility, um speed of deployment, premium simplicity. Premium simplicity. Lovely down there. And and consistency. So um I think that that's I think that's great that

Who Newport Serves And Where It Fits

Vince 24:55

it's um it's it's I think we you guys mentioned it before, it's just being more accessible, that premium being more accessible. Um let's talk a little bit about that. So who is this for and and where are you guys where are you seeing this fit the most in which type of applications?

Jonas 25:13

I would say, you know, there's there's there's a type of of where everyone's trying to, you know, be you know be profitable in their business these days, right? And you know, high-end uh performance uh systems come with a cost. Okay, and you may not have every client that's gonna pay for that, right? And so to justify the cost performance of this is the struggle, right? Because you have to demand that you know your client also be at that level of paying for that performance. You know, this with this type of product, you know, we're targeting into that performance level, but the ability to not I mean you you basically can be more profitable because you know um you don't have the cost um you know traditionally uh associated with that with this type of product. So yeah, so you end up with something that's uh still super affordable that you can make more money with and have that high-end performance um result, you know, with this.

Hugo 26:36

So would you say that that I mean obviously that um the the the companies were thinking the first like rental shops, but uh uh um permanent installs, like what what would be I I know you you you probably want to sell to all those different verticals, but which one this or this uh category of product is really the best bang for your buck? Like where where do you see the best fit?

Jonas 27:04

I mean, just about anywhere. I can't think uh I mean this I mean this is such a versatile product, right? Right? Um House of the Worship can use this, um you know, uh um, you know, corporate audio, you know, um presentation stuff. I mean uh all kinds of places that this this could work in. I mean it's the the size and and price performance is is such that you know I don't see you know uh unless you know you want to just pay more. You know.

Vince 27:36

Or or or you you're seeing you you're thinking that it's it's gonna be going in places where people may have not thought about even putting in a type of system that does.

Chris 27:47

Yeah, absolutely. You know, uh uh uh to just uh walk off of that conversation, this this product offers a couple of things that you know anything else within that uh market does not. Like uh like he was mentioning the uh AHD technology uh to where we can

Tool-Free Coverage Control With The Waveguide

Chris 28:06

rotate the the horn flare, right? Can you demonstrate that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's really cool. I wanted to ask that earlier. Um what's what's super simple simple about this, there's no tools needed. Uh there's no infield really uh uh technical that you have to carry on you, which is great. Um what I like to do in a screwdriver? No screwdriver, nothing. And so what I like to do is is grab it with my palm like this and pull in. Oh wow and that that breaks it loose. What's really clever is uh You can't lose it. Yeah, you can't lose it. This is a with a uh cover on it to where it's not gonna hurt your hand or anything if it gets wrapped around, so it's safe. Uh but it lives within the flare. Uh uh so um what we like to to do is make sure that this is always pointing to the outside. That's really the only thing you have to keep in mind.

Vince 28:56

Okay.

