MLA Compact

Three-way Cellular Drive, Active Array Element

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MLA Compact brings award-winning Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array [MLA] technology to medium-scale touring and premium fixed installations ranging from musical theatres and concert halls to Houses of Worship and auditoriums.

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Features

  • Numerically optimised, fully-integrated, compact touring sound system
  • Cellular array format with built-in amplification, DSP and digital networking
  • 5 dedicated Class D amplifier channels per enclosure for individual powering and DSP control of individual cells
  • Industry leading DISPLAY2.2 intelligent software interacts with onboard DSP for highly accurate array optimisation Eliminates trial-and-error array preset library approximations
  • “Fly-by-wire” software adjusts vertical coverage electronically to cope with changing environmental conditions and last minute changes in rigging height. “Hard-avoid” areas, such as on-stage, ceilings and site perimeter, can be programmed in
  • Switched mode power supplies with PFC (Power Factor Correction) and global mains voltage operation
  • Three-way design delivers LF/MF/HF peak SPL’s of 135/135/135dB @ 1m from a single, compact enclosure
  • Fast, integral flying system for suspension of up to 24 enclosures
  • True 100° (-6dB) horizontal constant directivity, mid and high frequency pattern control. Consistent and usable out to 130° (-10dB)
  • 65Hz–18kHz ± 3dB full bandwidth frequency response
 

Benefits

  • Desired house-curve achieved right from power-up
  • Automatic, intelligent configuration and optimisation eliminates trial and error in system set-up
  • Improved venue-to-venue, gig-to-gig consistency and repeatability
  • Artistic changes to balance at the mix position (or elsewhere) translate directly and accurately throughout the audience
  • Exceptionally high powerdensity means tighter truck-pack for higher SPL compared to other systems
  • “Greener” audio power via PFC (Power Factor Correction)
  • Programmable leakage parameter to meet environmental noise constraints
 

Applications

  • Premium touring sound reinforcement for medium-size venues
  • Fixed installations in concert halls, theatres, ballrooms and HoW
  • Side hang for MLA festival and arena systems
 

I absolutely love the MLA Compact system. I’ve found it to be the most enjoyable system I’ve ever mixed on.

Adrian Varner, Technical Director, Gwinnett Church
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“MLA Compact is very powerful for its size and sounds great. With the predictability and controllability, it’s totally outstanding and in a class of its own.”

Lars Wern, DM Audio

Every so often a new technology emerges that overtakes previous technologies — and in time replaces them. Just as line array took over from point-source clusters over 20 years ago, Martin Audio’s revolutionary award-winning Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array [MLA] technology is reinventing the way loudspeaker arrays are configured and controlled delivering unsurpassed audience coverage and consistency without compromise to fidelity.

MLA Compact brings this revolutionary technology to medium-scale touring and premium fixed installations ranging from musical theatres and concert halls to Houses of Worship and auditoriums.

The versatile and scalable MLA Compact has received multiple awards for innovation and delivers performance, control and coverage consistency that brings the sound engineer and audience together in a more powerful, involving experience.

“WE WANTED A SYSTEM THAT WAS WORLD-CLASS AND ACCEPTED BY WHATEVER BANDS AND TOUR RIDERS CAME THROUGH THE VENUE. WE KNEW MLA COMPACT WOULD BE ACCEPTED — ESPECIALLY WITH THE TECHNOLOGY BEING TOP OF THE LINE AND CUTTING-EDGE, WITH CAPABILITIES NO ONE ELSE HAS. THE SOUND QUALITY IS IMPORTANT TO US AND TO HAVE THE SYSTEM DIRECT THE OUTPUT JUST TO THE AUDIENCE AND NOT THE SIDE WALLS, CEILING OR BACK WALLS WAS CRITICAL IN TERMS OF MAXIMIZING THE AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE.”
Aaron Replogle, Control Point Technology, Project Manager

“WE ALSO WANTED TO PROVIDE SMOOTH, EVEN COVERAGE FROM FRONT TO BACK, NOT JUST IN TERMS OF VOLUME, BUT CONSISTENT TONE FOR EVERY SEAT IN THE ROOM. I DON’T WANT ANYONE TO FEEL IT’S TOO BRIGHT WHERE THEY’RE SITTING, BECAUSE IT’S NOT FAIR TO HAVE PEOPLE SEEK OUT CERTAIN SEATS IN THE AUDIENCE SO THEY CAN HAVE A CONSISTENT TONE EXPERIENCE. WE DON’T HAVE THAT PROBLEM WITH MLA COMPACT.”
Adrian Varner, Technical Director, Gwinnett Church, USA

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“That’s one of the key things the MLA Compact does that other systems don’t. It optimises for the audience, not the room. The quality of the coverage is consistent from the front of the stage all the way to the back of the arena.”

