UK – Martin Audio, alongside sister brands TiMax, Linea Research, and Optimal Audio, has announced an exciting evolution of its celebrated UK Open Days event, scheduled for 24–26 March 2026 at its High Wycombe headquarters.
Renowned for high-quality insights and networking, Martin Audio’s Open Days have become an essential date in the professional audio calendar. This year, the newly imagined event will go beyond traditional product showcases to creatively demonstrate how the group’s complete audio ecosystems provide exceptional and readily-deployable solutions for today’s real-world vertical market challenges.
THIS FRESH APPROACH TO OUR OPEN DAYS BUILDS UPON THE SUCCESS OF OUR ISE DEMO ROOM EXPERIENCE.
James King, Marketing Director, commented: “This fresh approach to our Open Days builds upon the success of our ISE demo room experience. By using projection mapping to create realistic environments, we will explore the challenges of modern sound design and show how our brands intersect to provide compelling solutions and a competitive edge for sound professionals.”
Ideally suited for AV installers, system integrators, consultants, and live sound specialists, the program will focus on application-specific system design, workflow, and practical deployment. The demonstrations will explore how loudspeaker systems, amplification, immersive processing, and system control software can combine to deliver outstanding results for audiences in permanent installations, touring productions, and temporary event spaces.
The Open Days run across three days with a consistent daily schedule, allowing attendees to choose a single-day program or drop in over multiple days.
The event takes place at Martin Audio’s company HQ, Century Point, Halifax Road, Cressex Business Park, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP12 3SL.Free parking is available on-site. Refreshments will be available throughout the event and guests will enjoy plenty of opportunities to meet the team.
Members of the production team at work on “The Wizard of Oz” at the Byers Theatre in Sandy Springs, Georgia.
Design for production at 1,070-seat Byers Theatre in Sandy Springs relied on Dante-enabled TiMax SoundHub, TiMax TrackerD4 tracking, and a Dante network backbone to connect microphones, consoles, processors, and amplifiers.
A recent production of “The Wizard of Oz” by the City Springs Theatre Company at the 1,070-seat Byers Theatre in Sandy Springs, Georgia was supported by a spatial sound design relying on a Audinate Dante-enabled TiMax SoundHub, TiMax TrackerD4 tracking, and a Dante network backbone to connect microphones, consoles, processors, and amplifiers.
Anthony Narciso brings extensive professional experience to his work as a lead sound designer, including his work in theater as a member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE union, and as a board member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association. For “The Wizard of Oz,” he says he approached the production “as if we were doing a tour,” given the lack of permanent infrastructure, creating a fully deployable sound system that transformed the static venue into an immersive, story-driven soundscape.
“We deploy a spatial audio system and tracking for the spatial audio system that allows voices to be placed in time and space,” Narciso explains. The large cast, including a child ensemble, demanded precision and clarity across a complex mix of dialogue, music, and effects.
Producing “The Wizard of Oz” posed both artistic and logistical challenges. The load-in period was just over a week, half the normal time. “We normally have about 12 to 14 days to get up a show, and we have about a week to put this up,” Narciso notes.
From a creative standpoint, the show demanded sonic storytelling that could balance an orchestra, environmental effects, and vocal clarity. Narciso: “The biggest thing for me is providing clarity to cacophonous moments.” During the tornado sequence, for instance, “we have to be swallowed by this tornado… but we also have to hear the orchestrations clearly.”
The sound design hinged on a TiMax-based spatial audio system. The TiMax SoundHub processor and D4 tracking system create delay-based spatialization, placing each performer’s voice in its physical onstage location with accuracy. “Without Dante, this is not even a conversation,” Narciso says. “You need an individual channel for each speaker cabinet… Dante’s the way to go to do spatialized audio.”