Chris 28:56

Um, but we have an 80 degree or a 110 or it's also uh asymmetric. This it's leaves on yeah, yeah. It's labeled on the top there if we want to get it on the shot there. But um what's really clever about that is especially for uh church installs, um, everybody wants an LED screen now, right? Everybody wants to have a line array and an LED wall. Yeah, that's the vibe, right? So uh what's really helpful is we can run the high frequency in an asymmetrical uh pattern and and try to keep that high frequency from you know scattering off that wall because they're more than likely going to be pretty close to each other, right? So uh it's it's super simple to to get it back in and pop it back in place and it stays in. Um so like I said, that's that's in the field. Uh also while it's in the line, it's it's pretty noticeable uh to where they're going to be if it's 80 or 110. So um uh it's something you know I think everyone can get used to just looking at and seeing, you know, uh what it's in to make sure they're all in the same while they're setting it up. Um I'll I'll also mention um the line length of this is kind of impressive whenever you get four to six boxes. Um there's a lot of low frequency content um that that happens in that haystack of the line. Interesting. Uh that also helps with the Q factor and um the overall response of the box. It's it's really nice. Um in 10 to 12 boxes, it's kind of like wow, you know what's happening in in a in a very short line. Uh so uh especially for uh you know medium to even large scale churches, this is a really uh really cool um unit because like he was saying, you know, there's there's options on this to acoustically kind of shade and uh have a DSP um uh uh backing in it as well. So uh let's say you have a long line, like in a six to eight line, um you can have the top boxes in an 80 with a high frequency and it'll give you a nice boost of 6k in the response. Uh and then you can come down and open up to 110, which will acoustically drop about 3 dB, and then you can pull that high frequency off on the bottom, which will pull another about 3 dB back. Wow. So you can have a decent gain ladder, you know, yeah, uh response across the far field. Pretty cool. Um, and the OAA helps you with that. Resolution will help you with that. Uh in resolution, it's really, really cool. You can go go in and kind of scroll and flip the horn to where you can see different, you know, concepts. Um so uh we we do have the ability to be very precise in resolution, but also we have the ability to let's throw it up ten minutes ago, doors open five minutes ago, you know, that that kind of uh concept to where no one's really um uh push against a wall. Everyone has it in their pocket. Yeah, it's it's a really impressive product in in that market. Uh it's one of the lightest in its class and one of the loudest in its class. It's made of uh you know aluminum, steel, and wood. Uh it's a very impressive product.

Hugo 32:13

Can we expect the 208L to be to have the same waveguide? Yes. Yeah, okay.

Chris 32:18

Yeah, the 208 has the same type of waveguide. Good. And and to to also uh uh walk on uh off of a comment that he said on the back control of the 208. The 208 is going to allow us to uh because more than likely having longer line lengths of 12 to 16 boxes, right, in in that form factor, it allows us to um uh use our array processing uh that we uh pull from our larger uh boxes like the NTX that has OptiLogic, so where whenever you get into resolution, it'll automatically know how many boxes you have and stuff. Um the NT208 allows you to put in that count with a rotary on the back to optimize the line length and the performance of the box without needing to get into resolution. The OFA will uh help you with that. So um the as he was uh uh stating, the line is going to not only grow but also start giving you uh a couple of options that the uh next bigger brother, the NTX line, uh X denotes control and daunting in our line. So um that way, uh especially in a uh a group that's growing, you know, a production house that is is growing, growing shows, things are getting larger and faster. Um, that allows uh the NT product lines to be out there in the fields with their uh you know uh festival shows and the NTX product lines in the theater applications, the larger uh the ones that run tour riders and things of that nature, right? Uh and then we get into our our premium adapter product from there. So we have a kind of a class level there.

Vince 34:00

If you're if you're stacking 12 to 16 boxes, I guess it's still not enough. I guess I guess a sub is always required. But but for some applications, would you say it's enough that it wouldn't require a sub? No, I I think really in that scenario with a show.

Chris 34:20

Yeah, it depends on the application. You know, if it's a theater thing, you know, maybe, you know, but I mean, especially if you're going to run 12 boxes, it's more than likely going to be a decent size show. Yeah, yeah, that's that's true. But the upside to that is um not only does the LF grow considerably and the the queue uh is able to control the the node a lot more, so it's better control on stage and that kind of thing. Um, but uh that also if you're going to be that big, you're going to be quite wide and and subperformance is probably going to be array center. So the buildup of the array length helps you uh in the tuning process and creates more of a uh an equal LF control path and uh very far distance coupling, if that if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So it does help in in that factor.

Vince 35:11

When uh if if you're doing uh a room that um I'm thinking of uh a corporate, a large corporate banquet hall or even where they're it's got a fixed installation, but the configuration of seating moves. Uh does the NT206 uh line or the Newport line can that is there different settings for different types of deployments or how does that how does that work?

Jonas 35:41

Well in that case you'd you use the something like the OAA or resolution to make your adjustments, but it's all real easy to do on on the box.

Hugo 35:51

Basically on the box, yeah.

Jonas 35:53

Yeah. Because I mean right now, like what Chris

Clever Rigging That Speeds The Day

Jonas 35:55

is showing with the uh the HD, the waveguide. Um so OA like you know, your your OAA might tell you um, you know, set you know the top boxes to 80 degrees, bottom boxes to 110, and turn on the HF moose in the top, whatever.

