Optimal Audio debuts HUSH (INS) bar in Shanghai’s Xintiandi, offering a haven of tranquility with superior sound technology. Optimal Audio’s Cuboid loudspeakers were the speaker of choice for the new venue.
HUSH (INS) bar isn’t just about superior sound equipment—it’s a musical sanctuary. Featuring regular performances by both local and international DJs and musicians, the bar offers a rich tapestry of music styles and performances, inviting guests to lose themselves in the beats. The bar takes pride in creating a comfortable music environment, with its stylish decor and carefully engineered sound waves ensuring an immersive listening experience, whether you choose to unwind by the dance floor or settle near the bar.
HUSH (INS) bar distinguishes itself not just through its superior sound equipment but as a destination celebrating music’s richness. Regular performances promise a diverse tapestry of beats, inviting patrons to lose themselves in the rhythm and ambiance of the space.
Focusrite plc has announced the acquisition of UK based Sheriff Technology Limited, trading as OutBoard, the company behind both TiMax immersive audio solutions and OutBoard stage rigging motor control products and PAT4 enterprise electrical safety testing.
They will join the Audio Reproduction division of the Focusrite Group alongside Martin Audio, Optimal Audio, and Linea Research.
Founded in 2001 by Robin Whittaker and David Haydon, OutBoard is a UK-based company specialising in innovative entertainment technologies, which it sells globally. Operating under two sub-brands—TiMax and OutBoard—their products are vital for professionals in the audiovisual industry, particularly in live performances, event management, and the rapidly expanding sector of immersive sound experiences.
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO INTEGRATING OUTBOARD’S TECHNOLOGIES AND EXPLORING NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN THIS SEGMENT OF THE RAPIDLY EVOLVING AUDIO INDUSTRY.
TiMax are pioneers in immersive sound, specialising in innovative audio and show control technologies through their Soundhub and Tracker D4 products, catering for a wide range of applications including entertainment, events, branding, themed environments, and exhibition spaces. Their solutions are frequently used for Broadway and West End shows, and together with sister Focusrite brand Martin Audio in particular there will be many opportunities for future collaboration.
Under the OutBoard brand, the business designs, manufactures and sells industry standard rigging control products for live events, together with enterprise-level safety test, preparation and quality management for global rental companies and venues. Their solutions are commonly used across European markets and feature at BST Hyde Park concerts, again alongside Martin Audio.
By extending the Group’s business into new products and markets, which complement its existing offerings within the Audio Reproduction business, the acquisition is strategically aligned with the Group’s previously communicated aims of growing the core customer base, expanding into new markets, and increasing lifetime value for customers.
Tim Carroll, CEO of Focusrite commented:
“The acquisition of OutBoard represents another strategic expansion within our Audio Reproduction business, enhancing our product range and market reach. OutBoard’s innovative products, such as TiMax spatial audio and show control, align perfectly with our mission to deliver exceptional audio experiences within live environments. We are looking forward to integrating OutBoard’s technologies and exploring new opportunities in this segment of the rapidly evolving audio industry.”
Robin Whittaker and Dave Haydon, Founders and Directors of OutBoard added:
“Joining forces with Focusrite marks an exciting new chapter in OutBoard’s story.We are thrilled to see our products reach new markets and benefit from Focusrite’s global presence and brand recognition. Our commitment to innovation and quality remains steadfast, and we look forward to contributing to the Group’s continued success.”
ICICI Foundation Day Triumphs with Salman Ali Hosted by Global Production Services!
INDIA: We’re thrilled to share the success of the ICICI Foundation Day, held at the prestigious Westin, Powai. This event was not just a celebration but a sonic experience, thanks to the powerful Martin Audio WPC system and the mesmerizing performance by artist Salman Ali.
Featuring fourteen of Martin Audio Ltd’s WPC Bi-amp Three-way Line Arrays, and ten SXH218 Passive Hybrid®️ Horn/Reflex Subwoofers, the audio quality perfectly complemented Salman’s dynamic vocals.