The complete signal chain included:
Shure Axient wireless microphones feeding a DiGiCo console via Dante
Each microphone sent over Dante to TiMax SoundHub (up to 64 inputs and 38 outputs used)
DiGiCo Orange Boxes convert Dante to AES3 to feed 17 amplifiers driving 65 loudspeakers
QLab playback systems running Dante Virtual Soundcard for primary and backup operation
Wavetool monitoring software leveraging Dante splits for real-time RF and audio analysis
Clear-Com Arcadia intercom integrated with Dante for crew communication and spotlight monitoring
Wavetool routes through a Clear-Com Arcardia channel via Dante to key in on specific microphone issues while roaming
Backstage paging and lobby feeds are distributed across dedicated Dante channels
The Dante infrastructure also enabled virtual soundcheck capability — recording live inputs directly into a laptop and routing them back through the console for mix rehearsal. “If the cast isn’t in for 30 minutes, we can hit the button, play back the show audio, and the A1 can be mixing. It’s invaluable.
“It sounds better than some Broadway shows,” one lighting designer stated. Others noted that they “understood more of the words in your shows there than I do in a Broadway show generally.”
In the company’s earlier years, sound was the area that needed the most improvement. Amongst several other improvements, implementing the spatial system led to the audio receiving frequent compliments from longtime patrons as well as new audience members. This feedback highlighted the importance of spatially accurate sound placement, something Dante-enabled networks make seamless.
Narciso concludes, “The best thing I can tell you is Dante just works.”
Martin Audio is set to deliver its most ambitious presence yet at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2026, alongside sister brands TiMax, Linea Research and Optimal Audio. Located on an expanded stand 7A300 with an all-new immersive Demo Room in Hall 8, Room F6, this year’s showcase takes attendees on a journey through real-world audio challenges and the technologies that solve them.
At the heart of the Martin Audio stand is the recently released BlacklineQ Series, representing the latest evolution in everyday professional point source loudspeakers. Stand 7A300 also features other celebrated systems such as Wavefront Precision, TORUS, FlexPoint, ADORN and CDD Install Series. Complementing the product showcase, the annual FlexPoint Pitstop Challenge returns with daily prizes – a highlight for visitors and a lively way to engage with the brand’s engineering excellence.
A central focus of Martin Audio’s ISE presence is its richly curated immersive audio walkthrough – a first-of-its-kind Demo Room experience designed to demonstrate how cutting-edge audio technologies perform across applications ranging from hospitality to large-scale performance venues. TiMax advanced spatialisation tools, SoundHub & Tracker, are integrated throughout the walkthrough, illustrating how spatial control and immersive sound can elevate real applications.
TiMax continues to transform how audiences experience spatial audio. With its immersive audio processing and show control capabilities embedded into the Demo Room experience, further demonstrations, including TiMax panLab, will feature on the stand.
Linea Research spotlights significant expansions to its controller range, including enhanced System Engineer 8 features that give installers and system designers greater control, faster workflow and deeper configuration capabilities. Through hands-on demonstrations and expert tech consultations on Stand 7A300, Linea Research underscores its role as the heartbeat of system control and amplification, ensuring exceptional performance and operational reliability.
Optimal Audio invites attendees to explore “Commercial Audio Done Differently” through a fully realised Live Restaurant Environment on the stand – complete with reception, bar, dining area and outdoor terrace zones. Featuring award-winning zone controllers, digital paging systems and intuitive WebApp control, Optimal Audio demonstrates how simple, elegant system design can deliver premium sound quality and effortless control in everyday commercial venues.
Summing up, Marketing Director, James King says, “ISE 2026 marks a significant step forward in how these brands collaborate to present more than just products – but complete, integrated solutions that reflect the evolving demands of the pro-AV, installation and live-sound industries.”
UK – Supplying a cinematic stereo soundtrack using Martin Audio loudspeakers throughout the Rainforest biome for four consecutive seasons at Cornwall’s Eden Project Christmas Light Experience, Redruth-based TruCru added extra sparkle this year with the simple addition of TiMax panLab.
