Yamaha CL5 Gets Royal Approval At Namur
Located at the confluence of two major rivers, the Belgian city of Namur has been an important centre of trade and industry for centuries. Such locations also tend to become cultural centres and Namur is no exception. Recently the city’s main theatre - Théâtre Royal de Namur - installed a brand new Yamaha CL5 to replace its long-serving O2R96 mixing console.
Théâtre Royal de Namur is the very heart of the city’s culture. As well as hosting plays, ballet, contemporary dance, musicals, comedy, classical music recitals, pop concerts and the city’s annual music festival, it also hosts workshops and training events in a wide range of artistic disciplines.
In the decade since it was installed, the theatre’s Yamaha O2R96 digital consoles has been worked exceptionally hard in all of the venue’s creative spaces. This year the console was given a well-earned retirement, with audio solutions provider Sebuco.sprl working closely with the theatre’s technical manager Marc Noel and head of sound Marc-Alexandre Delacharlerie to specify a high quality replacement.
“Over the past decade, shows at the theatre have become more complex. They need more inputs, processing power and flexibility,” says Sebuco’s François Hubaux. “The theatre needed a console which would be easy to configure and operate for many different types of production, a small footprint, deliver great sound quality and which could be integrated within a large and flexible audio network.”
François, Marc and Marc-Alexandre looked at consoles from a number of manufacturers and all concluded that upgrading to a Yamaha CL5 with Rio3224-D i/o unit was the best solution.
“The CL series is a real all-in-one solution,” says François. “The sound quality is excellent and the CL5 is a compact size with a good visual overview, making control of shows straightforward. The Dante network makes it very flexible and straightforward to extend the system for big events. Being able to control the console from an iPad, using the StageMix app, also makes setting up and soundchecking a lot more straightforward.”
“Another advantage is that the CL5 was accepted on technical riders very soon after its introduction,” he continues. “Experienced touring engineers are using it, but it is also very easy to learn - users of the LS9 and M7CL feel at ease on a CL console very quickly.
“The theatre’s technical team is very happy with the CL5 but, most importantly, it means the largest possible number of guest engineers are happy with using the theatre’s mixing console as well.”
