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PHOTO : COURTESY OF I ’ M HAN / POLAR AUDIO
When the opulent new I ’ M HAN Night Station in Wuhan , China welcomed much-hyped DJ crew Pink Panda to its stage in July 2020 , it marked the first time an international artist had performed in the city since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic – and it was a PK Sound Trinity system from Chinese distributor Polar Audio driving the high-energy party .
The main left-right arrays flanking the stage feature seven of PK ’ s T10 Installs per side , with two smaller arrays of three T10 Installs each serving as delays midway through the hall . Low-end reinforcement for the main stage comes via five Gravity 218 subwoofers , with an additional 24 CX800 subs strewn throughout the hall beneath cocktail and VIP tables . Eight CX215 two-way enclosures and a complement of compact Klarity point-source loudspeakers and subs are deployed as fills in the adjacent spaces .
“ We ’ ve been very successful putting Trinity systems into some of the top nightspots throughout China thanks to PK Sound ’ s global reputation for delivering clean , clear , and incredibly powerful audio reproduction ,” says Polar Audio ’ s Hawking Yuan . “ The guest experience at I ’ M HAN is second-to-none , from the décor and the lighting , laser , and video systems through to world-class sound . They demanded the best across the board .”
The Phoenix Suns Arena — which has formerly been called America West Arena , the US Airways Center , Talking Stick Resort Arena , and PHX Arena — has been the home of the NBA ’ s Phoenix Suns since 1992 . In time for the 2021 basketball season , a new L-Acoustics Kara II loudspeaker system was installed . Designed by AV consultants at WJHW and installed by Pro Sound & Video , a Solotech company , the new Kara II system is part of a $ 230-million project to convert the nearly 30-year-old arena into a state-of-the-art sports entertainment venue for fans of the Suns and the WNBA ’ s Phoenix Mercury .
The arena ’ s new system comprises six arrays of 14 Kara II enclosures for a total of 84 Kara IIs , plus a hang of four SB18i subwoofers flown in a cardioid configuration directly behind each Kara II array . In addition , there are 28 short-throw X12 coaxials deployed as a delay ring . All of these are powered by 43 LA4X amplified controllers — 36 for the main PA and seven for the delays — providing over 170 channels of amplification . Furthermore , a single LA12X powers eight A10 loudspeakers positioned underneath the centre-mounted scoreboard serving as court fills . Self-powered , coaxial 108P monitors are also installed in the new media editing suite to replicate the response of the Kara II main bowl system for accurate media reproduction .
The University of Quebec at Montreal ’ s ( UQAM ) Media School was one of the first in the country to offer courses in multimedia and immersive audio , and has recently built a state-of-the-art multichannel facility and research centre , Hexagram , with immersive technology provided by Spat Revolution from Flux :: Immersive .
“ Our students have the opportunity to try pretty much everything having to do with audio and media production . Whether it ’ s sound design , audio for games , or experimental media , we are able to provide them the environment to sample different disciplines and see what appeals to them . Spat allows us to create any type of production environment ,” says Professor Simon-Pierre Gourd , who oversees the Media School ’ s Sound Creation and Experimental Media labs . “ Spat ’ s objectbased mixing has been a complete game changer . After so many years of fighting with the technology , we now have an interface that enables me to create the concepts I had in my head .”
62 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
The Rockhal in Luxembourg had the unique task of hosting five concerts aimed at gathering data to work towards the return of live events . The Because Music Matters concert series was set up in partnership with the Luxembourg Ministry of Health to evaluate how future concerts can be presented safely and sustainably . The shows were mounted in the 1,200-capacity Club space at Rockhal with a range of safety and testing measures in place . The event also marked the first use of the Rockhal ’ s new Adamson Systems Engineering IS-Series PA , which was temporarily deployed in a unique configuration specifically for Because Music Matters .
“ For this set up we could easily adapt it to provide 360-degrees of coverage because of the wide but precise 110-degree horizontal dispersion the loudspeakers provided ,” says Michael Flick , audio system engineer for Lumicon SARLS . “ We were able to address all the seats around the stage using four hangs of five cabinets each .”
When renovations are completed in the Club hall , the IS-Series rig will be deployed as a stereo system featuring 10 IS10s and three IS119 subs flown per side , two IS219 subs ground-stacked per side , and six IS7P as fills , all powered by Adamson D-Series amplifiers .