With a mission to provide high quality audio throughout the arena, the audio rig featured Allen & Heath’s dLive system, featuring dLive S7000 control Surfaces paired with DM MixRacks at both FOH and monitor positions. The largest Surface of Allen & Heath’s flagship digital mixing platform, S7000 provides two 12″ touchscreens and 36 faders. At the heart of the dLive mixing systems, the MixRacks offer 128 input channels and 64 mix outputs with a configurable 64-bus architecture, and class-leading 0.7ms latency.
The FOH team comprised of two seasoned engineers: Daniel Toth and Zsolt Gyulai. Toth, the chief engineer, brought his extensive experience in large-scale arena concerts and festivals to the forefront as he oversaw both the band and vocal channels. Gyulai, meanwhile, primarily handled the sound design tasks using external insert plugins. They used Waves Soundgrid integration so that every lead vocal and instrument group received plugin support from Waves SuperRack.
The monitor mix for the musicians and lead vocalists was handled by engineer Jozsef Sodar, and over 30 wedges via 12 monitor mixes, six stereo IEMs and eight Allen & Heath ME-1s were used on stage. ME-1 personal mixers give precision control on up to 40 channels, and the top-panel ambient mic keeps performers in touch with the stage sound and lets them hear the audience and communicate with each other without needing to remove their earpieces. Sodar’s meticulous attention to detail ensured that each musician received the perfect mix, allowing them to focus on giving their best performance.
Sound engineer Tamas Ditzmann was also on-hand as the dLive System Support specialist, having designed the Allen & Heath system used for the concert. Ditzmann also oversaw the ME-1 Personal Monitors for the gig, providing invaluable assistance.
The band’s elaborate setup included 90 analog inputs for the band, vocalists, and B-stage instruments, with an additional 16 Dante inputs for the wireless microphone signals of the lead vocals. Featuring a DM48 MixRack and three DX168 expanders, the monitor mixing system handled the Master Clock and Gain, and transmitted 128 channels to the FOH mixer via a GigaAce card.
The FOH MixRack then fed the PA system through AES/EBU and redundant analog outputs, guaranteeing a consistent and high-quality sound throughout the stadium.
“Overall, we can say that the Allen & Heath dLive system fully met and exceeded the challenges of a stadium-sized concert,” commented Toth. “It provided exceptional sound quality and reliability.”
The Hungária concert at Puskas Arena was a brilliant display of music, lights, and technology, with confetti rains and neon lights adding to the electrifying atmosphere created by the high quality, authentic rock and roll sound that filled the stadium.
