Having taken place recently at Budou Romankan in the Japanese Prefecture of Okayama, Hoshioto Camp 23 is said to have been the first outdoor music festival in Japan to introduce immersive sound.
Each sound by the artists on stage could be heard from wherever they were standing –which isn’t the case with conventional left and right proscenium-type speaker systems – creating a sense of immersion. Local sound rental company, Bright, originally invested in Martin Audio’s WPC system back in 2020. When it was time to upgrade the event’s main speaker system, WPC was recommended as the “perfect overall fit” for its sound quality, controllability and sense of scale, after evaluation against other systems.
Kazuyuki Oshita, president of Bright, said there were other reasons why he recommended it to the organisers, notably its ability to deliver “consistency of sound right across the area”, and to mitigate against noise pollution by being able to contain the energy uniquely within the sound field.
The 16 principal WPC boxes were powered by Martin Audio’s multi-channel iK42 amplifiers, and to create the full immersion, an end-to-end Martin Audio solution was specified, including eight XD15, four SX218 subwoofers, six XP12, various XE300 and ADORN A55 enclosures.
Various other local rental suppliers, introduced to the main contractors by Martin Audio Japan, also tapped into their inventories to complete the complement required, which also included SPAT Revolution processing. These companies included Super 4, Music Reserve, Freeway and Network Papa.
Review notices couldn’t have been more positive. One stated: ”Of course the sound in front of the stage was powerful, but I felt it sounded good even from a distance.” Another said, “I’ve participated in Hoshioto at least five times, including camps, and the sound was the best ever.”
In addition to customer feedback, the organisers also remarked on how effective Wavefront Precision had been in reducing sound leakage into the neighbourhood, while Martin Audio Japan described the entire experiment as being “100% successful”, and that the deployment had succeeded “on every level”.
Martin Audio partner, Audio Video Electronics (AVE) has successfully upgraded the technical infrastructure at the Word of Faith Dominion Church (WOFD) in Lake Mills, Iowa.
Based in Brooklyn Park, MN the integrators opted for a TORUS constant curvature array solution after their engineering team had reviewed a number of possibilities.
According to AVE Sales Consultant, Kerry Graffunder, the Church’s existing PA had reached end of life and was no longer delivering the coverage or clarity required from a worship establishment that is just 25 years old. “The pastor merely requested some ‘thump in the trunk’ … and the intelligibility has greatly increased also,” he said.
This result was obtained by hanging a pair of TORUS, left and right of the stage, with a Blackline X218 subwoofer in the centre. Nearfield coverage is provided by a pair of Martin Audio’s differential dispersion DD6 under two angled scrims at the front of the stage. The new set-up is powered by a pair of Martin Audio’s iKON iK42 multichannel power amps.
Project lead, Karl Selander, explained how they had arrived at this solution. “We have many different HoW installations using [Martin Audio] CDD point source under our belts, but this was our first time wetting our feet with TORUS. We had not really had an opportunity to explore the TORUS line previously, but when we looked at the different options, it was clear that a CDD solution wasn’t the right fit for the room.”
“GIVEN THE HISTORY OF MARTIN AUDIO IT WAS THE CORRECT DECISION … IT’S GIVEN THE MINISTRY A TON OF EXTRA BENEFITS”.
Instead, by placing a T1215 (15° vertical pattern atop a T1230 (30°) he knew he could get both the throw and width of coverage in an 80ft x 80ft square room (particularly as due to the 17ft stage thrust the net coverage area for congregants was little more than 60ft).
The technical upgrade was undertaken in two phases, with a new mixing desk and control up on the balcony, forming the first phase, and the ‘racks and stacks’ following in phase two.
Martin Audio has been on their list of specified brands for the House of Worship specialists for as long as they can remember. The O-Line micro-array had marked one of AVE’s first forays into that market with the brand. “It was for a specific customer, and seemed a really good fit,” they noted.