For this year’s event, which transforms the world-famous biomes of the attraction into a vivid illuminated canvas, TruCru delivered an elevated and more engaging audience experience in the Mediterranean biome’s Citrus Grove – home to the event’s showcase feature – lifting the experience with a unique and magical spatialised audioscape.
The update in scope was triggered by attendance at the Focusrite Group’s Audio Reproduction Open Days, by Tru Cru as a Martin Audio rental partner.
IT’S MADE IMMERSIVE SOUND ACHIEVABLE WHERE BUDGETS SIMPLY DIDN’T ALLOW IT BEFORE.
TruCru project manager, Toby Bodman, explained, “I’d always imagined a spatial element for the Citrus show, but the cost and scale of traditional immersive processors made it unachievable. Hearing TiMax panLab in action changed everything. Suddenly, an immersive system was not only creatively compelling but entirely viable within Eden’s budget.”
With the idea pitched successfully to the Eden Project, TruCru worked with the TiMax team to redesign the available rental inventory for a spatial delivery. The loudspeaker layout combined multiple layers of Martin Audio FlexPoint loudspeakers – FP12s flown at height, with more FP12’s positioned wide-left and right, concealed within planting, with further speakers positioned around the audience zone. Additional FP8 ceiling points were integrated where biome load limits allowed, ensuring vertical energy and a sense of expansiveness across the space.
The results exceeded expectations and Bodman notes, “The presence and width from just two overhead points was impressive. TiMax panLab helped us maximise the effectiveness of every position. The elevation layers gave us a genuinely spacious, enveloping image.”
With Eden already expressing interest in returning to the format next year, the success of the project has positioned spatial audio as a new and useful creative tool for future programmes. Bodman expands, “It’s made immersive sound achievable where budgets simply didn’t allow it before.”
As TruCru’s first experience delivering a spatial environment, the success of the event hinged upon the simplicity of the system. “TiMax told us it could be programmed in minutes, and I can honestly say that’s true,” Bodman confirmed. “TiMax panLab’s interface is incredibly intuitive. It just made sense. Dropping sources into position was simple, and the whole deployment was far easier than we expected.”
For this year’s show pre-mixed 7.1.4 stems provided by the content creator were used to keep things simple. Going forward, however, the team is already planning to expand automation and movement directly from TiMax panLab.
As plans for next winter’s edition begin, TiMax PanLab is set to remain a key creative tool for audio at the Eden Project, with plans to elevate their audience experience without escalating complexity.
UK – TiMax x Sonosphere has announced that its flagship studio at London’s Tileyard has been commissioned by Dolby engineer Richard Addis and is now officially listed on the Dolby Atmos Professional global directory. The room represents a paradigm shift in immersive audio production, becoming the second Martin Audio FlexPoint-based Dolby Atmos studio in the world, and the first in Europe.
Unlike traditional Dolby Atmos studios that rely on conventional studio monitors, the TiMax x Sonosphere facility breaks new ground by utilising world-class Martin Audio FlexPoint PA loudspeakers in a 9.1.6 configuration. This approach bridges the longstanding divide between studio production and live event deployment, enabling creators to work in an environment that accurately represents how their content will sound in real-world immersive spaces.
“The decision to use professional PA speakers rather than traditional monitors is fundamental to our vision,” explains Phil Wright, Sound Designer, Mix Engineer and Technical Director at Sonosphere. “We’re not just creating content for playback in other studios; we’re producing work that needs to scale from intimate listening rooms to major live venues. This room allows us to hear exactly what audiences will experience and make creative decisions accordingly.”
At the heart of the studio’s unique capability is its ability to play Audio Definition Model (ADM) files, the standard format for Dolby Atmos content, and leverage TiMax’s third party OSC integration to seamlessly upscale them for deployment through large-scale live sound systems. This ‘studio to stadium’ workflow represents a world-first capability in the UK market, and potentially globally.
THIS ISN’T JUST ANOTHER STUDIO, IT’S A RESOURCE FOR THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY.
