Shure Axient provides stability and security for first Chinese ‘Korean Music Wave’
Published: ASIA
CHINA: Shure wireless systems and personal monitors were used for the Chinese debut of the leading K-Pop concert ‘Korean Music Wave’. Organised by the Korean television channel MBC and held at the Beijing National Stadium, the event comprised three and half hours of music from some of Korea’s leading K-Pop artists, providing the need for a stable and reliable wireless solution.
The RF environment inside the stadium is very complex, leading to the selection of the Shure Axient Wireless Management Network. Since the large LED screens in particular produce a lot of RF interference, the manufacturer’s WWB6 Management Software was used to calculate the most efficient available and backup frequencies. AXT600 Spectrum Manager then calculated compatible frequencies and assign them to networked wireless systems, and monitor the backup frequencies of the RF environment in real time.
According to Shure application engineers Allen Bu and Jason Wu, who provided on-site support, interference was frequently encountered in the 600MHz range, however this was easily managed by the Axient’s automatic detection and avoidance function. The system's Showlink signal access point was used to remotely control all Axient transmitters. With such a large stage, the engineer's design used two Showlink access points, including one point equipped with an omnidirectional antenna facing one of the stage's side extensions and middle walkway, and the other using a directional antenna facing the centre of the stage and the other side extension. The built-in Showlink test function was used to test the full area of the stage to ensure good coverage of the control signals.
The concert featured an unusual U-shaped stage that extended out into the crowd. With the performers free to roam around it, extra antennas were deployed to ensure that complete signal coverage was achieved. A UA874 was positioned on one side to cover the centre of the stage along with an HA8089 helical antenna on the other side to fill in the gaps. Shure’s WWB6.0 software was used again, this time to build up a record of the RF coverage across the stage with the angles of the antennas fine-tuned to ensure that the signal strength of all transmitters exceeded -70dBm.
A personal monitoring solution from the manufacturer was also deployed and consisted of two HA8089 antennas set up on each side of the stage. These were tested extensively with PSM bodypacks to ensure complete coverage. The PSM antenna combiner's output terminal used a Shure dedicated antenna distribution system for connecting transmitting antennas.
The audio director for the concert, Tae Jeom Sik, was reportedly very satisfied with the deployed wireless solution, and was particularly impressed with the ‘stability and security’ of the Axient system. He now plans to use the same system on more high-profile concerts in the future.