Hard Rock Chicago Selects Allen & Heath iLive The Hard Rock Café in Chicago recently upgraded to a full sound system to handle the steady stream of corporate and showcase concert events that are booked into the iconic restaurant and bar. Working with sound provider All American Music & Sound, the Hard Rock settled on an Allen & Heath iLiveT-112 as its permanent mixing desk. "We've been the doing sound for the Hard Rock for several years, but t was always done on a rental basis," explains Mike Shlifka, president and founder of Brookfield, IL-based All American. "Things evolved to the point where they do so many shows, it just made more sense to do a permanent installation. Since we do a lot of installations, we were invited to bid on the job." A 30-year veteran of the analog mixing world with just a couple years of experience with digital consoles, Shlifka discovered the iLive while researching equipment options for the Hard Rock. "The corporate folks at Hard Rock had rejected several proposals, so I kept doing my research," he recalls. "I heard about the iLive and went to check it out at a club here in Chicago. I was just blown away and put it in my next proposal. The folks at the Hard Rock then checked with their colleagues in touring sound and also with their accountants, and we got the green light!" The stage at Hard Rock Chicago is actually just a raised portion of restaurant seating, roughly 16' by 20'. To do a show, the railing is removed, as are the tables and chairs, and the band's equipment and monitors are moved in. The iLive's iDR32 MixRack, stationed at the stage, provides 32 inputs and 16 outputs, easily sufficient for running both Front of House and Monitor mixes from one console. The MixRack also provides plenty of DSP signal processing on all input and output channels in addition to eight stereo effects. A single Cat5 control cable is then run out to the iLiveT-112 control surface, eliminating the need for a bulky copper snake. This ease of connectivity also allows the console to be stored when not in use, preserving valuable seating space in the restaurant. The mixing surface is mounted in a rolling road case, which allows the mix position to be set up wherever needed. "It really helps that we have no outboard gear taking up space," notes Shlifka, whose company continues to handle mixing chores for the Hard Rock. "With just a Cat5 to plug in, set-up is super fast, and that's really important, because they rarely have more than two hours to change over from restaurant to show." Shlifka also appreciates the iLive's remote capabilities, which allows full wireless access to the console from a laptop. "With only one console, having the ability to set up monitor mixes from the stage is incredible," he notes. "I love the fact that you don't need to run back and forth from the console to the stage to make a monitor adjustment. We also save the scenes from every band. So when a band comes through that's been there before, the sound check is 95% done before they walk in the door. I love that!" The success of the Allen & Heath iLiveT-112 at Hard Rock Chicago has proven to be a real eye-opener for All American Music & Sound. "We've always been primarily an analog company," Shlifka relates. "In fact, we have five Allen & Heath GL Series consoles in our rental stock. But we've had zero problems with the iLive, and I'm sold. This console has everything, and the bang for the buck is unbelievable. So now, we plan on buying them for our rental inventory. That says it all." 
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