However, moving on to TORUS—which adopts ahybridapproach betweenline arrayand point-source, Karl Selander led an exacting collaborative review, enlisting design support from Martin Audio’s US office, fronted by Martha Callaghan. This ensured they were deploying the correct solution and giving up to 200 congregants the best bang for their buck—whether receiving the word of the Lord from the celebrants, or rejoicing to the worship band.
While WOFD was fairly forgiving when it came to reverberation, unlike some worship houses, Martin Audio’s own technical support team assisted with the DISPLAY software modelling to ensure optimisation.
In fact the installation team had faced very few challenges, as Karl Selander explained. “The rigging solution we came up with ensured we could securely mount the T12 grid. It was relatively simple to get the angles correct, using Unistrut [brackets] attached to the existing purlin and optimize the pan and tilt angles. It went up extremely quickly.”
Presets available in Martin Audio’s VU-NET software for selecting the installed TORUS configuration gave them the head start they needed, and the recommended FIR filters placed on the appropriate amp channel. “We then just needed to dial in any problem frequencies within the room. After that, it sounded great straight out of the box.”
Selander’s verdict on TORUS? “The size of the cab was easy to work with, and the tech crew there had no problems moving anything around. The adjustments that were available with the waveguides were simple to understand and use and the support from Martin Audio was spot on. We had all the information we needed right out of the gate.”
Kerry Graffunder added his own endorsement, praising the support from Martin Audio and Callaghan’s recommendation in particular. “Given the history of Martin Audio it was the correct decision … it’s given the Ministry a ton of extra benefits.”
Pastor Doug Domokos is in no doubt that the new installation will lead the Church forward. “[The team] went above and beyond,” he said. “We had high expectations, and these have been exceeded. The ‘praise’ team is extremely pleased and say the sound is a difference of ‘night and day’ … it’s now just so clean.”
With over 40 ‘Popworld’ late night bar/discos in their estate, major leisure operators, Stonegate Group, recently refreshed the brand by unveiling their next generation interior.
Popworld Bournemouth, like most of the others, has benefitted from a creative and immersive audio-visual integration courtesy of Martin Audio partners, Middlesex Sound & Light (MSL).
Occupying the site of a former Walkabout Inn, which had also been equipped with Martin Audio premium sound, MSL were able to service, recondition and redeploy some of the pre-existing kit across the five-zone interior. Where auxiliary sound has been required, they have met the challenge by specifying Martin Audio’s compact but high output ADORN series in the shape of A55T surface mount and ACS-40TS ceiling speakers.
The operators have made their heaviest investment yet in audio visual, flipping their earlier concept of an illuminated dancefloor, and now running a fluid overhead pixel-driven lightshow to create a party vibe, while cheesy pop music is played out through a combination of the new and redeployed Martin Audio enclosures.
“MARTIN AUDIO DOMINATES NEARLY ALL OF THE POPWORLDS WE’VE FITTED OUT”.
“Martin Audio dominates nearly all of the Popworlds we’ve fitted out,” confirms MSL project manager, Toby Jones. “It is our go-to brand because it delivers good quality, with excellent sonic response; it’s also reliable and represents fantastic value for money.”
From an audio perspective, Jones designed the venue into a five-zone interior, plus a separate one for DJ monitoring, where he has specified a pair of powerful Blackline X10.
Assigned to the first zone is the main dancefloor where they have turned to Martin Audio sister brand, Optimal Audio, for four Cuboid 12s, ceiling-mounted in a quad landscape array. Providing LF extension is a pair of existing Martin Audio WS218X subwoofers, which have now been reassigned to the dancefloor.
Off the dancefloor, and forming a second zone, are front VIP booth areas, and these are serviced by four wall-mounted Blackline X8 which fit unobtrusively into the booths. “These are all time aligned and delayed to the dancefloor — and can handle increased volume where necessary,” he continues.
MSL have been super-creative in a dedicated Selfie area (which is their third zone). A neat Selfie wall with pixel string lights and two-way mirrors is complemented by a pair of wall-mounted Blackline X8.
