DirectOut, a leading designer of premium audio solutions for diverse applications, has been selected by TJ Bechill, the CEO of NEAT Audio, to serve as the core of their playback engines. These playback systems are highly sought after by numerous high-profile stadium and arena tours across the United States, featuring renowned artists such as Twenty One Pilots, Ariana Grande, Cardi B, and Post Malone.
Bechill’s journey began as an artist liaison and technical support engineer at Sweetwater USA, one of the nation’s largest musical instruments and audio distributors. In 2011, he received a phone call from his client, Twenty One Pilots, informing him that a significant technical malfunction in their existing playback system had resulted in a complete show disruption. This incident profoundly impacted Bechill’s understanding of the need to eliminate such experiences for sound engineers, bands, and paying attendees. Consequently, during that weekend, he initiated the development of his proprietary redundant playback engine, laying the foundation for NEAT Audio.
"The band had lost everything,” he recalls. “So, I just agreed to help, but I had no idea. I stayed up all that night researching online. Twenty One Pilots really took off. There are very few times in your life that you can look back and say, at this moment, my life changed, but that moment is one! Building the rig for them, training their team, it took me from a sales engineer to specifically supporting the touring market.”
At that point in time, analog solutions were the only viable options due to the absence of alternatives. However, within a few years, the entire industry underwent a transformative shift, paving the way for digital playback.
As playback and track automation became more prevalent, the number of channels steadily increased, and digital redundancy became a common necessity. A friend introduced Bechill to an image of a large-scale touring musician’s setup, which featured an DirectOut EXBOX, prompting him to contact DirectOut. This marked the beginning of a relationship that has endured ever since. “In America, there was not a lot of Distribution for the EXBOX, my local distributor was a broadcast company, so they weren’t dealing with many playback engineers like myself,” he recalls.
"I convinced them to send me one, so I could try it out and I put it in my Twenty One Pilots rig. That coincided with playback becoming much more accessible and suddenly we were trend-setting, on social media at least! It really took off and we absolutely felt ahead of the curve.”
The PRODIGY Series is seamlessly compatible with any audio application, thanks to its modular design. This flexibility enables the host device to be customized precisely for specific applications. Bechill’s priority is disaster recovery, making features such as EARS (Enhanced Automatic Redundancy Switching) and BLDS (The Buffer Loop Detection System) of the utmost importance.
“The cool part about PRODIGY is it's got such a wide net. It can be used in recording, for playback, live conversion, for front of house, and or as a system processing unit. DirectOut has become an absolute staple for NEAT, and means we can offer a multi-format solution that also has multiple applications. It's been great.”
NEAT Audio’s modern playback systems are designed to control backing tracks or time code for lighting and pyrotechnics. Additionally, any element of the show that can be automated can be seamlessly converted, processed, and controlled through devices such as the PRODIGY.MP.
Tools that were once prohibitively expensive for many musicians, including timecode automation, have now become accessible at all levels, from those performing in intimate venues to those headlining major stadiums. This transformation is attributed to the rapid advancements in technology and the subsequent decline in cost, which Bechill has observed throughout his career.
“True redundancy requires a switch to happen without the audience knowing there has been a critical failure,” he says. “When I started building playback rigs in 2011, just providing eight tracks of redundancy would cost around $3000-$5000, and would be about 4RU (Rack Units) in size. The unit itself would be heavy and, because everything was analog, there would be a lot of cabling. Now PRODIGY is a flagship product in a lot of my high-end builds. We have so many bands reliant on our touring engines, all using them differently. Blink 182 for instance is using it as a system processor for their PA speakers.”
Accessibility is a crucial factor in the success of any system. Although the work being done by the PRODIGY range is sophisticated, its interface is both intuitive and adaptable. globcon, the remote control and browser-based graphical user interface (GUI), provides comprehensive control over all aspects of the range. It not only manages DirectOut solutions but also any device on the network. globcon also supports trigger management, including OSC and MIDI.
“globcon is so easy to use even my ten-year-old could master it in a few minutes, but we always check that the client is familiar with it and offer training if not,” Bechill enthuses. “We can virtually build a show for clients to use, and trouble shoot with the offline editors should they need any assistance. I have a main dashboard, where I can see my sample rate. I can see how everything is locked, but I can also check my DSP page, my FIR filters, my Smaart screen, timecode and EARS. I can pin all that information to one location, so it all appears on one page, then I don’t have to go diving for it. The graphic enhancements that globcon have made to help engineers understand what is happening in their hardware is second to none, and we at NEAT absolutely love it!”
NEAT Audio has established itself as a leader in the industry through its exceptional customer service and commitment to providing the suitable tools for any applications. With DirectOut at the heart of their playback redundancy engines, the company is looking forward to a future of growth, as Bechill concludes.
“We are renowned for our level of service and as our company grows, we are looking at ways to scale that service. In fact, 2025 has seen our products enter SweetWater USA as commercially available solutions,” he says. “DirectOut have built something perfect which, impressively, ties into our offering. I am excited to grow with them and to see what the future will bring. I think it’s going to be huge!”
