Amsterdam Dance Event

When you’re running the most important, most respected event of the year in an industry that revolves around sound, it’s essential to create a flawless audio experience for every presentation, seminar and performance on your programme. “Because we bring the electronic music industry together, we need a really high standard of audio,” explains Gijs Matthee, ADE’s Brand Partnerships Manager. “So, what we want is a really flexible, reliable partner who can help us achieve great sound in multiple venues across the city.”

With extensive experience in delivering audio at similar events such as Ibiza’s International Music Summit and international festivals including Ultra Singapore and Lovebox London, Pioneer Pro Audio is adept at this kind of work. But ADE presents a unique challenge: many of the sessions on the programme involve a mixture of presenters who need to speak to the audience, but also play bass-heavy dance music. Each of the 12 venues needs a sound system that can simultaneously serve both purposes and impress the most demanding audiophiles.

For the ADE Sound Lab, a large room hosted by Pioneer DJ for the duration of ADE, the perfect speaker to build a sound system around is the XY-3B. With the highest output in the XY Series, greater audio projection over long distances and a natural sound that can be focussed in specific areas, it’s ideal for the product demonstrations and live sets by international DJs who drop in to entertain the buzzing crowds.

With so many sound systems to assemble in a few short days before ADE begins each year, time is always of the essence. The active XPRS Series in particular allows for speedy set ups. With amplifiers built into the backs of the speakers, they’re ideal for use in venues such as hotels or cafes that don’t have infrastructure for large, power-hungry systems. “We don’t have to run all the usual speaker cables plus the amplifier,” explains Barrand. “Using the active XPRS series, with its power factor correction, really minimises the load draw on the power of the venue. And it’s a streamlined, easy set-up thanks to the different modes, such as Speech Mode and Dance Mode.”

For more than 18 years, Richard Zijlma served as ADE’s General Manager. Speaking in 2016, just after he’d overseen the first collaboration between the festival and Pioneer Pro Audio, he explained why he thought the two brands were a perfect match: “The partnership between ADE and Pioneer Pro Audio is so successful because we both want to set the standard in the scene worldwide,” he said.

But how does that translate to operations on the ground? With the myriad challenges of installing so many sound systems in different venues across a city, the success of the ADE project is down to teamwork, says Pioneer Pro Audio’s Barrand. “Covering so many venues in such little time, it’s crucial to have the right team. Between Pioneer Pro Audio and our local installers, we’re able to put a plan in place and make sure there’s a team dedicated to each area to handle not just the installs, but also respond to any issues during the sessions,” he says.

From a practical point of view, ADE’s Tellegen explains the experience of working with Pioneer Pro Audio: “From planning to execution, it was great to work with Pioneer Pro Audio on such a smooth collaboration.” And ADE’s Matthee agrees that solid partnerships and aligned ambitions are key. “Pioneer Pro Audio are really supportive. We don’t have to spend much time explaining what we want because they just understand our needs,” he explains. “They bring in all the gear and tweak all the sound and in such a short timeline, they get the most out of every venue. We definitely want the partnership to continue.”