Sohyang Arts Center gets diverse with Meyer Sound
Published: ASIA
SOUTH KOREA: Avix Tech was responsible for the recent integration and installation of a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system and sound reinforcement solution at Dongseo University’s Sohyang Arts Center in Busan. The theatre is sonically suited to host a spectrum of events ranging from musical theatre to orchestral and rock concerts.
According to the A/V systems integrator for the project, the current primary use of the venue is for musical theatre. However, Song Dae-young, general director of the Sohyang Arts Center, insisted that the hall acoustics and sound system should be able to handle a wide variety of events.
The Avix Tech team was headed by Lee Sung-bok, project manager, with support from Eric Han, senior engineer and Tom Jung – who served as project communicator and translator.
The Constellation system at Sohyang has been designed to create ambient acoustic environments ranging from an intimate chamber music hall to a vast cathedral. The system is built on Meyer Sound’s D-Mitri digital audio platform and uses 40 miniature microphones, 157 small mid-high loudspeakers and 12 compact subwoofers.
The D-Mitri core of the system comprises 17 frames, including four DVRAS processors (for the four acoustical zones) plus additional frames for core processing, input/output, GPIO, mixing and WildTracks digital recording and playback.
The precisely positioned loudspeaker assortment includes MM-4XP, UPM-1P and UP-4XP loudspeakers, UPJunior and UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers, and the UMS-SM subwoofer – all of which are concealed around the side walls and overhead.
‘I asked the Constellation team to provide six presets with enhanced reverberation times from 1.3 to five seconds,’ said Mr Dae-young. ‘I know five seconds is not necessary, but it does demonstrate to some guests how dramatically Constellation can change the reverberation time.’
The Constellation system also equips the venue with settings for unamplified orchestral concerts, and can be used with the theatre’s Meyer Sound main reinforcement system for anything from jazz to rock musicals.
The reinforcement component comprises eight UPQ-1P loudspeakers as left and right mains, a centre cluster of 10 Mina line array loudspeakers and two 700-HP subwoofers. Additional UPJunior, UPM-1P, and UPA-1P loudspeakers serve as delay and fill, and a Galileo loudspeaker management system with two Galileo 616 processors provide signal processing.
Since opening, the hall has hosted a stream of events, including screenings for the Busan International Film Festival, the musicals Chicago, Mamma Mia! and Les Misérables, and the Korean musical Kwanghwamun Younga.
‘When the Les Misérables team visited the hall, they were impressed by both the Constellation and PA system,’ said Mr Dae-young. ‘They decided not to bring their own equipment for reinforcement.’