Chris 36:11

So depending on you know your deployment, you can just easily go and and flip those around and push the button and your array is I I will uh also mention um the flyware or the hardware kit that comes with this is really uh clever in that uh the same hardware that flies the box also stacks the box and also is the pullback bar. Uh and so there's not a whole lot of different SKUs that you have to remember, right? Um and within especially a rental group or groups that rent from each other, um that way you don't get the wrong fly bar or something's missing, you know, it's uh it all travels together inside the lid and like it's it's really clever hardware uh system. Um but uh in that fact, you know, if if you have to go, you know, on on the a preliminary of the show, everyone said we're gonna fly it, and then we get there and we can't, you can take the same flyware and then stack it on your sub so you can get up to four on a double side.

Hugo 37:14

Yeah, we exactly uh Philip and I, I mean, we did a few trade shows with them and we did a few POCs. So I've I've seen it flying andor ground stack, and that we were using the same hardware with the cart with the wheels, so it's super super easy to print.

Jonas 37:32

You get all the pieces that you need for it. So, like Chris was saying, the flybar pretty much does all most of the stuff, it does everything. Um uh, but then you also get a whole mount adapter and a subwoofer adapter. So you can use those to attach to tripod or on the subwoofer.

Vince 37:50

I think that might answer my next question, but it's it's what's something that's um

The Isophasic Waveguide Explained

Vince 37:57

that's uh that's on the spec sheet that that doesn't sound flashy, but people should know about about the new port.

Jonas 38:05

Something on the spec sheet. I think okay. Uh I I want to actually talk about what is inside the box. So this is something that's unique that we've designed. It's the uh it's the isophasic waveguide. Um so every every line array or every line source is uh trying to produce to work correctly, uh is trying to produce a um flat wavefront, right? Okay, and you're doing this with you know uh a small amount of compression driver, high frequency drivers. Okay, so we know that sound expands spherically, right? Um so well everyone uh has come up with over the many, many years of line source devices, different ways of creating this flat front um high frequency waveguide. So sorry, Jonas, why would you want to create a flat versus a spherical? Because when you array them together, um it's all about the phase alignment across the front so that you have something coherent at the bull array when you put it together.

Hugo 39:16

So all the frequencies are going out like at the same basically in parallel.

Chris 39:21

Yeah, in a in a planar fashion. So from top to bottom and in the center, it's all the same energy in amplitude and bandwidth.

Vince 39:31

Because low frequencies travel slower than higher frequencies. Well, they're it's not just that in a different direction too. Different direction, but this way.

Jonas 39:40

If you just took a bunch of point source boxes and put all their high frequencies together, it still wouldn't sound very right. Yeah. Um, you'd have a lot of phase stuff happening, right? Cancellation then. Yeah, cancellation is a weird thing. So that's what this flat wavefront kind of solves, right? Yep. Um, so we do a unique solution to this. Um, so imagine that you've got a single high frequency source traveling through something, right? And you're trying to, you know, come out of this dimension, whatever the length of the box is. So you have to create equal path lengths, you know, to this edge of the box. Yeah. Um and so by doing so, uh, you can introduce reflections along that path and other things, right? Um, that also color the sound. Um we've come up with a uh wave guide that um uh trying to think of the best way to describe it, it's almost like let's say uh shaped like an airplane wing, right? So if you take a it's like smooth, right? So it's smooth and an ovular shape kind of thing, right? And um, and then we wrap that around in inside another um container, if you will, that's like shaped around this thing. So so the uh sound actually has to naturally travel at different path lengths to get there without reflections, right? So this gives uh us a the ability to have a more uh pure, clean, high frequency, you know, wavefront. And so that's what the NT line uses this this type of uh new waveguide technology.

Hugo 41:23

Interesting.

Jonas 41:23

Yeah.

Hugo 41:24

Okay. Well, because I saw the the the waveguide he was having is actually shaped like a like a tier. Yeah, like a tier, exactly. Yeah.

