SLIPKNOT's Soundman Talks To MIX Magazine

December 31, 2005

SLIPKNOT's front-of-house engineer Dave "Shirt" Nicholls recently spoke to Mix magazine about the group's most recent North American leg of the Subliminal Verses Tour. Taylor, Mich.-based Thunder Audio have been providing the audio rig, which is based around a Meyer Sound MILO line array system (24 high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers and four UPJ-1P compact VariO loudspeakers for occasional frontfill and stage monitor use).

"When we did our first soundcheck with the MILO rig, I have to say I was rather taken aback," says Nicholls. "I brought up the kick drum and, well, there it was — I didn't have to tweak it or add anything; it sounded exactly as it should. And as I brought in the rest of the mix, the same thing happened all the way across the desk. The MILO is just about the smoothest, most accurate and well-defined line array I've ever encountered. In fact, I've been running the mix virtually flat most nights, with no EQ at all."

The tour covered a wide range of venues, from mid-sized halls to large arenas and even the occasional outdoor festival. According to Nicholls, "We haven't even had to use all the cabinets most nights, except in the very largest venues. They're just immensely powerful. I'm running flat out around 103 dB (SPL),and they haven't red-lined even once. My stated goal at this point is just to get the second fan to kick in!" (The second fan on MILO turns on only when the amplifier heatsink temperature exceeds 74 degrees Centigrade–an unusual occurrence.)

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