Outstanding sound at student festival

The AStA Summer Festival in Paderborn has been attracting up to 14,000 music fans to the university campus every year since 1998. Paderborn-based event production specialists Sound Linear supplied sound from NEXO system for the event.

One of the oldest and largest student-organised festivals in the country, this year’s event which took place on June 5th had something for everybody from German rap, pop and indie to rock and techno, with established headliners including Zartmann, Blond and Ikkimel in the line-up alongside student performers and regional bands.

Paderborn-based event production specialists Sound Linear supplied sound for the event deploying their NEXO STM inventory on the mainstage in a system comprising main left and right hangs of 9 x STM M46 main modules and 6 x STM M28 down fills, supplemented by adjacent hangs of B112 bass extension modules.

Six cardioid pairs of STM S118 subs were ground stacked across the front the stage with a similar number of NEXO’s P12 point source speakers for front fills. Further stacks of 4 x S118s left and right each topped with 3 x M28s were deployed as out fills. Stage monitoring included 8 of NEXO’s groundbreaking 45N12s with side fill duties performed by NEXO’s venerable Alpha E. Power and processing for the full system came from Sound Linear’s NEXO NUARs (Universal Amp Racks). Sound Linear also rigged smaller stages with NEXO Alpha and GEO M10.

“When I first designed the system, my idea was to hang M46 and B112 side to side but, unfortunately, the stage couldn’t take the load. Lucky for me NEXO has got you covered, and I relocated the B112 to the side” reports Sound Linear Event Technology Specialist Philipp “Flip” Bock. He adds: “The sub array was designed cardio to direct the energy where it was needed. And with a total of 32 x S118s, there was a lot of energy. Hearing the subs for the first time after setting up is probably my favourite part of the job. All in all, a great system with a fantastic sound.” (stadiaworld, 10.07.2025)