Chris 41:32

Yeah. Exactly. And then uh right on the edge

Weather Stress Tests And Reliability Mindset

Chris 41:36

of that, we have um a grill that's uh hydrophobic. So you know if you're caught in the rain and it doesn't get inside, it's pretty clever.

Vince 41:47

Okay. And that's IP, I forget what the IP rating was on that views. Remember, is it IP rated?

Jonas 41:54

Or is it IP rated or it's not I'm not gonna be able to do uh well, so here's the thing. This most of our products that um are um like ins install friendly are all gonna be IP rated. Okay. The NT line or the production products, I don't the we don't really uh give them a technical IP rating. Okay. Um, but we do lots of uh weather testing with them, right? So like right now this uh the this by itself, um uh without the rain cover, you know, you wouldn't want to leave out in the rain, but we have covers for them to actually help protect that. And we do a lot of um testing to make sure that these will live out in some weather elements and not you know.

Chris 42:44

Okay. We did actually a pretty wild test with that one. Um I think it was like four months in a salt water bath that constantly had salt every morning put back into the bath and it constantly just re-ran that on top of it while it was running pink noise for like four months.

Speaker 6 43:04

Wow.

Chris 43:05

Um little product there.

Jonas 43:11

So like while I'll say that you know it's not technically accurated, we do everything to make sure that these can last successfully with yeah weather element.

Chris 43:22

Yeah. In our new facility in Franklin, we have uh you know uh the technical staff and also the resources available to do like uh uh heat and water and uh a ton of different environmental and ozone um uh runs. So we've got several different containers that do different things. And so we have uh great technical staff that's created a a uh kind of like a quality control scenario um that's monitored. Um so uh we basically just run things until they die.

Vince 44:02

And just just making sure that yeah. Just making sure that you guys don't want to put the customer in a bad pattern. Hundred percent. Yeah. It's the most important thing. Yeah. Um the um would you say the um would you do you think you'd be expanding the NTX line as a sort of anybody who's wants to take the the NT up to an another level or is that are you guys just starting with the NT line and seeing how that's I think for uh NT right now the focus is going to be more on the simplicity of products.

Jonas 44:42

Gotcha. Expanding the market but I will say also like you know even like this little little guy here um still fully utilizes our FIR based focusing that we do as well, you know, it's all built in you just don't get user control of making changes. Gotcha. So it's not really lacking any technology.

Vince 45:06

No.

Jonas 45:07

It's not it's all there, right? It's just that we've tried to try to minimize the what you need to be able to make you know changes with, right? Yeah make it more accessible.

Vince 45:18

Premium simplicity. Yeah exactly yeah um anybody I still strongly believe in um hearing is believing sometimes and I and I out of most of the products EAW that I've heard it's it's been that if somebody's listening to the NT or the new port series is there something specifically they should be paying attention to that you want them or something that they should be looking out for?

Chris 45:47

Oh I would love to to have anyone sit in front of a four box in T206. A lot of times right now you see them with uh the SBX you know 218 or 118. But uh that's that's kind of a game changer.

What To Listen For In A Demo

Chris 46:15

It really opens everyone's eyes. We do that uh a lot of demos of you know a ground plane four stack um puts it right at height uh and it controls that really well in in a lot of ground stack scenarios um high frequency content that close and you know right at head level it gets a little bright um I think this product is in very very smooth um and then like I said you get up to 10 to 12 boxes in a line hang and you know from from a good ways back it looks like a little stick but you know it's you've got this focus of detail on your face and it's kind of astounding. Wow I think the you know you'd be surprised like what you know for the price point of other things that are out there comparing to right you know something in the same range um I think most people would be really like blown away that the level that you would get with this is really out of that league of uh what you would have expected for this yeah uh there's even down to the the hardware uh that was chosen for this um this product um it's all steel on the side it's got a steel handle in the back uh it's the uh three-point spine rigging to where it's collapsible on the cart and then you can uh do all of your pinning in the cart and then take it out of the cart with it pinned uh it's got the uh bumper cup to where these are rubber to where whenever the next one comes in it can fit in that pocket look just kind of on its own. So it's really kind of simple for uh one or two people to fly it even if they're running chain motor at the same time.

