(EVOX8) / £125.50 (CARRY CASE) In the world of fashion, Italy clearly is a powerhouse. From a very early age, style is instilled in the minds of Italian youngsters because they will grow up to become the next generation of gurus to keep Italy at the top of the fashion world. It’s not just clothes either, RCF has a very clear reputation when it comes to the design, production and marketing of professional and commercial audio products. 76 If you read my RCF D-Line HD12A review way back in Pro Mobile issue 52, you’ll have discovered how excited I was to hear a speaker system that was a hybrid of technologies used in their touring range with portable PA design and it certainly lived up to my expectations.

So, when the fi rst videos started to appear on YouTube of a portable line-array system from RCF called EVOX, generating a lot of discussion and excitement on the Internet, I was keen to get hold of the system as soon as it became available. According to the RCF website - “EVOX is the professional RCF answer to small satellite-subwoofer or column style portable speakers”. So, clearly, they are positioning this product as competition for other similarly styled speakers such as the Bose L1 range, FBT Vertus, LD Systems Maui and, of course, the img Stage Line C-RAY/8 system which I in the last issue of Pro Mobile.

For the purposes of this review I will be concentrating on the EVOX 8, which is aimed directly at the DJ market with its 12” sub-woofer and eight, ultra-compact full range 2” transducers arranged vertically in an array (a smaller EVOX 5 system is also available). Total power output is rated at 700W RMS and the EVOX 8 off ers 128 dB max SPL. The array section off ers a HF horizontal coverage of 120° which is slightly more than the 100° off ered by the FBT Vertus but sadly nowhere near the supposed 195° off ered by the Bose L1 Model 2.

Is everyone paying attention? It’s time for a bit of education! Horizontal High Frequency dispersion is quite important, certainly when it comes to optimising the position of your speakers. In layman’s terms, if you think of a conventional speaker box with a 90° HF dispersion placed either side of your stage facing forwards, you end up with quite a large area directly in front of you without adequate HF cover.

In addition to this you also get a substantial area in front of each speaker where the sound does not overlap, this eff ectively means that only one speaker is being heard in quite a large part of the listening area. In order to bypass this, you could angle the speakers slightly inwards, however with conventional speakers it is pretty much impossible to arrange two cabinets so that they both cover an entire dancefl oor. When it comes to vertical array systems such as the EVOX, with their increased angle of dispersion, this is less of a problem; although I would still recommend that the HF section is angled inwards slightly in order RCF EVOX 8 RCF EVOX 8 to give the best eff ective cover from compare it to both speakers.

C-RAY/8 which 4-channel mixer The EVOX is incredibly portable and of inputs for certainly will not give you back ache ods, etc. That when carrying it around. The cabihardship in nets for the sub-woofer and vertical multi-channel array are made out of plywood and you these extra you’re looking at a total weight of would’ve been around 25kg for everything. The tra connectors best bit is that because the array ly as the EVOX, section slides into the back of the website, is also sub-woofer for transport, it all fi ts and for use in in just ONE BAG!

All you need to do when you get to your gig is unzip So, how does the cover, take out the sub-woofer, certainly say slide the array out, attach the tela single EVOX escopic spacer (which also fi ts in ground music the bag in separate compartments) two together and put the array on top. Additionhave an awesome ally, RCF have very cleverly also is exceptionally included some handy cable clips on to carry about. the spacer so you don’t even need to there’s plenty use tape anymore to keep the wiring single 12” tidy!

Hats off to the RCF team for are clean and something simple yet so useful! vocal parts of a the HF array The sub-woofer stands about 21” so needed to high and measures approximately on my mixer a 14” wide and 18” deep. It has a nice certainly a very non-slip rubbery handle on the top parties of up to and, of course, a big recess in the in a room designed back that the vertical array slides capacity. into. In terms of input options, it’s actually quite limited.

There are I certainly do just two input sockets; a balanced of the sub, female XLR and a separate 1/4” TRS here is that jack. In addition, there is a male XLR footprint it is output socket which you can route unit over if a to another EVOX system or any on to it to help other amplifi er or powered speaker. up onto their You can adjust the input sensitivity just at the right between LINE and MIC and there’s assume it’s a also a FLAT/BOOST switch which drink on!

Of provides increased bass response wanted - hide when playing background music, for booth and run example. Other than a volume conbles out to the trol and some LEDs to show the staput them on tus of the EVOX there are no other you did opt for input options at all. This is pretty certain you would disappointing, especially when you looks from the RCF EVOX 8 the img Stage Line wondering where all of that amazfeatures a built-in ing sound was coming from… surely with a wide range not just from these tiny 20” long microphones and iP- vertical sections? said, there’s not much carrying around a small To conclude, another big round of mixer in order to give applause to the RCF designers for options.

However, it the EVOX, it’s perfectly compact nice to see some exand easy to move around - especially on the back especialif you get the EVOX Kart (sold sepaaccording to the RCF rately) - and a pair of these either aimed at performers side of your DJ booth will not only presentations. look the business, but sound amazing at the same time. Well done RCF! it sound? Well, I can with confi dence that 8 is perfect for backand for speeches. Put and you definitely sounding rig that compact and easy Without a doubt of rumble from the sub-woofer and the highs really bring out the track.

I did fi nd that section was very bright, back the top end off little. The EVOX 8 is capable system for 150 people or more for that sort of like the slim design although one big issue because of the smaller quite easy to tip the drunk decides to hold him or herself back feet. The sub is also height for folk to little shelf to put their course, you could - if you the subs behind your longer speak-on cavertical sections and conventional tripods. If this setup, I’m 100% get a lot of funny guests at the party 77