At the heart of the system, the iK 42 Four-channel Power Amplifier, ensured flawless sound throughout the event. Our appreciation goes out to Saurabh Ayare, Director of Global Production Service, and System Engineer Gautam Sarkar for their expertise in creating an unforgettable auditory experience and for using Martin Audio WPC.
Vietnam : In 2023, Mùa Craft Sake, Vietnam’s first craft sake brewery, in Ho Chi Minh City curated a stellar auditory experience with a combination of Martin Audio and Optimal Audio thanks to Duc Pro Audio. The installation featured 8 ADORN A55T speakers and 1 Zone 4P, ensuring optimal amplification and a high-quality audio backdrop. Specifically designed to enhance the ambiance for background music, the audio experience at Mùa Craft Sake has made it a standout favorite.
Mùa Craft Sake is a casual and fun place to enjoy drinks and a menu designed to be shared with friends. The taproom serves the freshest seasonal sake on tap, including cocktails and craft beers. They offer plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, including a tasting room upstairs for private events.
Vietnam : In 2018, 88 Beer Garden in Vung Tau City underwent an audio upgrade with Martin Audio thanks to Duc Pro Audio. The system comprised 20 CDD15 speakers and 8 SX218 subwoofers, further enhanced with a 2023 system upgrade featuring IK42 and VIA amplifier series. Chosen for their strong and crisp sound, the CDD series and SX subwoofers leaves a lasting impact.
Vietnam : In 2017, New Ha Long Club Super Universe in Ha Long City embraced audio excellence with a Martin Audio setup thanks to Duc Pro Audio. The setup includes 20 W8LCI Line Array speakers and 16 WS218X subwoofers, paired with IK42 and VIA amplifiers for a recent upgrade in December 2023. Chosen for their high-quality sound, the W8LCI and WS218X speakers have solidified the club’s reputation as one of the biggest in Quang Ngai Province.
Vietnam : In December 2023, Bamboo Beer Club in Quang Ngai City improved its sound system with Martin Audio, thanks to Duc Pro Audio. They installed 24 X15B full-range speakers and 12 X218 subwoofers, perfect for DJ sets. The installation went smoothly, creating a great atmosphere for patrons.
Hong Kong’s Clockenflap festival returned to Central from 1-3 December with six stages of entertainment, including the main Harbourflap stage backed by the Hong Kong Peak and overlooking over the harbour to Kowloon.
Once again, MSI Japan was appointed as the production partner for the Harbourflap stage, with Bunshiro “Bun” Hote, Yasuhiko “Yasu” Watanbe, and Yukio “Eddie” Tanada handling sound design, with a particular emphasis on noise control. With the rear of the stage backed by government and residential properties, and complaints from residents in the past, the challenge was to limit audio heading in that direction. Accordingly, the team designed a Martin Audio MLA system with a cardioid subwoofer array of 30 MLX subwoofers, achieving close to 30dB rejection at the stage rear.
Two hangs of 15 Martin Audio MLA line array cabinets with one MLD downfill were plugged into the Display prediction software, enabling MSI to control audience coverage using the “hard avoid” feature at the rear to eliminate audio from onstage and from residents behind the stage. Limits were placed at the edges of the audience areas to ensure maximum focus on the crowd and prevent audio travelling across the water to Kowloon.
Clockenflap’s sound director Sem Cigna, who has worked with several different main stage systems on Clockenflap since 2016, had deployed a similar MLA configuration for a 2019 Gwen Stefani concert in Hong Kong. “I was able to experience how MLA could reduce the audio outside of the audience area without losing any impact for the audience,” Cigna explained.
