Ever heard of a front of house crew using EVO 4 and EVO 8 audio interfaces? Not an obvious choice for a live engineer, but the small, robust boxes by British manufacturer Audient have proved invaluable when used with Smaart audio analysis software.
“perfect for throwing in my bag and taking my sound system calibration tools anywhere I need”
The idea was spearheaded by live engineer Jamie Tinsley, who has one of each of the EVO interfaces. “I’m loving my EVO 8! I’ve swapped it out for the EVO 4 on tour and carry it around with me for my Smaart audio analysis software. The box itself is by far the most compact I’ve used yet, making it perfect for throwing in my bag and taking my sound system calibration tools anywhere I need” he says.
Having worked with many big names in the industry, such as Rag’N’Bone Man, Will Young and Two Door Cinema Club, the pressure on Jamie and the event team can be very real.
He explains how EVO works for him. “The handiest feature with the EVO is being able to use the internal feedback loop. When taking fast Fourier transform measurements, you need both a reference signal (which is often pink noise) and then your measurement signal (your measurement mic) to allow your computer to compare the two and show you the differences between them.
“Previously, I would often send pink noise out of both left and right on the master outputs, feeding one output to the mixing console to send to the sound system and then the second output back into an input on the interface. The problem is that many small interfaces used to only have a global phantom power on/off switch for both inputs which could blow up or damage your master output if you’re plugging the two together.
“With the EVO however, not only do you have separate phantom switches per channel, but you can also completely remove the physical link from output to input by routing your pink noise output straight back to an input internally with the Loop-back feature! Now making it as simple as just plugging any output to my sound system and mic into the interface. Easy!”
“our Video and Lighting Ops have now also purchased the EVO 8”
It didn’t take long for his colleagues to get on board, either. “Our Video and Lighting Ops have now also purchased the EVO 8, for its simplicity and quick ability to record a stereo mix plus LTC timecode that I send them. This allows for seamless playback when they’re programming the show,” says Jamie.
Audient wishes him – and the FOH team – every success.
