PK Sound - Trinity PA System Review
A few weeks back I got contacted by Darryl Ross from PK Sound. He had stumbled upon a video I posted some time ago and he invited me to a demo of the new PK Trinity system. So first, thanks Darryl for hitting me up, I had a great time!
Let’s get a few things absolutely clear from the start. I am NOT a system tech or engineer, so I do not really know what all is involved with hanging, steering, packing, deploying or doing any of the real prep work like drawing a space and prediction software. I haven’t even done a tour carrying my own PA (hopefully some day! Soon…) What I have done is a whole lot of shows on a whole lot of different PAs, with many different system techs. I have been on some really fantastic PAs that were deployed really well and I’ve been on some pretty terrible stuff in terrible rooms. I feel like I’m starting to figure out what I like and don’t like and I’m smart enough and aware enough to know that all the things I’ve mentioned before really make a difference with how the show goes.
What makes this PA really different from what else is on the market? Put simply, it’s robotic! Which yes, is just about as cool as it sounds. Once the PA is deployed (hung), an SE [system engineer] can change the splay/J-angle and also adjust the waveguide geometry which has an amazing and dramatic effect on the horizontal dispersion. While it’s already in the air! It is really something to see as the entire rig moves and morphs into the shape determined in their proprietary “Kontrol” application.
So why did they do this? The main reason, all the people designing this thing are roadies and they all know that at some point, shit is going to all be wrong and you are going to have to adapt, immediately. The room is suddenly flipped backwards from all your drawings, the promoter suddenly opened or closed a whole bunch of seats you weren’t expecting (that has happened to me, a lot!), the room unexpectedly has some weird giant metal sign in the middle of it; whatever. You’ve loaded into the room, someone throws you a massive curveball and your job still remains to deliver the best mix you possibly can. Well this rig allows you to adapt to so many unforeseen situations very, very quickly. All without having to re-do all your prediction software, you don’t have to bring the array up and down to try different configurations. You can do it on the fly, in real-time. Pretty cool! They also made a big point of how quick and easy this rig is to fly and from their demonstration, in which I even helped land one side of a hang, I’m a believer that it is fast.
Let’s start with what I liked. First and foremost, it sounded great. Even in the concrete block dumpster-fire sounding room we were in, it really did sound great. Lots of separation, clarity, power. I really liked that as I would walk around the room, I really could not hear the different zones sweeping by as I walked. It was incredibly even. Using the robotic waveguide, they were able to do an asymmetric horizontal spread to keep sound exactly where you wanted it and not where you don’t and it works. In one part of the room with maybe 30-foot ceilings, there is a wall with an open walkway underneath. They had steered the waveguide off of the wall but I was able to walk underneath to hear where the PA was being steered away from and sure enough, it was gone. A very smooth, but very sudden and dramatic drop-off in the sound across the frequency range. An impressive tool to get sound away from where you don’t want it.
I personally like the way 12” drivers sound compared to 15”. I think vocals are clearer, guitars sound more natural, and I just don’t have a whole lot of use for the mains to go down to 30Hz or whatever. Let the subs do what they do, and let the tops do what needs to be done regarding clarity, IMHO. I find this especially true working with bands who have a lot, or exclusively deal in tracks where your few sources are truly full range. And in the Trinity, they are indeed 12” drivers, going down to about 70-80Hz or so. So that I really liked, and I think that was a big part of the reason I liked the clarity of the box. And yet, the folks from PK say that it is louder than a K1 box. Dang.
Another thing I appreciate is it not totally relying on DSP to fix everything (shots fired at a certain German PA manufacturer). If possible, using a mechanical solution rather than one in DPS will almost certainly get you a better, more reliable result than just rushing to more EQ filters. To me, it’s a bit like if a guitar on stage sounds terrible, rather than try and EQ or compress or whatever it to death, try moving the mic! Free EQ and saves you so many head and heart aches down the road.
And the subs. They sound awesome, hung and on the floor. Incredibly even, punchy and still get way down there. Excellent.
OK, a few things I didn’t like. My main concern is while yes, the system did sound great, I worry about how much EQ I saw applied to the system to get it that way. While poking around in the software during some listening, there was a sizable 5-6dB or more dip around 500Hz at a very wide Q. Now remember we were in a concrete block room so I’m sure that had a lot to do with it, but being on as many L’acoustic K2 and D&B J-rigs as I have been, that size of a cut was a little alarming.
Again, I am not the guy flying the PA, but man, these boxes are big and heavy. 260 lbs/box! Now I get it, it is a powered box, so no amp racks on the floor, fewer impedance problems to worry about, and even networking between the boxes for greater zone control; there are undoubtedly benefits to the powered PA design. A lot of the weight saving and better rigging comparisons made were against Meyer boxes, another active/powered design. And absolutely, seeing what I’ve seen and hearing what I’ve heard, I’d take PK over Meyer hands-down. But if I were in charge of taking up and down PA everyday and I had to deal with motors etc. I’m not sure how much I’d appreciate a box that heavy all the time.
One last thing I think I might have an issue with is how relatively little vertical splay the box is capable of. The full size PK Trinity can get up to 5.5 degrees of vertical splay between boxes. Compare that to 7 on a J-rig or 10 degrees from K2 or Co-12. That seems tough especially when at present time, there is not a clear front fill contender in the PK lineup. (However, I was told that one is in the works and will come to market soon). This might immediately rule out this box if you were trying to do a show in the round or something where the crowd is very close and at a large height disparity at relatively close distances. (Again read: I’m not an SE)
In summation, I think that PK has a really great product on their hands. Large scale tours playing in different rooms, in different situations, and under ever shrinking timetables and continuously high audio expectations should rejoice at the flexibility and power of this incredible piece of technology. It appears that it would go up and down super quick and easy; it really does sound great and might seriously save your butt the day you get thrown the shit.
On a normal day where things aren’t completely ass-backwards wrong, I’m not totally sure it’s completely necessary or even better than other solutions on the market, but still very cool.
Might I prefer a box I really know, and know how relatively little I have to do to it to get it where I want sonically? Maybe.
Would I be up for taking one out on the road and learning it (alongside a qualified PK tech!) Absolutely! With zero hesitation.
And PS, for the love of all things audio, do NOT tell your lighting guy that you can turn on and off the light up “PK” logo on every box. And no, they don’t change color.