When it comes to noise control for all six stages, the buck stops with Clockenflap’s production manager, Peter Gorton. “When the venue moved from Kowloon to Central several years ago, one of the biggest requests from the government was to manage the noise for the residents,” he says. There followed years of testing possible solutions, from hiring cranes to fly and test different line arrays at the site to situating large sandbags behind the subwoofers, blocking sound from the rear of the stage. MLA’s ability to eliminate noise from the back of the stage has meant that sandbags are a thing of the past. However, noise reduction is a crucial component of the festival, with three monitor stations around the site in Central and one across the water in Kowloon. Gorton is at pains to point out that while residents have adjusted to the annual festival in the city, he and his team don’t take this for granted, constantly striving to put on a great event without disturbing the neighbourhood.
“The MLA system has the punch and impact we were looking for, especially for bands like Japanese pop duo Yoasobi who were playing for the first time in Hong Kong,” said Gorton. “They sold out the Friday night and blew away the excited audience with their energy. Amazing to hear everyone in the crowd singing every word.” Yoasobi FOH engineer Fujita Kengi described the resolution of MLA as “standout”, allowing him to focus on the mix and create an impact for the audience.
Gorton also revealed plans for a Singapore festival in 2024 along with plans for more Hong Kong events.
Other acts to appear on the Harbourflap stage over the weekend included Britpop legends Pulp, hip hop stars De La Soul, Chinese alt rock band Omnipotent Youth Society, Taiwanese indie rockers No Party For Cao Dong, UK’s Idles and Chinese singer-songwriter Leah Dou.
The Christmas season traditionally brings with it magical and immersive eco-trails, with lighting and imaginative soundtracks replacing the more natural effects.
Principal among these is Eden Project’s Music & Lights after dark experience, which runs during the month of December.
Based nearby in Cornwall, technology specialists (and Martin Audio partners) TruCru were brought in to provide a seamless audio experience, According to Project Manager, Toby Bodman, after much deliberation this was achieved by deploying Martin Audio’s weatherised CDD6-WR in a flown configuration to create seamless transitions and ensure maximum intelligibility of both the narrative and a soundtrack that varied from orchestral to ambient music.
This year, the sales and rental company turned its attention to the Rainforest Biome after having also helped stage events previously in different areas across the site.
They have also undertaken a series of audio-visual installations at Eden Project—often drawing on Martin Audio’s CDD (coaxial differential dispersion) technology—while at the same time systematically being engaged to spice up the client’s live events.
“CDD IS HANDLING THIS EXTREMELY WELL WITHOUT HAVING TO DRIVE THE SYSTEM HARD”.
To keep the trail experience fresh, this year the emphasis moved more from the Med Biome to the Rainforest, and with it came a brief to avoid some of the hotspotting apparent in previous years. “Rather than a rapid drop off in sound from zone to zone, they wanted a nice even coverage across the whole Biome, so we started to approach things quite differently.
“We weighed up options at the design stage, including [Martin Audio] ADORN and Blackline, and quickly found that for a number of reasons the CDD range would be best with its IP rating and dispersion pattern. And because we knew Eden Project actually owned CDD6-WR’s, it would also save them on the hire costs.”
Thus they were able to deploy multiples of CDD6-WR held in general resource (while others are permanently installed elsewhere across the complex). TruCru provided all the rigging infrastructure, system design and installation, as well as six of the Martin Audio ADORN A40 and eight ADORN A55 from their own rental stock. Toby Bodman stressed the importance of IP-rated speakers and weatherproof covers in view of the high humidity, the use of sprinklers and the fact that the Rainforest Biome is exactly as it says on the tin.
Installation itself required a creative approach. “Previously we’d not considered flying [a sound system] in the Rainforest Biome because of its size but last year in the Med we hung a small line array which was quite effective. One of the site team asked if we could repeat that with a couple of hangs, but our issue was practicalities in the Rainforest, and we struggled to see how that would be achievable with one big line array in the roof.”
Instead they suspended the CDD6-WRs strategically, in several small clusters. “This enabled us to create a 360° sound source from the ceiling, and by being able to fly it quite high from the hexagonal frame—50ft at its high point—with the speakers angled down, we could overcome any hotspots.” The other advantage of flying, he says, “is because on the floor the tropical ants like to infest electrical equipment!”
