JBL deployed for Olympic festival at Birds Nest Stadium
Published: ASIA
CHINA: Harman’s JBL VTX line array system and VerTec line arrays were recently used at the Bird’s Nest National Stadium in Beijing for a festival hosted by BMW China to cheer on the Chinese Olympic delegation before the 2012 games in London. The event featured more than 100 BMW vehicles throughout the venue, with multiple performing artists and Chinese Olympic figures including Lang Ping, Yang Wei, Wang Liqin and Li Xiaoshuang.
Bejing TianYin CaiYun International Culture and Media Co used the JBL line arrays to provide uniform sound coverage throughout the stadium. Mixing the event were Jin Shaogang and Ma Xin, who worked on the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games and were therefore familiar with the venue and its coverage requirements. Additional technical support was provided by Advanced Communications Equipment (ACE), Harman’s largest Chinese distributor.
The system design featured four ground-stacked JBL VTX line arrays, each consisting of four V25 cabinets and two S28 subwoofers for VIP area coverage. Twelve ground-stacked VerTec line arrays of three VT4889-1 cabinets and two VT4880A arrayable subwoofers provided supplementary coverage for the lower seating areas. A further eight line arrays of eight VerTec VT4888s and two VT4882 subwoofers covered the upper level of the stadium.
The system was powered by Crown I-Tech HD series amplifiers with built-in DSP processing, allowing delay and equalisation to be adjusted during the event. At front of house was a Soundcraft Vi6 digital console, while Vi6 and Vi1 consoles were used for monitoring.
‘This was the biggest production in the Bird’s Nest since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,’ said system design engineer Joe Rao of Bejing TianYin CaiYun International Culture and Media Co. ‘Preparations for the one-night show took two weeks and it was a great event with superb sound quality and excellent coverage.’