“The Sonosphere vision has always been to take ‘small to big’, and to create a workflow where content produced in the studio can be directly scaled for arenas, festivals, and immersive installations without compromise,” says Duncan Bell, Commercial Director at Sonosphere. “As only the second Martin Audio-based Atmos studio in the world, we can now deliver and scale Atmos content produced in our studio to the myriad spaces our projects and clients demand. This isn’t just about mixing in Atmos, it’s about creating content that comes alive in any environment.”
The state-of-the-art facility comprises far more than a Dolby Atmos mixing room. At full capacity, it offers a 26.4.6 TiMax mixing environment featuring TiMax SoundHub 2 and its powerful spatial audio and show control capabilities. The TiMax Tracker D4 system, with eight sensors, provides real-time object tracking and automation, while TiMax panLab offers intuitive spatial control for rapid creative workflows.
The studio’s equipment roster showcases the best of Focusrite Group’s sister brands, with amplification delivered via Linea Research 88C06 amplifiers loaded with FlexPoint presets, ensuring optimal performance and reliability.
The use of TiMax as the spatial audio processor underpins the collaboration’s commitment to flexibility and creative control. Unlike other spatial processors, TiMax SoundHub 2 excels in its ability to handle complex object-based audio, integrate show control, and most critically, provide a bridge between studio creation and live deployment. Its track record in theatre, music venues, and installation work worldwide makes it uniquely qualified to deliver on the ‘small to big’ promise.
The partnership between TiMax and Sonosphere brings together complementary expertise. TiMax provides decades of experience in spatial audio processing, show control, and tracking technology, while Sonosphere contributes specialist knowledge in immersive content creation for music, broadcast, and live events.
“Together, the two companies provide a flexible, multi-purpose immersive audio London hub to demonstrate, educate, promote and deliver immersive audio systems, workflow and content,” explains Bell. “This isn’t just another studio, it’s a resource for the entire industry. We’re hosting workshops, demonstrations, panel discussions, and training sessions to share what we’ve learned and push the boundaries of what’s possible in spatial audio.”
The studio offers accredited training programmes, demonstration opportunities, and a space for networking, hospitality, and showcases. It’s designed to be a thriving hub where the immersive audio community can connect, collaborate, and innovate.
The room was specified and implemented by Sonosphere’s Phil Wright in strict accordance with Dolby DARDT guidelines. With calibration by Dolby engineer Richard Addis complete, the facility meets the exacting standards required for professional Dolby Atmos production, ensuring that mixes created in the space will translate accurately wherever they’re delivered.
UK – In a live spatial audio first, a performance of the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra was authentically spatialised using an object-based TiMax mix across a Martin Audio left/right main system, typical of a conventional festival PA setup. Such was the impressive feat, the concert has now been shortlisted in the UKFestivalAwards 2025.
The landmark moment took place at London’s BST Hyde Park Festival (BST), where Solotech UK supplied the Martin Audio optimised line array system. Sound designer and FOH mix engineer, Sonosphere’s Phil Wright, realised the sonic feat by replacing the usual console matrix mixer function with a TiMax SoundHub delay-matrix spatial processor. Working within the constraints of a typical stereo hang system – plus standard front-fills and delays – Wright redefined the possibilities of spatial audio in a live outdoor setting.
“Usually, only a small percentage of the audience falls within the stereo corridor at any gig,” Wright explained. “We wanted to expand that experience – not artificially with more hangs – but with the powerful capabilities of TiMax across a standard festival PA.”
TiMax product and software manager, Dan Higgott, created a spatial rendering of the stage layout in the studio using TiMax, which was transferred to the TiMax SoundHub at BST’s FOH via the new TiMax Scaling Surfaces feature, and scaled up to replicate the actual stage.
WE KNEW TIMAX WOULD PRODUCE THIS LEVEL OF CLARITY AND REALISM.
