Kitted out: Delta Sound Dubai

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From humble beginnings, Delta Sound Dubai has carved a successful niche providing pro audio production services to the GCC live events industry. Steered by industry stalwart Andy Jackson, the company has invested heavily in new kit in recent months to meet the growing demand for its services.

Wired for sound
“We invested heavily in fibre optics over the summer – cabling, converters, etc,” says Jackson. “We’ve got eight [BSS] Soundweb London DSPs in our inventory now, as well as a large number of interfaces. We used a lot of the equipment during the King Abdullah University launch and it all worked brilliantly.”

Selling on
“We haven’t sold on a single piece of equipment since we established the company,” says Jackson. “The great thing with digital kit is that because it’s software-based, you can constantly update it, so long as the manufacturers aren’t changing the control surfaces every five minutes.”

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Digidesign D-Show
Delta Sound recently purchased the first Digidesign D-Show console shipped to the UAE. “It’s proven very popular with our clients, so much so that we’re seriously considering investing in another one,” says Jackson. “We used it at a number of shows last year, including Keane’s gigs in Dubai and Beirut, the Yasalam concert series in Abu Dhabi, and in conjunction with the Dubai Philharmonic.

“It’s equipped with a ProTools bundle, which simplifies multitrack pre-recording and makes live recording projects really easy to put together. That was one of the main reasons we decided to invest in it.”

Powered sound
Delta Sound has one of the largest inventories of L’acoustics loudspeakers in the Middle East. In addition to a full V-Dosc line-array, the company also stocks DVDosc and Kiva systems. As the only certified V-Dosc tech working in the Middle East, Jackson is a long-time fan of the technology.

“I’m a qualified tech and trainer for L’acoustics systems,” he says. “Since launching Delta, the training work has trailed off to be honest. We’ve got well-qualified guys working here now. My belief is that if the boss knows how the tech works, it stands the business in good stead. We have a great relationship with L’acoustics both here and in the UK.”

D5 comes alive
“We picked up a D5 in 2008, which is one of our flagship desks,” Jackson explains. “We’ve also got five Yamaha desks, headed by PM5Ds. In total we’ve got around a dozen desks available at any one time. The D5 isn’t one of the desks that we use every week. It’s very much a premium offering. But it’s a great desk to have on the books. I’d say we’re pretty well-stocked control-wise now.”

New digs
The company recently relocated to new warehouse premises in Dubai’s Al Quoz industrial estate. Covering 4,500 sq ft, the premises includes tech preparation and service areas, office space and a load-in dock.

“The new location is great and should accommodate us as the business continues to develop,” says Jackson. “We’ve got plenty of room for growth here.”

Business booms
“In the past few months we’ve had to turn down the same amount of work as we’ve taken on,” says Jackson. “At the moment, it’s looking likely we’ll be flat out throughout the remainder of the winter season. The big question is what we do in the summer.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work in Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The UAE is still our primary market, but we’re getting a lot more work in regional markets. Because we’re arguably the only company specialising entirely in audio, we’re picking up a lot of work.”