David ‘Webby’ Webster has been with Coda Audio for seven years, and he currently serves as Director of Global Marketing. This incredible journey began a long time ago, when David was a musician and was designing top industry mixing systems.
I spoke with David because I was curious about his route and Coda Audio’s technology. Coda’s portfolio includes point source speakers and line array systems, as well as a new project called SPACE, which especially piqued my interest. Let us learn more about all of that.
Jakub [AVTECHMAG.com]: David, thank you for taking the time to talk to me. When I look at your Facebook profile, it seems like you’re always on the road 😉
David ‘Webby’ Webster: You can’t make a difference just sitting in an office, no matter how good your product is 😉
You have extensive industry experience. Tell me how your adventure with sound started and how your career has evolved?
I was originally a song-writer, guitarist, and singer in a rock band! More years ago than I care to remember, I joined Klark Teknik as an electronics engineer – I think there were just eleven members of staff at the time. My career developed within that company as we acquired DDA and later, Midas. We brought many groundbreaking products to market from DN780 Digital Reverb and 3600 Digitally controlled Graphic equaliser, to Midas XL4 and H3000. They were fun years. In 2002, myself and then partner-in-crime Bob Doyle started a company called DiGiCo, which is now the console of choice for many live, theatre and broadcast events around the world.
Several years ago, I decided it was time for me to retire – that seemed like a good idea for about five months but I soon found myself getting bored. In a very timely intervention, a good friend Paul Ward, who was Sales Director for CODA Audio, showed me how unique and pioneering the company was in the area of driver design and I was blown away the first time I heard the products. I was amazed at the power and clarity that CODA loudspeakers delivered from enclosures that were so incredibly compact and light. The rest, as they say is history. I’ve been with CODA since and love being part of an independent company and team with a passion for being at the cutting edge of technology.
Today you are responsible for marketing at CODA Audio. What is the specificity of marketing work for such a specialist and hermetic industry as pro audio?
The best marketing opportunities lie within your own route-to-market structure because the pro audio sector it is very much a people-driven industry. No matter how good your product is, it’s equally important to consider the people that represent you and how you deal with those people and end users – at the end of the day we’re in a service industry.
David Webster with Ricky Ashford Camila Cabello FOH engineer – AiRAY at performance in Morocco on June 25, 2024
As I run an online portal and I care about advertising contracts, I know that you need to meet many requirements for so I was completely open to learning such cooperation to take place. What does it depend on in your view?
It’s down to ROI. There are many platforms where you’re just buying space (and for a limited time) not knowing who is seeing your message. These simply do not work for me. Again, it’s down to the relationship you have with the media platform – and theirs with their readers – in terms of engagement. Advertising itself is just one part of the wider puzzle.
Let’s move on to technology. CODA Audio is an important player in the market. How did you adapt after joining the company and what challenges did you face?
To be honest, as my background was electronics, when it came to adapting to loudspeakers and the associated technologies it was easy. I had no pre-conceived ideas related to what was possible or not, so I was completely open to learning rather than being opinionated.
Can you say a little more about the personnel structure of the company?
Not sure how to answer this! Put it this way, as the owner of the company and designer Svetly is, as you would expect, a formidable driving force with regards to technologies. His philosophy is of wanting to be the best and not taking for granted the idea that you can’t re-address fundamental issues in the mechanical domain. Doing it in electronics is just a compromise, and that’s a word which does not exist within the CODA Audio vocabulary! We have an exceptional team of people across the board which continues to expand. It’s less than a year since we created a dedicated amplifier team to embark on our future in electronics with this no-compromise approach.
CODA Audio Awards Ceremony at Prolight + Sound 2018 – in the photo Paul Ward, David Webster, Jesko Purmann from AMBION GmbH and Svetly Alexandrov
CODA Audio’s portfolio is very broad today. These are solutions aimed at the installation and rental market. Can you elaborate on the most important ones? Maybe the innovative ones?
We have three main categories. These are point sources, arrayable point sources and line arrays. All these products are ‘next generation’ and use our patented technologies, making them truly the lightest, smallest, and most powerful products on the market today.
The whole series of Line Array of systems is gaining popularity. Tell us more about this product line and what innovative technologies it contains?
There are five different line array systems, of which two are aimed at specific markets. However, uniquely, three of them not only work as separate systems but seamlessly work together in the physical and audio domain. This is our VCA series which comprises our Flagship AiRAY, the recently launched CiRAY and the original ViRAY. All these products can be mixed and matched to achieve the best ROI for any rental company. Combine this with our SC2 Bass extension, SCV and SCP Subs, and you can deploy any type of system configuration required.
The offer is wide because you have the above mentioned concert systems, point source kits, monitors, installation solutions or a whole range of electronics. Is the development and production of such a large number of products a challenge for you?
It might appear from the outside that it would be, but the answer is quite simply that for us it is just a series of natural progressions. The expertise and dedication within our team enables us to meet every challenge.
David Webster with Svetly Alexandrov and Jean-Michel Jarre – announcing an ongoing partnership with CODA Audio – ISE 2023
As a Sales and Marketing Director, you certainly analyse and research the market before introducing new products. What does this process look like from the marketing, technological or design side?
Ah, I’m afraid that would be giving away our secret – so unfortunately I can’t really answer 😉!
Last, but not least, I would like to ask you about the future. We know well that today immersive sound is the direction. You are developing your own project called SPACE by CODA. Do you think immersion is the future of concert sound? Can you tell us more about your project?
There are two parts to this – we have SPACE HUB, our 128 in / 128 out Immersive Processor which can be used with our existing product as well as with the new SPACE by CODA product.
Theatrical shows have always been immersive in some way, whether visual or audio. The question really is the commercial viability of an immersive system for concert sound, and the audio and physical constraints on system placement. Invariably, this has to be considered on a case-by-case situation.
With regards to SPACE by CODA, this platform is designed to make your sound system truly invisible, without any audio compromise – in fact audio is enhanced, as you only ever hear the direct sound. This is an in-depth subject best reviewed on line at www.space.CODAaudio.com 😉
Thank you for the interview
Thanks!