TiMax received each orchestral microphone or microphone group separately as its own object, and directly fed the various main, fill, sub and delay sections of the PA from its matrix outputs. Allowing each input object to be positioned with both time and level-based control, TiMax recreated a highly accurate sonic map of the performance not just at the mix position, but across a much wider audience area.
“There was very little in the way of level-based panning in the mains,” noted Wright. “But by working with delay-based spatial cues, the imaging remained clear and authentic – even from well outside the usual sweet spot. It was more than we’d hoped for.”
One standout feature of the setup was the imaging of the chorus. With over 100 inputs, grouped where necessary but mostly preserved as individual sources, TiMax enabled the kind of spatial separation and clarity not usually achievable in stereo festival mixes. “The PA just disappeared,” Wright added. “We had full depth, full width – and the choir sat exactly where it should, without smearing or spill.”
The spatialised setup also brought unexpected precision to the mixing process. “You lose the masking that stereo introduces,” Wright explained. “It’s like going from standard definition to high-def – suddenly, every detail matters. Even between three flutes, I had to EQ each separately to reflect their different tonal characteristics.”
Instead of collapsing into mono or skewing to one side, even extreme placements, such as a drum kit far stage-right, maintained integrity within the spatial soundstage. According to Wright, “Once we’d heard it in place, anything we’d done to ‘cheat’ the placement stood out. So, we put everything back where it actually was and it just worked.”
Dan Higgott affirmed, “We knew TiMax would produce this level of clarity and realism. The event proves that true orchestral spatialisation can be brought to festival settings without requiring specialised multi-hang or surround systems – and without compromising fidelity.
“It’s not about gimmicks,” said Wright. “It’s about hearing a full orchestra as it really exists on stage. And now, we can do that even on a left/right PA.”
Thanks to
Distributor: Martin Audio Rental Partner: Solotech UK
The user interface of the new Scaling Surfaces tool for TiMax SoundHub.
Spatial Audio pioneer, TiMax, has announced an overhaul of its OSC implementation, including a bidirectional dictionary as well as support for the ADM-OSC standard, all wrapped into the latest software release for SoundHub, version 6.11. The integration will showcase at PLASA Show (7-9 September, 2025 – Olympia, London) on stand J5, as well as the TiMax Open Days.
With the release, TiMax SoundHub now supports a range of OSC dictionaries, enabling out-of-the-box compatibility with many third-party control solutions such as QLab, Space Controller and Nuendo. A new TiMax SoundHub dictionary has enabled advanced, bespoke integrations with SSL consoles, Atlas show control, and Grapes 3D Audio Control, as well as an enhancement of the integration between TiMax SoundHub and TiMax panLab’s version 1.3, released simultaneously.
Solid State Logic has integrated OSC support for TiMax SoundHub with its latest software updates for the System T and SSL Live console platforms.
Berny Carpenter, Product Manager for SSL explained, “Tightly integrating with TiMax SoundHub not only allows key X, Y and Z positional information for SoundHub sources to be displayed and controlled from an SSL console. Individual path parameters and unique SoundHub functions can also be controlled from the familiar SSL user interface. Providing this high level of integration means that users can easily configure, view and manage their system, wherever they are located.”
Atlas Show Control’s software platform for programming, synchronising and automating complex live events, offers precise real-time control over audio, video, lighting, and tracking systems, and so is a natural choice for interoperability with TiMax SoundHub.
Sound designer, Gareth Fry, is a user of both systems. He said, “The communication between Atlas and TiMax makes setting up both programs really fast. Atlas allows us to program in a consistent and familiar environment across multiple shows regardless of which spatialisation engine we are using.”
Meanwhile, integration with the Grapes 3D Audio Control plug-in enables effortless integration with any DAW-based creative workflow. Felix Deufel commented, “Testing Grapes 3D with TiMax SoundHub in the new TiMax Studio in Tileyard, London was a real highlight. The seamless integration saved setup time and let me focus on creativity – these powerful tools can maximise both efficiency and artistic potential. With the next Grapes 3D update adding direct TiMax preset integration, the workflow will be even faster and more effortless.”