Hugo 48:02

This is exactly what uh Philip and I did about three weeks ago. We're two guys in a wheelie fly one.

Chris 48:09

Yeah you know um because I know we've all been in those situations where it's like one or two guys and you're having to deal with a stack of 10 already in the air trying to get another four on and and you know without these kind of auto alignment pin cups and the rear pinning that's you know basically already ready to go you just drop it in, pin it and let it you know un un uh hold itself it's uh it's really clever.

Vince 48:33

Yeah are we seeing a shift of um good enough is not good enough anymore?

Chris 48:39

Oh that's absolutely our our engineers that that's that's them to the T. They they build something amazing and then they break it and figure out how to make it better all the time. That's that's the vibe.

Jonas 48:51

And how how long of R D uh was was needed for that type of uh solution um that's a good question not sure exactly but um I remember uh this is at least you know several years in making you know um it's

Engineering Culture And The Bigger Message

Jonas 49:12

really a culmination of stuff I don't I don't know that you can kind of define one thing because this has got technology and development of stuff like over span of years you know of things that we've learned and done and things right you know so all of that and then it all comes into you know this product of things that we can use of you know that our development that we've done over that you know super long time of learning.

Chris 49:40

Yeah he he actually nails it I think it's uh it's the history of EAW um you know uh starting in the 80s in the in the um concepts of engineering um kind of speak for themselves those are great great uh products and you know with the evolution of uh of PA um we've had some outstanding products and with every product that we release we learn from it uh we figure out what that technology did really well and then uh we put it usually in the next product and work from there and continue to learn and continue to grow those different uh engineering concepts. You know, we have a ton of them and I think that we're extremely lucky to have the engineers that we do have uh you know uh with EAW right now. We have uh you know uh Jeff is uh head of engineering and and he personally has uh you know um the mental capacity of all of our engineers that have been at EAW he's he's known all of them and and their mindsets and how you know uh they've brought their technical expertise to EAW uh and then he is then investing in all of our young engineers and they're bringing all of their new concepts uh and that is where NT comes from actually is is uh a lot of Ford uh concepts from uh some of our younger engineers yeah well and uh also being adaptive no pun intended yeah well you know you mentioned the COVID and the pandemic uh helped change uh a lot of a lot of stuff but um we talk about it a lot on on the podcast how some vendors are are either slow to react uh some are quick to be proactive and uh adaptability is if you want to survive in this market especially how technology is shifting so fast if you're able to adapt um you're you're gonna be left standing at towards the end right so it's um it's really really important very cool um what's the big bigger story you want people to walk away with today after listening to this podcast about EAW and not just beyond just EAW just launching a new product probably that you know we have never stopped trying to develop some of the best you know high performance products at the best you know uh market price and I think that we have some really unique solutions that um many people not aren't necessarily aware of like some of the things we talked about you know some of the technology that's in here and some of our other products you know um that uh I think that um you know you see every everyday things in the industry and uh you know we have always been striving to be unique and different and pro and solve um a lot of unique problems so I think if you look toward EAW you can find solutions to almost everything that you need to have. And I think that's that's kind of our goal um you know we've been there for that and uh continue to develop that I would absolutely agree um our our mantra is control your sound and that doesn't always have to go down the the path of how am I deploying that could be how uh is EAW helping my company control our business, could control our growth um how can we uh work together?

Vince 53:36

Our service department um is fantastic and you can talk directly to our engineers um uh our our field guys are fantastic so uh it's not only about you know uh can controlling the sound through you know actual deployment but through growth of of your company with our brand yeah very nice could take your link yeah yep with that uh we're just at the top of the hour thank you guys so much for stopping by we'd love to have you on uh thanks for having us yeah absolutely next time we're gonna have to pick your brain on the AC6 because that's a whole other beast that uh that was my first uh coming back that was my first introduction but uh yeah we'd love to to pick your brain on that uh but thanks thanks for thanks for thanks for um really showing us the new port series and um again premium simplicity how um you guys are taking it to the next level and making this type of product available to um whole glasses yeah a whole a whole new market really which is really cool really cool thank you thank you gentlemen