We love a good story, so when we recently heard that Flash Feruccio was using a CEDAR DNS 2 for live shows, we were keen to learn more. Flash is a mix engineer, live sound engineer, and sound system integrator currently touring with The Driver Era. He recently used the DNS 2 at the Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall, which is New Zealand's premier venue and widely considered to have some of the finest acoustics in the world. It has attracted performances from notable names like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Sir Elton John and The Who.
 
 
The Challenge
Flash, like all live sound engineers, faces all sorts of audio challenges, including battling stage bleed and ambient noise for the front of house mix. In the past, removing these could be frustrating and sap the life out of live performances so, while attending the NAMM Show 2024, he voiced his concern to his colleagues. They spoke highly of the DNS 2 as a possible solution and, after hearing a demo at the show, he didn't hesitate to get one.

 
The Solution
When asked how he'd incorporated the DNS 2 into his workflow, Flash explained, "It sits on the vocal bus via AES/EBU at 96kHz, and there's absolutely no noticeable latency, which is crucial in live settings. I use it to tackle unwanted stage bleed, and I have to say - it's been a game-changer. The DNS 2 excels at providing clean, clear audio while effectively suppressing noise without compromising the integrity of the sound."
 
"With five open vocal mics on stage, each feeding into the vocal bus, the DNS 2 manages the sound with impressive precision. I've activated the 'Learn' and 'Hi Pass' buttons, and the results are remarkable. It handles the tricky challenge of stage bleed - whether from instruments or ambient noise - ensuring that the vocals come through as crisp and present as they should without unwanted interference. The dynamic processing is transparent and natural, maintaining the energy and excitement of a live performance while cleaning up the mix."
 
 
"The DNS 2 excels at providing clean, clear audio while effectively
suppressing noise without compromising the integrity of the sound."

 
Final Words
To wrap up the chat, Flash remarked upon the unit's ease of use: "Overall, the DNS 2 is now an essential tool in my live setup, enabling me to provide audiences with a more immersive and exciting listening experience. The ability to handle complex noise scenarios with the quick and easy turn of a couple of knobs is what truly sets this unit apart, and it has quickly become a key part of my audio workflow."


About CEDAR's DNS noise suppressors
Background noise is one of the biggest issues that live sound engineers face. That's why CEDAR Audio invented low-latency noise suppressors. The CEDAR DNS 2 offers two channels of noise suppression with near-zero latency and high-resolution processing and, together with the CEDAR DNS 4 and CEDAR DNS 8D is the go-to choice for sound engineers who need to reduce background noise and control reverb in live sound.