Aligned integration between TiMax and third parties was dependent on mutual recognition of referenced coordinates. While TiMax SoundHub defined object positions using real-world coordinates – measured either in metres or feet – some third-party controllers used ‘normalised’ coordinates, typically ranging from -1 to 1. Utilising the recently launched Scaling Surfaces feature, TiMax SoundHub software bridges any divide for users by easily converting normalised coordinates to the absolute coordinate space.
TiMax SoundHub is famed for its accessibility and flexibility, and it was important to extend the same ethos to integrations with third-party control solutions. For this reason, in addition to supporting a range of OSC dictionaries, incoming OSC messages can be manually mapped to TiMax SoundHub commands.
Summing up, Dan Higgott, Product and Software Manager, confirmed, “With my personal experience of working in spatial-led shows it was clear that effortless integration into the creative workflow is critical for the ongoing success of TiMax SoundHub. We’re thrilled to have SSL, Atlas, and Grapes 3D support this roll out, and we’re keen to work across the space with other parties. I’m delighted with the progress that the TiMax software team have made in the last six months, and this latest development is another building block to making TiMax SoundHub the most comprehensive, accessible and flexible spatial audio solution on the market.”
The user interface of the new Scaling Surfaces tool for TiMax SoundHub.
New tool designed to allow users to re-scale a spatial show file from a studio playback environment to an auditorium with two mouse clicks.
TiMax has announced the expansion of the capabilities of its SoundHub platform with a new tool named Scaling Surfaces, designed to allow users to re-scale a spatial show file from a studio playback environment to an auditorium with two mouse clicks.
Users can re-scale their show for a new venue by changing the Scaling Surface size, shape, and height, and they can do this at any time. When an object is attached to a Scaling Surface, and that surface is moved, all spatial positioning and movement automation for that object, across the entire show file, moves with it.
Users can also distribute content without knowing the absolute scale of the playback environment or system, enhancing flexibility. They can also utilize more than one Scaling Surface in a file – for example, to cover a “stage” and “auditorium” area, where the two Scaling Surfaces needed to be resized separately.
Integrated into the PanSpace window, between Image Definition and Spatialisation workflow elements, Scaling Surfaces is designed to provide time savings within the audio rendering workflow. It offers a familiar interface; with eight drag handles and direct manipulation controls, users can resize, reshape, and reposition spatial surfaces just as they would an image in a photo editor.
Scaling Surfaces requires TiMax SoundHub version 6.10 or later and is showcased at the new TiMax Spatial Studios in Tileyard, London. Go here to try it.
Canada: For one memorable week each year a wing of the large Vancouver Convention Centre event space transforms into the custom-built 1,200-seat TED Theatre — which hosts powerful, high-profile talks aimed at driving meaningful change.
As the non-profit TED Organisation’s relationship with its current PA supplier was nearing an end, their long-serving and highly experienced audio consultant, Michael Nunan was working on a TED Countdown project in Brussels, alongside FOH sound engineer Miles Barton, another veteran of TED event sound mixing. “We were discussing what PA manufacturer would be a good choice going forwards,” Barton recalls. “I’ve used Martin Audio gear since leaving college 24 years ago—and now use it regularly with [Martin Audio rental partner] 22Live.”
He believed the two brands—TED and Martin Audio—would make a good alliance, and duly asked 22live director Spencer Beard to make the connection with TED Head of Production, Mina Sabet. She, in turn, contacted Martin Audio MD Dom Harter—and the idea quickly gathered momentum.
Sabet was determined to disrupt the orthodoxy when it came to audio projection. “There’s a level of perfection and excellence that we look for and a very specific sound. I want speakers to be very ‘present’—as if they’re standing in front of you—something very different from a corporate event. And for performances and music we really want an immersive space, so that attendees would feel a deep sense of connection with both the speaker and the room.”