Coverage in the main bar area is provided by six original Blackline F12 (reassigned from the previous installation)—again, all in landscape mode and flown from the ceiling. These are matched by a pair of pre-existing X118 subwoofers.
Toby Jones had no hesitation in recommending that the client retain some of their original tech. “After all,” he says, “Blackline is a tried and trusted product. It’s been in the venue and worked extremely well for them over the years … so why dispose of it?”
However, in the ambient areas he has turned his attention elsewhere in the Martin Audio portfolio. The ADORN A55Ts line the corridor, while in the basement toilets the music is routed through the newly programmed DSP to the four ADORN ACS-40TS ceiling speakers (two in each toilet).
In conclusion the installer states, “Stonegate have established a next generation immersive—both aurally and visually. And Blackline X will be a vital part of the ongoing success story.”
Take one artiste, one hyper-cardioid wireless mic and 35 years of comedy history and you have Eddie Izzard’sRemix Tour Live. Take an unimaginably disparate collection of venues and halls, ranging from 2,200-cap down to 840—some with tiered balconies, and some with no flying facilities—add in weird sound effects ranging from dinosaurs to Darth Vader (and a whisper to a scream) …and you potentially have a mighty headache for the production team.
Fortunately Eddie has toured with Martin Audio’s scalable, compact and supremely versatile WPS line array previously, and her production crew are well aware of the system’s adaptability. In fact Solotech senior account manager, Robin Conway, discloses that “the last Eddie Izzard tour [Wunderbar, in 2019] was part of the reasons I bought WPS in the first place. This time around production and I wanted to try and provide the same level of consistency while retaining a single truck.” Hence the inventory was stripped back to a bare minimum.
The sound design was expertly reworked from venue to venue by the experienced FOH team of sound engineer, Scott (Scoobie) Scherban and system tech, Rayne Ramsden—working alongside production manager, Stephen Reeve. They knew to expect the unexpected, and as Rayne put it, “each venue has been a beast of its own.”
Production carried just 24 WPS to enable 12-a-side elements to be flown at the largest venue, Birmingham Symphony Hall (2,200-cap), as well as four SX218, half a dozen DD6 (generally as lipfills) and a pair of XD12 for various balcony delays or sidefills. This scaled down to just a pair of WPS a side ground stacked on a single SX218 at bijou theatres such as the Brighton Theatre Royal and Richmond Theatre. The rig, in whatever configuration, is driven in the optimum 1-box resolution from Martin Audio’s iKON multi-channel amplifiers. Elsewhere, in Glasgow they had a stacked six-a-side WPS on a single SX218, while in Cardiff they reverted to a vertical SX218 with four WPS stacked on top, presenting the potential problem of obscured sightlines. To say WPS had to function as a workhorse is putting it mildly.
“TO BE ABLE TO GROUND STACK LIKE THAT AND MANAGE TO COVER THREE BALCONIES UP IS PURE GENIUS”.
Scoobie was highly complimentary of WPS’ ability to achieve the near impossible, citing one venue which only permitted a single sub with four WPS stacked on top. “It did an incredible job,” he said. “To be able to ground stack like that and manage to cover three balconies up is pure genius.”
He faced the additional challenge of contending with a vast assortment of mic gymnastics (bordering on abuse) as Izzard worked through trademark classic skits. He approached it as a “hybrid rock / theatre show,” explaining … “the thunder and lightning effects make the opening surprisingly big and bold … and so it has to be loud.”
Vocal simulations range from his Darth Vader [Canteen of the Death Star] sketch where she’s cupping the mic, to capturing her imitating dinosaurs eating, notes Scoobie. “There is a lot of mumbling, and the challenge is to capture the sound from the most subtle level right the way through to absolute scream. The gain on the microphone is huge.” Two separate preamps were assigned to the mic—one dedicated to speech, the other for her effects channel to get the level up sufficiently.
Rayne Ramsden also highlighted the challenges of deploying different stacked PA configs in venues without hanging points or low weight bearing capacity.
