L D SYS (IN ISOLATION!) MSRP: £ The new IOCA from LD Systems is an active speaker that features a hornloaded 12” woofer packed into a versatile and easy-to-transport polypropylene enclosure. With in-built DSP and a host of features, it is squarely aimed at the mobile DJ market. 70 70 sponsored by As predominantly a mobile wedding and party DJ, I was immediately interested to look at and hear this new speaker model. Then I did a little bit more research and found that not only does it include the option of Bluetooth connectivity, but it is also available in both black and white, which really got me thinking… ceremonies performed indoors or out, background music for wedding breakfasts… these could really come in handy.

I’d never really taken much notice of LD systems in the past, so knew little about them, but a brief history of the company will tell you they really do know their stuff! In 2002, the disco and MI equipment distributor Adam Hall (which was originally founded in 1975 here in the UK as a manufacturer of high-quality flight case fittings) unveiled its first own-brand PA systems under the name LD Systems. Within the space of just ten years, this evolved into a remarkable pro audio brand with a product range that covers the full gamut of speaker cabinets, wireless systems and mixers.

I must say, I was pretty pleased when the Pro Mobile guys approached me to try out a pair of IOCA speakers a few weeks into the COVID-19 lockdown. What better time to review these than whilst stuck at home trying to avoid those DIY jobs my girlfriend keeps reminding me about every 5 minutes! Although for this review I got to try out the Bluetooth (BT) active version of the IOCA 12, there is also an even more affordable version without Bluetooth available as well as a passive model.

The IOCA series also includes 15” models – active (with or without Bluetooth) and passive – and, as I mentioned earlier, there are also white versions available (although currently only of the passive models). On receiving and unpacking the review speakers, my first impressions were of the build quality: it’s superb! The cabinet is made of a high-quality black textured polypropylene with a metal front grille in gloss black, so it also looks amazing and has a very modern feel.

It’s evident there’s lots of thought gone into this when it was designed. The cabinet is fitted with carry handles on the top, bottom and both sides. These are all made from aluminium with a rubberised cover. So not only is the speaker easy to carry, the handles are extremely comfortable on your hands.

There is a metal 36mm dual-tilt stand attachment that allows the speaker to fit to a pole or tripod at either a 0° or 5° tilt angle. The speaker can also be used as a stage monitor and LD SYSTEMS IOCA light Made for your Odyssey is distributed in the UK & Ireland by Monacor UK | sales@ | 01908 217100 Cases fro £ m favourite products 3 0 ju s t - £ 2 5 0 Our range of fl ight cases are designed to fi t the most ppooppuullaarr DDJJ ggeeaarr.. OOuurr rraannggeess ccoovveerr NNuummaarrkk,, PPiioonneeeerr,, DDeennoonn,, Traktor and more!

LD Systems IOCA is designed in such a way that it will pass the mixed naturally sit at a 55° angle when inputs to another positioned on its side. The rest of the At 20kg, it’s a tad heavy, however including the DSP that’s down to the high build quality. 3-band EQ, a delay I’d prefer it to need a bit more muscle configuration of than have it feel light and flimsy. wireless audio input After all, if you’re anything like me, via a sizeable LCD it’ll spend most of its life in and out with a menu-driven of the back of a van, so it needs to be is navigated using a robust and that takes weight. rotary control that the main Volume Unlike most of the speaker the knobs feel cabinets on the market today, the rubberised, which IOCA models all have a coaxial smooth to the touch. configuration.

This means that the CD horn is mounted directly Anyway, enough of in front of the 12” woofer (instead stuff, you really want of above it). The result is that the it sounds like, I’m sound from both speakers radiates is AMAZING, truly from the exact same point, anyone to find a better resulting in better directivity, a under £500 with smoother frequency response and The low end is improved clarity. mids and tops are If you wanted to use In addition, the horn features size function in front Adam Hall’s BEM-optimized highpeople you could frequency waveguides to provide without the use of precise control of vertical dispersion end is that good. in order to ensure consistent sound distribution, even in acoustically Obviously, at the time difficult environments.

What’s more, we are all in isolation, the low-frequency performance is road test them at a enhanced by four bass reflex ports of guests. However, that are aerodynamically optimised holding and hearing to minimise low-end energy loss. Another innovative feature is that the horn – as well as the ‘LD’ logo on the front grille – can be easily rotated by 90°. This means that the 90° x 50° dispersion pattern can be retained when the cabinet is mounted horizontally.

On the rear of the speaker you’ll find a nice clean and simple layout that is very easy to use. Two combo XLR / ¼” jacks, each with independent level controls, provide the main input connections, while an auxiliary input is provided in the form of a 3.5mm jack. The final connection is an XLR output that can be used to 7722 72 combination of the these are quality speakers. While powered speaker.

I didn’t get to try them at a gig, I did put them through their paces at unit’s features – home whilst doing one of my online with 4 pre-sets, live-streamed shows. After giving function and fair warning to the neighbours, I the Bluetooth really cranked up the volume and – are accessed the result was fantastic. I also tried display screen them with my vinyl set up and, again, interface. This the results were VERY impressive. ‘push-to-select’ doubles up as The LD Systems website states dial.

Again, all of that the amplifier delivers 1200 well-made and are Watts peak and 300 Watts RMS for makes them a maximum SPL of 126dB. Having tried them for myself, I believe that this amp is a true 300W RMS (we all the technical know that sometimes these figures to know what have to be taken with a pinch of sure… The answer salt) and I found there to be plenty amazing. I defy of headroom, allowing any nasty 12” speaker clipping to be avoided. these features. superb, while the In summary, I would say this is punchy and crisp. a fantastic PA for mobile work. this for a mid- Some of this speaker’s many plus of 150-200 points are its: price, build quality, comfortably do it great low-end sound, punchy mids a sub, the low and tops, convenient handles and general versatility.

Negatives? In a word: none. I honestly cannot find of this review, any negatives with these speakers, so I couldn’t they are truly amazing, especially for venue in front the price, well done LD Systems! I can tell by them that LD SYSTEMS IOCA