This was a challenge that Dom Harter readily embraced. “Miles had recommended our optimisation as a tool to improve TED broadcast quality by reducing spill from the PA. At that point we introduced Simon Honywill to design and spec it—and upgraded it to a TiMax spatialisation platform.”
Honywill himself said, “I was thrilled, as I’ve been a long-term advocate of all things TED related, having worked on a TED Global event back in 2013, and even delivered my own TEDx talk.
Another bonus was the fact that this was to be in their own portable auditorium, made entirely of sourced Douglas fir trees that has been reused annually since 2014 when it was originally designed. “This made it a really beautiful environment to work in,” said Simon Honywill. “It’s the reason I really wanted to go to town on the design, because while most of the output is speech, video content, audio bumpers and live music also play a major part.”
Simon Honywill knew that by incorporating fellow Focusrite Group sister brand, TiMax into his design, a spatialised solution would enable seated audiences of up to 1200 people in the auditorium to receive the sound naturally at their seat rather than it appearing to emanate from a loudspeaker.
For the designer, the challenge as much as anything was the fact that he would be liaising with Nunan, Sabet—and Martin Audio integration partner Alford Media—remotely from his base 4,600 miles away. He was also acutely aware that aside from the live audience, TED would want to deliver a pristine broadcast feed on its streaming platform for its many subscribers.
WHAT I’M VERY IMPRESSED WITH IS THE TIME, ENERGY, THOUGHTFULNESS AND EXPERTISE THAT THE FOCUSRITE GROUP HAS BROUGHT TO THE EVENT.
Honywill developed the workflow, creating a sound system model and transferring designs created in Vectorworks to SketchUp and then importing into Martin Audio’s proprietary DISPLAY3—before handing over responsibility to Eric Faulk at Alford Media for implementation. “The model actually looked great,” he smiles. This enabled him to send comprehensive, and immersive delayed sound to both surround and overhead speaker locations.
Five hangs of WPS line array were positioned in an arc—the three centre hangs with 11 elements deep and the two outer hangs with nine deep—making 51 fully-optimised boxes in total. These were supported by a central array of 10 SXC118 cardioid subs.
The main surround rear speakers comprise four hangs of four Martin Audio TORUS horizontal arrays, with FlexPoint 12 high performance coaxial point source boxes enveloping the space and distributing all the overheads to create full immersion in an object-based scenario. Subwoofers for surround comprised of SXH218 below the TORUS arrays.
To optimise the implementation of TiMax SoundHub distribution matrix, Simon Honywill worked closely with TiMax co-founder Dave Haydon and Senior Product Developer, Dan Higgott. “WithMartin Audio’s DISPLAY prediction software we could very accurately predict what the sound system was going to sound like. And with the TiMax software we were able to pre-calculate all the level and delay to every element of the system,” said the latter.
“The big difference with a TiMax immersive system such as TiMax is that with TiMax we can calculate the delay times for every loudspeaker and input source back to the position of that source. It allows the perception of the sound system to completely disappear for the audience; if you do it correctly the audience can forget they are listening to amplified sound.”
TED presenters occupy a set position downstage centre for their delivery—and the PA is aligned to that. Simon Honywill: “While TiMax handles that elegantly—there was content submitted in 5.1, and between Dave Haydon and I, we came up with a concept whereby there was a kind of generic set of image definitions that spread the 5.1 source out across the system in a very convincing way.
“Michael Nunan was saying that the broadcast feed sounded the best it had ever done.” In fact
he reports that the FOH (and Broadcast A1) team were hearing between 6-10dB less PA in the Presenter’s headset mic than in the past. “That is, the PA design was very effective at preventing the energy from the house spilling back onto the stage,” he says, giving it further context.
Both Nunan and Martin Audio’s Brad Stephens also emphasised the importance of having a sound system “that doesn’t put audio where it’s not wanted.” Said Stephens, “With the sound optimised for the room we can define coverage from front to back and exclude areas, either by ignoring them or actively excluding them with the ‘Hard Avoid’ [feature].” This was particularly appropriate for the stage area—an attribute also highlighted by Mina Sabet.