Getting a single mic to travel with power and clarity into the deepest recesses of small venue was one of Rayne Ramsden’s prime concerns. ”Having the one-box resolution was really useful in being able to move the audio within the space”, he says. But he also needed to minimise the sound coming back off the box that the mic would inevitably pick up “and make sure it is as limited as possible.”
He has been using Martin Audio DISPLAY 2 software to optimise the sound. “It’s much quicker to get a 2D CAD slice out than to draw the whole venue particularly when you don’t have pre-given calculations.” He has also made full use of the Hard Avoid feature in DISPLAY. “There’s been a lot of usage of that onstage,” he admits, “to avoid the rear side of the box. Also, some of the venues had a tiered roof that I had to make sure I didn’t hit.”
Having worked with WPS now in many different modes and deployments, he concludes, “The great thing about WPS is that it’s a big sounding box in a small format, which helped keep the sightlines as clear as possible. You can use it anywhere … as a nice complement to WPL as delays or side hangs.” Or clearly as a stand-alone workhorse PA in its own right.
The Luzhou Laojiao Command Center in Sichuan Province, China, now features Martin Audio’s O-LINE microarray, enhancing the venue’s audio and video capabilities following successful integration and commissioning.
Martin Audio’s O-Line™ is a compact, scalable high-definition modular array designed to master architectural and acoustically challenging environments, and comprises multiple array modules seamlessly connected for adaptability.
At the Luzhou Laojiao Command Center, 6 suspended O-Line™ micro arrays on each side serve as the main loudspeakers, offering complete venue coverage. Enhancing the experience, 2 SX112B subwoofers handle low-frequency expansion, and 12 4-inch Ceiling 4.8T speakers in the rear area act as fills for a comprehensive audio experience.
The signal distribution and processing are handled by Martin Audio’s VIA series power amplifier driver and DX0.5 processor.
Following the acceptance test, the command center demonstrated even coverage across all areas, delivering crystal-clear vocals and music with a richness in sound quality and dynamics. The client expressed high praises for the overall sound quality.
Longjin Middle School’s auditorium in Shenzhen’s Baoan District now features an upgraded Martin Audio sound system, ensuring an enhanced audio experience.
Shenzhen Longjin Middle School, an esteemed member of the Baozhong Group, excels as a regional education leader. Strategically located in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, it embraces the ‘Three Cities and One Port’ vision, serving as a vital hub in the Airport New City. The school’s vibrant campus features the Longjin Library, a unique haven with over 100,000 books. Lecture and concert halls, equipped for 1,000, cater to diverse student needs. With double-floored teaching and dormitory areas and inviting outdoor rooftops, the school fosters communal spaces for students to relax, enjoy the sea breeze, and envision their future memories.
Martin Audio, a global pioneer in optimized line array technology, stands at the forefront of innovation! The Wavefront Precision line arrays, featuring WPM, WPS, WPC, and WPL, offer a scalable solution for precise control, consistency, and extensive coverage in any event or installation. This revolutionary lineup has become Martin Audio’s fastest-selling range, making waves at major festivals, concerts, corporate events, houses of worship, live venues, and auditoriums.
Longjin School’s auditorium upgrade features the Martin Audio’s WPM line array from the Wavefront Precision Series, with 7 WPM a side flown underneath an SXF115 subwoofer for optimal coverage. There are 2 WPMs in the center channel that ensures uniform sound distribution across all seats, while 4 DDX118 subwoofers enhance low-frequency energy. WPM, a versatile two-way passive line array, excels with a peak SPL of 130dB and consistent coverage, making it an ideal choice for live sound reinforcement in various venues.
Revolutionizing Auditorium Acoustics: Longjin School’s auditorium now features Martin Audio’s DDX Series, with DDX15 on stage return, DDX12 as downfill, and DDX8 as lip fill. This strategic setup ensures a uniform and immersive sound experience, setting new standards in live audio technology.
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.