Roger Dennis, Systems Engineer, RMB Audio

 

Some describe it as magic, but in its simplest terms each MLA Compact array has up to 120 individual acoustic elements [cells], each with its own onboard amplifier and DSP, which can be optimised by software to deliver the sound across the audience to meet the sonic goals required for any space.

MLA technology is the only technology on the market to allow multiple sonic goals to be prioritised and optimised accordingly. For example, not only can MLA Compact generate an even sound field over the audience, it can contain it as well — significantly reducing the influence of the room.

Hard Avoid® areas ─ such as behind and below the array, ceilings, balcony edges and beyond the venue perimeter ─ can also be programmed in. Vertical coverage can even be fine-tuned electronically in-situ to cope with changing environmental conditions and last-minute changes in rigging height, without having to re-rig.

With incredibly easy-to-use and highly accurate predictive software [DISPLAY] doing all the grunt work with the system, the engineer retains full artistic control and can enjoy mixing the show in the full knowledge that the sound created at the mix position will be heard everywhere throughout the audience.

Such is the confidence that MLA Compact can bring, that significantly less time is spent setting up the system and less time is spent walking the room to verify results.

“DURING ONE PARTICULAR SCENE, SIX HIGHLY AMPLIFIED SINGERS ARE ELEVATED DIRECTLY BEHIND THE CENTRE ARRAY WHICH MAINLY HANDLES VOCALS. THE AMAZING REDUCTION IN BACKSPILL OF THE MLA COMPACT MASTERS THESE CHALLENGES IN A VERY IMPRESSIVE WAY. THE OTHER ASPECT, OF COURSE, IS MLA’S OUTSTANDING TONAL QUALITY.”
Georg Hentschel, System Engineer, Starlight Express, Bochum’s Stadionring

“THE SOFTWARE WAS ALSO A MAJOR PLUS IN HELPING THE SYSTEM TECHS REFINE THE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE BASED ON TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY IN THE VENUE AS WELL AS CHANGING THE START AND STOP POINTS WITHOUT RE-HANGING BOXES. IT’S A VERY POWERFUL TOOL.”
Wayne Sowder, FOH Engineer

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“It was my first chance to mix on the MLA Compact. It was unlike any system I’ve ever mixed on — incredible clarity yet very natural, warm sounding and powerful.”

E. Wayne Sowder, FOH Engineer

 

MLA Compact’s ultimate accolade is its audio perfection. Pristine fidelity, vocal clarity, sonic impact and high output capability brings the sound engineer and the audience together in a powerful, involving experience.

Put simply, MLA Compact is a sound engineer’s delight. It is incredibly clean and transparent and responsive to the smallest EQ changes. With no large-format compression drivers to harden the sound, it presents the engineer with a neutral canvas whatever the artist or music genre.

“I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE MLA COMPACT SYSTEM. I MIX FRONT OF HOUSE AND HAVE FOUND IT TO BE THE MOST ENJOYABLE SYSTEM I’VE EVER MIXED ON. ONE OF THE THINGS I CONTINUE TO HEAR FROM PEOPLE WHO COME UP TO US, BOTH PROFESSIONALS AND AUDIENCE MEMBERS, IS HOW SMOOTH AND CLEAR THE SYSTEM IS. HOW CLEAR THE TOP END IS BUT IT DOESN’T HURT, THERE’S NO HARSHNESS TO IT, WHICH FOR ME IS A BIG SELLING POINT FOR THIS SYSTEM.”
Adrian Varner, Technical Director, Gwinnett Church


“I HAVE HUGE EXPECTATIONS FOR AUDIO. NOT JUST TO REINFORCE SOUND, BUT TO REALLY MAKE IT MUSICAL. IN MOST CHURCHES THAT I’VE BEEN, NONE OF THE AUDIO THEY’RE RUNNING DOES THAT. THE MLA COMPACT HAS OUTPERFORMED MY EXPECTATIONS.”
Tim Maughan, Lead Pastor, Redemption Church, Arizona

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“We are pleased that even in challenging wind conditions we were still able to operate at levels unimaginable three years ago”

Jim King, Senior Vice President, Live Events, at AEG

 

In reproducing sound for many venues and outdoor festivals, there is often a conundrum: how can audience sound levels be delivered at a sufficiently high level for an immersive and rewarding experience, while at the same time respecting surrounding areas and residents?

In the past, sound levels for the audience have often had to be held down in order to safeguard surrounding areas, but this can leave audiences and the FOH engineer unhappy and threaten the ongoing viability of such events.

MLA’s unique ability to control noise escape beyond the site perimeter, while maintaining pristine fidelity and high sound pressure levels for the audience, means that FOH engineers don’t have to constantly worry about sound levels. So they can focus on what they do best — mixing — translating to a better audience experience too.