Reflecting on the fit-out, she said, “What sets this experience apart is that Martin Audio has been really focused in making the venue deeply immersive in a way that we haven’t experienced before at a TED conference. And in that respect TiMax is unmatched. The partnership between Martin Audio and TED is taking us to another level of audio that we never thought possible.”
Michael Nunan agreed. “Previously it has been unavoidable hear the voice coming from the loudspeaker that I am sitting closest to. But the first time we put up a microphone on the stage this year the big, distributed Martin Audio PA was effectively transparent. It has completely changed their approach to pathways and how to manage the show in a single workflow. Using TiMax SoundHub creates enormous operational efficiencies.”
In summary, Mina Sabet said, “What I’m very impressed with is the time, energy, thoughtfulness and expertise that the Focusrite Group has brought to the event. They really came through, in what was a complicated set-up. I know Michael Nunan was thrilled, and very excited about the potential.”
Next year will be the TED Conference’s 12th and final year at the Vancouver Conference Centre before relocating to California and she is confident that the sound will make a further quantum leap. “I’m really excited about the future and the opportunity to make it even more immersive,” she exclaimed. “The potential is amazing, and I further expect to be blown away in year two.”
Photography: Gilberto Tadday / TED & Jason Redmond / TED.
China: On February 27, with the successful conclusion of the Guangzhou Entertainment Technology Show (GETshow), the cooperation between Leading Audiovisual Technology Co., Ltd. and Guangdong Stage Art Society also came to an end.
This four-day audio-visual feast not only showcased the industry’s top technology and artistic achievements, but also witnessed the in-depth cooperation and innovative practice between Leading Audiovisual and Guangdong in the field of technology and art integration.
As one of the most influential performing arts equipment exhibitions in the world, GETshow has attracted professional buyers and industry elites from more than 100 countries and regions around the world. The 2025 exhibition was themed “Guangdong Boundary – Breakthrough Space Power”, focusing on multiple fields such as stage art, intelligent sound and light technology, and cultural tourism and performing arts, and fully displays the industry’s cutting-edge technologies and innovative applications.
As a prominent AV company in China, Leading Audiovisual has been committed to providing the market with high-quality audio solutions. Here they showcased the latest results of its cooperation with Martin Audio, including advanced audio systems and TiMax immersive audio technology.
TiMax is one of the world’s pioneers in the field of immersive audio and video technology and their mature immersive technology has been widely used around the world. From London’s West End, New York’s Broadway to Hong Kong, TiMax is the core technology provider for theaters, entertainment and display experience activities.
System configuration: all-round immersive audio layout The immersive audio system that Yuejie and Leading Audiovisual cooperated on used Martin Audio’s PI8 speakers and PI118 subwoofers, combined with TiMax’s advanced audio processing technology, to create a full-range immersive audio environment.
The successful GETshow 2025 marked the starting point of the cooperation between Leading Audiovisual and Guangdong Stage Art Society, as well as marking breakthroughs in the audiovisual field. During the exhibition, the cooperation projects of both parties attracted a lot of attention and praise from professional audiences.
Xu (Rico) Ruixian, General Manager of Leading Audiovisual, said: “Through in-depth cooperation with Yuejie, we not only demonstrated the strength of Leading Audiovisual in the field of audio technology, but also saw the possibilities of the integration of technology and art. In the future, we will continue to work with Yuejie to bring more immersive audiovisual experience to global audiences.”
Leaders and expert teachers of the Guangdong Stage Art Society said: “Yuejie has been committed to promoting the integration of stage art and modern technology. Through cooperation with Leading Audiovisual, we have successfully combined art and technology to bring a new audio-visual feast to the audience. In the future, we will continue to deepen cooperation and jointly promote the development of the industry.”
