---

Red Hot Chili Peppers Kick Off 2006 World Tour With LightViper™ Digital Snake
Press Release
2006-06-19

---

FiberPlex, Inc., the leading professional audio fiber optic supplier to the systems contracting and touring sound industry, announced that its LightViper™ VIS-4832 fiber optic digital audio transport system is a key component in the sophisticated digital recording system that the Red Hot Chili Peppers have taken on the road as they kick off their 2006 European Summer Tour. The tour began on May 30 at the Palau Sant Jordi venue in Barcelona, Spain and will continue this summer throughout Europe and the U.K., with many dates already sold out.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are taking a sophisticated Digidesign® Pro Tools® system out on the road this year to record and archive concert performances. In addition to reliable performance, economy of space was a key consideration in planning the logistics of the tour: the entire 32-channel Pro Tools rig — including a Mac G5, 32 channels of Focusrite mic-pre’s and all cabling and power units had to fit into two 15-space racks and three Pelican flight cases. The LightViper VIS-4832 fiber optic digital audio transport system was the only fully professional audio snake solution capable of delivering consistent, reliable performance in an extremely compact shipping space.

“For the Chili Peppers’ touring Pro Tools recording rig, we were looking for a versatile, compact and reliable snaking system,” says Dave Rat, the Chili Peppers’ FOH mixer for the past 16 years. “Faced with potential cable runs in excess of 300 feet and mounting worldwide airfreight costs, multi-core copper was not a viable solution. We only run 25 inputs off the stage so the LightViper 32 channel system was a perfect choice.”

Furthermore, the LightViper VIS-1832’s other features dovetailed perfectly with the Chili Peppers’ needs: “The snake system needed to have AES/EBU outs to accommodate the super-compact Pro Tools rig,” Rat explains. “We did a slight mod on the mounting and racked both the VIS-4832 (stage end) and the LightViper VIM-1832 (recording end) behind the 1U TAC-4 fiber connector panel to save the extra rack space. Mounting the 500-foot cable reel in the bottom of the mic-pre rack further streamlined the system.”

Input to the recording rig can be derived from a snake split, console line level direct outputs or direct from an AES/EBU output from a digital console. And the flexibility of the LightViper system allows recording of the show from FOH position, monitor position or from a remote location, plus it is fully capable of mixing down shows for TV or radio broadcast.

“We really needed something highly compact that could not only archive every show but could also act as a full mixdown facility as well,” says Rat regarding the Chili Peppers’ touring recording rig. “The LightViper was exactly the snake solution we needed to make this happen. It’s fully self-contained and simple to set up. It’s making a world of difference for this world tour.”

Editor’s Technical Notes:

The VIS-4832 Digital Snake Head is the newest member of the LightViper family. It features 16 AES3 inputs (32 audio channels) via (2) 25 pin D connectors and 4 AES3 returns (8 audio channels) via (1) 25 Pin D connector with simultaneous line level analog outputs via a second 25 pin D connector. Natively, the VIS-4832 will pass 96 kHz digital data. However, by synching the VIS-1832 (at front of house) with a 48 kHz word clock, the system will pass 48 kHz digital data as well. It is capable of passing both RS-422 and 10/100 Ethernet control data with optional accessories.

LightViper’s fiber optic cable offers total signal path isolation between both stage and mixer as well as between the mixer and power amplification; the cable is totally immune to ground loops, RFI, EMI and electromechanical noise, and runs of up to 1 1/4 miles (6,600 feet) can be easily accomplished without signal loss or degradation.

FiberPlex includes a limited lifetime warranty with all of its LightViper system components.

Additional information can be obtained at www.fiberplex.com or www.lightviper.com.

NOTE: LightViper™ is a registered trademark of FiberPlex, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

—For more information, contact Ron Neilson, Neilson/Clyne, Inc.: Tel: (615) 274-2263; Fax: (615) 274-2595; Email: rneilson@neilsonclyne.com; Web: www.neilsonclyne.com.