“WHAT I REALLY LIKED ABOUT THE PA IS THAT EVEN AT THE VOLUME LIMIT FOR THE FESTIVAL IT SOUNDED BIG AND FULL. I THOUGHT IT WENT REALLY WELL AND I ALSO LISTENED TO ALL THE OTHER BANDS DURING THE DAY AND THEY SOUNDED GREAT TOO.”
Toby Francis, FOH Engineer, Kanye West

“WE ARE PLEASED THAT EVEN IN CHALLENGING WIND CONDITIONS WE WERE STILL ABLE TO OPERATE AT LEVELS UNIMAGINABLE THREE YEARS AGO. TO ACHIEVE THIS AND REDUCE LOCAL RESIDENT COMPLAINTS FOR THE THIRD YEAR RUNNING IS A HUGE SUCCESS FOR THE EVENT. THE WORK UNDERTAKEN BY CAPITAL AND MARTIN AUDIO HAS AGAIN STRENGTHENED HYDE PARK’S POSITION AS THE BEST OUTDOOR VENUE IN THE WORLD.”
Jim King, Senior Vice President, Live Events, at AEG

USER GUIDE
BROCHURE
DATASHEET
Further Reading
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Wheelboard / Transit Cover
  • ASF15010. – DSX Transit Cover Ground Stack Version
  • ASF15011. – DSX Transit Cover , Stacked Version
  • ASF90010. – DSX-F Wheelboard
  • ASF20039. – DSX to DSX-F upgrade kit
Hardware
  • ASF17008. – 2 x Flying Frame (in Case) for MLA Compact
  • ASF20040. – Flying Frame for MLA Compact
  • ASF20042. – 2 x Long Ground Stack Bars: -1 to -20 degrees for MLA Compact
  • ASF20044. – 2 x Short Ground Stack Bars: 0 to +5 degrees for MLA Compact
  • ASF20043. – Breakout (Distro) Hanger for MLA Compact
  • ASF20032. – Breakout (Distro) hanger for MLA
  • ASF20030. – Flying Frame for MLA
  • CAR00030. – Master/Slave Flightcase for MLA
  • ASF12009. – Master/Slave Flight Case Inc. 110v Mains Distro for MLA
Flight Cases
  • ASF17001. – MLA Flying Frame Case (Complete)
  • ASF17043. – 2 box flight case for MLA Compact
  • CAR00049. – MLA Front of House Rack Flightcase
  • CAR00031. – MLA cable trunk
  • CAR00033. – Control PC flight case
  • CAR00040. – Flying Frame Flight Case only for MLA Compact
  • CAR00042. – Flying frame flight case
  • ASF12008. – 230V 3ph 32A 12 cct mains distro
Electronics
  • ASF17015. – Master Rack – Ruckus
  • ASF17018. – 6 Circuit Multi-way Cable 30m
  • ASF17016. – Slave Rack – Ruckus 230v
  • ASF17019. – Slave Rack – Ruckus 110v
  • ASF17011. – Slave Rack – Ruckus 110v
  • ASF17012. – MLA Ruckus Front Of House Rack 110v
  • ASF17004. – MLA Control PC Flight Case (Complete)
  • ASF14017. – Panasonic Toughbook PC inc Accessories
  • ASF14004. – Leica Disto D8 Laser Distance Meter
Cables / Networking
  • PWA00058. – 35m – array XLR cable
  • PWA00054. – 3m – MLX XLR cable
  • PWA00060. – 0.8m MLA/D XLR cable
  • PWA00052. – 75m network cable on drum
  • PWA00040. – Network (U-NET) Cable 35m Belden 1305
  • PWA00063. – 2.5m 16A Ceeform IP67 extension 2.5mm
  • PWA00051. – Network (U-NET) Cable 5m Belden
  • PWA00038. – Network (U-NET) Cable 800mm
  • PWA00039. – 3m – MLX Unet cable
  • PWA00057. – 35m – clinometer XLR cable
  • PCX00043. – Unet (ODU female) to RJ45 female converter
  • PWA00053. – Unet (ODU female) to RJ45 female converter
  • ASF12007. – 6-Circuit to 12-Way Break out Loom
  • ASF12006. – 15m, 3-Circuit to 6-Way Break out
  • ASF12002. – 6 Circuit Multi-way Cable 30m
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U-Hub

ETHERNET TO
U-NET™ BRIDGE

Analogue and digital audio transport

DX4.0

LOUDSPEAKER CONTROLLER
AND SYSTEM MATRIX

Networked System Controller

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DSX

REFLEX LOADED

2×18” Subwoofer for MLA Compact

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