Fidelity Sound Hire

07/03/2026

Providing sound isn't always about loud. We recently provided sound for a concert where the brief was to make the P.A. invisible. Raise the level so everyone could hear but make it as if the concert was purely acoustic. It is a challenge and takes skill. Key to achieving this was the application of some psycho-acoustics, primarily the Haas effect, named after Helmut Haas who did the research in 1948 based on the earlier work of Hans Wallach.

When sound arrives from one source (the singer) and then after a very short delay from a second source in another direction (the loudspeaker) the listener perceives just one sound originating from the singer. The loudspeaker can be up to 12dB louder than the singer but the source will still appear to be be the singer. I suspect that the brain takes a lot more information than just direction from that first sound but this has not been researched.

There are limits to this effect and it is not always applicable in live sound but in this case we were able to put a 15 msec delay on the loudspeakers and raise the level. Subconsciously the audience perceived a singer on the stage and didn't hear the speakers - the P.A. faded into the background.

Just one trick we used, and an example of how we differ from the amateur fader-graders you often come across.

05/11/2025

Rebuilding our lighting rack to include an ArtNet controller so we can run lights from an iPad. Control of sound and lights from anywhere in the room. Also upgraded the internet switch on our private network for better reliability and extra ports.

16/10/2025

Waiting for the band. Tonight is The Lost Trades, folk/Americana.

08/10/2025

We now have an ES1203 Column system available. Primarily for dry hire for parties, weddings and the like. A simple to operate system for playing music over Bluetooth and with a single mic for speeches. Excellent quality sound with a powerful bass punch if required. We also have a USB interface if needed.

This will also supplement our festival stock for use in smaller venues and for outdoor dance stages.

24/09/2025

One of our regular gigs - the Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon. A small 90 capacity venue with a mix of folk and Americana that suits our high small high quality system.

A superb Grade 1 listed venue that is over 600 years old with an amazing roof. well worth a visit.

28/05/2025

One of our three stages at Chippenham Folk festival. The outdoor Community Stage featuring everything from a solo singer/songwriter to large choirs.

08/05/2025

Small venue at Upton Folk festival. This is what we do best. Listening to this Hilary (on the left) needs to come up a bit. We are not perfect!

Our new RCF ART910 speakers (top right) performed excellently. The ART 9 series is said by many to be the best available without paying silly money.

Microphones are AKG C535 on vocals and SE SE7 on guitar. I rather like the C535 - it was Frank Sinatra's microphone of choice. Beats the classic SM58 for female vocals like this.

For good sound on acoustic music - call us.

Harris 'n Hils performing 6,000 Miles by Anna Bass & Ray Taylor at Upton Folk Festival in May 2025. The sound-desk was managed by Bob Hawkes and the video w...

23/03/2025

Cable management is important when providing sound, for safety, aesthetics on stage and to make it easy to fix issues if anything goes wrong (although we try to be perfect!). So for this year we have revamped our small venue system taking hints form the large touring rigs by using pre-made cable looms.

Custom sub-snakes that, unusually, provide both audio and power distribution greatly reduce the number of cables that need to be run back to the rack keeping everything neat and quick to install

With a stage box down stage centre microphone and monitor cables are all very short, just 3 to 5m. Artist changeover during a concert becomes quicker and easier, soundchecks are more efficient and install time is greatly reduced.

Similar single multicore cables connect to boxes under the FOH speakers to provide power and audio to the speaker plus control outputs (DMX) for the lights and a connector for the MC microphone - they usually stand close to the speakers.

The equipment rack is also simplified with multiway connectors on the snakes permanently wired to the mixer. This avoids the usual 24 way core fan-out that needs to be untangled and plugged in one at a time.

Over the next few weeks we will see how well it all works.

21/03/2025

Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon. 800 year old venue. 16 inputs, 6 monitor mixes, 4 in-ear. Super night and great band. We will be back - and are available for similar gigs.

25/02/2025

We will be at The Moreton Traditional Singers Weekend at the end of this week. Mainly unaccompanied singers. The original agreement here was to make the PA disappear. The idea is to make it sound unamplified. Impossible to achieve but we will get close.

First outing for the new RCF ART932 speakers. My trusty AKG C535 cardioid condenser mics work well here providing good coverage for performers who are often not used to amplification.

24/01/2025

Well here we are about to go into the new season and we have some exciting news (well I'm excited!). As always we strive to bring you the best sound and that starts with first class equipment, so...
.. we are upgrading our speakers. The old QSC K10s are excellent speakers at the bottom end of the pro range but getting dated now*. Technology advances rapidly. They will be replaced by the absolutely superb and highly praised RCF ART932 speakers. You will hear the difference.

We trialled the smaller ART910 at Sidmouth Folk Festival last year and were impressed.

(* I hope it will last and that they will be happy together)