A further advantage was that TruCru were able to model the installation in Martin Audio’s proprietary DISPLAY 3 3D software “and it came out exactly as we had modelled it.”
The entire cohesive trail lasts around two hours, while the Rainforest Biome experience is timed at 40 minutes (with a soundtrack provided by lighting company GLX Productions to match). GLX provided the playback rig and all track source in a continuous mix, that is appropriate to the environment.
In summary, Toby Bodman says the versatility of the CDD6-WR is what will make the visitor experience so special. “I’ve been blown away by how well it’s been performing, particularly since a lot of sections are speech heavy.
“The brief was to achieve an SPL level which on the one hand would create an immersive environment but at the same time allow people to converse comfortably. CDD is handling this extremely well without having to drive the system hard. In fact we couldn’t be happier, and we know the client is delighted with the quality of audio.”
In the heart of Kuala Lumpur lies a new community and cultural hub, REXKL. In part of their mission to rejuvenate the theatre, they ultimately decided to go with LEA Professional to help create immersive experiences.
The two-story, 60,000-square-foot building features retail shops and restaurants in the basement and a picturesque bookstore and exhibition space on the upper floor. Shin Tseng and Shin Chang, the creative entrepreneurs who helped reimagine the Rex, wanted the new space to be a unique, immersive performance venue. Featuring the original theater’s brick and exposed structure, it is now a modern, industrial marvel that hosts performers and exhibitors. With a desire for the space to captivate guests with vivid visuals and audio for the reopening and reinvention.
THE INSTALL
The venue management team’s broad vision for immersive exhibitions meant the new RXP AV system needed to be flexible enough to meet the most demanding, highest-quality audio needs for immersive musical and visual performances, plus more basic productions, including corporate events and DJ shows. “The multidimensional nature of the events held in the RXP venue meant we needed to recommend a system that we could scale and adapt as needed,” said Eugene Yeo, Owner of Acoustic & Lighting System. “We’ve had a lot of success with LEA products and felt they were a perfect fit for RXP because they could provide the power, performance, and reliability needed.”
Set in a former movie theater, RXP reimagines the legacy of the Rex cinema space by bringing in a new, cutting-edge digital art experience. As the first immersive venue in Malaysia, the venue team wanted to get the details right and spent over a year planning, working with the participating visual artists, and designing the spatial audio tracks. The immersive environment includes 18 projectors mapping visual elements on the walls and floor, while the spatial audio design required that the venue be fully modeled in 3D.
Eighteen compact two-way loudspeakers, backed by four subwoofers, are strategically located throughout the RXP to provide the spatial audio listening experience. To help meet the range of audio needs, Acoustic & Lighting chose a combination of two of LEA Professional’s Connect Series 1504D and five Connect Series 704D for the digital art experience. The 1504Ds power the subwoofers, while the 704Ds support the two-way loudspeakers. Both models include 96 kHz-capable Dante and AES67 connectivity options.
The REXKL team recognized the invaluable advantages of leveraging the LEA Cloud for this installation. Whether operating within the confines of REXKL or remotely from another continent, the ability to control the Connect Series amplifiers from a distance will significantly enhance the team’s efficiency. This not only minimizes the need for extensive travel but also results in substantial time and cost savings.
THE CONCLUSION
The REXKL has become a destination point for locals and a must-see spot for tourists. It’s also a state-of-the-art performance center delivering the highest quality audio performance for every event. “Since opening, the “Other World” immersive experience in the RXP has really put the audio system to the test,” said Brian Pickowitz, VP of Marketing at LEA Professional. “Creating an art exhibition that sparks discovery and inspiration among art lovers and bringing the venue back to life in such a unique way is incredibly meaningful and one we were proud to be part of.”
We would like to thank the teams at REXKL and Acoustic & Lighting System for choosing our amps for this installation and we hope to provide quality sound for many years to come.
Venue: 
Integrator: 
Audio Spaces: REXPERIENCE Center
