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	Rolling Stones' 40th Anniversary tour opens in Boston with 32 XTA DP226 units... handling three different productions with a huge db Sound PA. One rock'n'roll legend has teamed up with another as an XTA DP226 digital signal processing system takes to the road with the Rolling Stones for the second tour in a row. The tour commenced in Boston this month, and the band's massive PA, designed by Chicago's db Sound, features 32 XTA DP226 units and a complex EV X-Line and X-Line Compact PA system. The DP226s are providing crossovers and crucial split-second zoning and delay time changes for this extraordinary adventure, in which the band plays three different venues in each city - a theatre, an indoor arena and a stadium. "The DP226 is an important part of the sound of this PA and this tour," notes Harry Witz, President of db Sound and designer of the Stones' PA system, who is accompanying it on the leg of the tour. "The DP226 is the only digital crossover that can fit the bill for a system like this." XTA's Guy Lewis comments: "A lot of manufacturers have brought speaker processors to market and tried to topple the DP226, but in the four years since the unit drove the last Stones' World Tour, nothing has surpassed the audio quality. For dB Sound to go for the DP226 again is a real privilege for us." "After the last tour, db's entire rig went straight back out on the AC/DC World Tour, so there was no let up," continues Lewis. "dB know the system inside-out, especially Audiocore, and are part of the growing number using radio links to manage the versatile Array Control from anywhere in the auditorium." Witz and dB Sound worked closely with XTA in the development of the exclusive DP Series Array Control feature of the unit's software, which plays a prominent part in handling the PA configuration. "Every processor for every main amp rack is an XTA on this tour," adds Witz. "In addition, because of the DP226's digital capability, we have snapshots of set-ups of hundreds of settings - literally years of libraries that can be recalled instantly. It's making this tour much easier and making the sound consistently better at every show. The XTA processors are really at the heart of this system." While the self-styled 'best pub band in the world' rolls merrily into its wrinkly age, at 40 years there's no slack in the desire to make a massive impact. This is thought to be the first major rock tour to involve three completely different productions in each city, creating a substantial logistical challenge for the production crew, which includes production manager Jake Berry, stage manager Anthony Giardano, FOH engineer Robbie McGrath, assisted by Jim Holman, monitor engineer Chris Wade-Evans, assisted by Kevin Glendenning, and system engineer Dave Dickson. "The real key to this," dB Sound's Harry Witz told PSNE, "has been to devise a way of simplifying the task of creating the right audio solution for each type of venue, and being able to switch between them digitally every night without any glitches or hassle. Using a combination of X-Line and X-Line Compact and the XTA DP226s with XTA AudioCore software, we've succeeded in doing just that." To add an extra layer of complexity, the indoor arena shows also feature a second 'B' stage out in the audience, for which delay times on every loudspeaker in the house have to change the instant the Stones leave the main stage and walk to the B stage. The stadium rig comprises a 20-deep Electrovoice X-Line system, with one column of full range cabinets and one of subs either side, plus another column of 10 full-range X-Line speakers either side facing the bleachers. Further X-Line delay hangs are scaled to suit the venue. Driving it all are 60 Electrovoice P3000 amplifiers with 12 XTA DP226 loudspeaker controllers in control of all EQ and delay timings. The indoor shows feature a scaled-down version of the stadium production, using a main X-Line rig 13 cabinets deep, with columns nine deep for the sides. The central 'B' stage is powered by four columns of EV's new XLC (X-Line Compact) line array, with 12 cabinets in each hang, once again powered by 32 EV P3000 amps and controlled by eight XTA DP226s. Front and rear fills are deployed according to the requirements of the individual venue. "This is where the XTA really comes into its own," says Witz. "On the indoor shows, the front-facing PA is time aligned to the side-facing PA system, as is the front fill system on the ground. All the B stage stuff is turned off in the processors, but when the band goes out to the B stage, at the click of a mouse the front system is muted, the B stage system is unmuted, the side-facing PA on the main stage goes into time-alignment to the B stage, and it also changes in level to match the B stage. Also, the levels, timings and mutes, and any rear fills and front fills for the main stage, all shift at the same moment. We achieve all that with a single click on the AudioCore screen on a laptop." A wireless link is employed by Dickson and the team during the audio setup at each venue, walking around adjusting EQ settings and levels in the different sound zones, and during shows Dickson walks around fine-tuning zone levels from the laptop. "We're using the Windows XP remote desktop client to enable us to switch from the computer and drive rack to the remote instantly," adds Witz. FOH control is on a pair of Midas XL4 consoles, with a Cadac on monitors, controlling Firehouse wedges and Electrovoice X-Array cabinets as drum and side fills. Witz: "We take an audio snapshot of each and every show and the PA configuration in every venue using AudioCore, and store them in a preset library, so that where it would normally takes hours on end to get it all adjusted every day, once it's on file it's as simple as pulling into the gig and calling up a memory and making a few minor adjustments to it - without AudioCore it would be very tough indeed."