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MIPRO ACT-707 provides crystal clear sound and freedom of movement for children's theatre group

Sacramento, CA – August 2007… Embracing students from elementary through high school, River City Theatre Company provides young people with the opportunity to develop skills, self-confidence, and self-esteem through learning all aspects of musical theatre in a positive, supportive workshop environment. Introducing thousands of school children to musical performing arts presented by their peers, the River City Theatre Company is a pioneer in its effort to cultivate community interest and support for live musical theatre. To help project the voices of its young constituents, the organization recently acquired a sizeable wireless communications system from MIPRO—distributed in North America by Avlex Corporation.

Cameron Park, CA-based Clarity Audio Systems, a design/build firm encompassing audio, video, lighting, and system control that has designed and installed systems for a wide variety of venues, including houses of worship, theatres and schools, consulted with the River City Theatre Company and ultimately handled the sale of the equipment. Upon reviewing the theatre group’s prior equipment setup, Mark Thompson, principal designer and co-owner of Clarity Audio Systems, discovered an assortment of aging equipment that was causing numerous issues for the performers.

"They had been using a hodge-podge of antiquated equipment from several manufacturers", notes Thompson. "With the need for multiple simultaneous channels during their performances, the group found themselves burdened with a big pile of antennas sitting back in the tech booth. Drop outs were a common problem, which seriously hindered the audience's ability to follow the dialog and vocal performances. It was definitely time for them to move up."

To rectify the numerous issues the theatre group was experiencing, Thompson specified six 1RU MIPRO ACT-707F mainframes—each with four receiver bays for the ACT-707MC receiver units, for a total of 24 channels. All transmitters are MIPRO beltpack ACT-707TM systems, used in conjunction with MIPRO's MU-55SKLX omnidirectional condenser lavalier microphones. There are also two ACT707HM PLL synthesized handheld microphones that are used for announcements.

According to Thompson, "Getting all of the wireless mics on a frequency-compatible system was a big bonus for this group. MIPRO's Automatic Channel Targeting (ACT) feature makes the process of identifying and locking down open frequencies far more intuitive than competing wireless systems. Using MIPRO's ACT-707DV software interface, the entire system is controlled and monitored from a PC at the booth. The MIPRO ACT-707 offers first-rate sound quality, has a terrific feature set, and with an extremely competitive price in relation to other systems on the market, represents terrific value."

While the MIPRO ACT-707's first-rate capabilities are certainly important, Thompson was equally enthusiastic about the level of customer and technical support Avlex Corporation provides for the product. "We've always enjoyed working with Avlex. Fred Canning has always been very patient and thorough with us and consistently goes the extra mile to make certain the customer is happy. He's also spoken directly with end users when necessary. It's been a pleasure dealing with everyone at Avlex."

With their new ACT-707 wireless system operational, Mark Coverdale, River City Theatre Company's sound technician, reports that everyone involved with the equipment couldn't be happier. "Our MIPRO wireless system has been working very well for us—with no issues whatsoever", said Coverdale. "We run 24 channels—free from RF interference—the sound quality is excellent, and the system has proven
itself to be very robust. We've been extremely pleased."