LAX installed at Nanjing Stadium for YOG
Published: ASIA
CHINA: As the official equipment supplier to the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, Guangzhou Ruifeng Audio Technology Corporation Ltd (LAX, Ruifeng Inc), was enlisted recently to provide sound reinforcement for the games’ opening and closing ceremonies at the Nanjing Olympic Sport Centre Stadium. Taking 15 days to build, the manufacturer deployed a line array system comprising its 12-inch two-way cabinets and dual 18-inch subwoofers. LAX also provided audio services for the opening ceremony, with Ruifeng Inc chairman Wang Ruixiang as event audio director.
‘The audio system designer He Biao was keen to improve the sound quality in the stadium,’ explained Ling Zibin, general manager of LAX. ‘The old composite sound system was removed and a new LAX line array system attached to the ceiling. It uses 12 groups of speakers to cover the upper three floors of the stand. Both sides had six groups, each spaced 50m apart.’
In total the main PA system consists of 104 OP4924L and 104 AT3212 full-range enclosures combined with 48 IC218B subwoofers. A portable system was also deployed to provide coverage for the lowest stands and the field of play area. Consisting of 24 groups, each group included four 12-inch line-array cabinets, two dual 18-inch subs and two M2115s monitors.
‘Different speaker brands do not sound the same, so we changed the whole system to LAX,’ furthered Mr Zibin. ‘This meant increasing the budget and doubling the number of the speakers, so the workload was also huge. Now installed, it sounds more consistent than ever before and many of the spectators, specialists and executives were very satisfied with the sound they heard in the opening ceremony.’
For the ceremony, the team chose a DiGiCo SD7 as the main mixing console and an SD10 combined with a dual-redundancy optical fibre audio network for backup. Additionally, a Roland M200i V-Mixer was used for event announcements and Roland M48s for personal monitoring.
Commenting on the acoustics of the arena, Mr Zibin explained: ‘The acoustic treatment was not that difficult because we are all experienced with the PA system design of a large event. However, the reverb time is a little long because of the stadium ceiling structure. The LAX technical team had to choose every suspension point very carefully, however not every speaker could be placed wherever they wished. The positions had to be adjusted during each phase of the installation to achieve the best solution.’
Sound designer Mr Biao was clearly impressed with the audio system handed to him. ‘The Nanjing YOG PA system fully meets the needs of performance. The sound is exquisite with lots of details, and I think the stability, power and the timbre of the LAX system can compete with other world class brands without any doubt,’ he remarked. ‘As for big events like the YOG, system safety is the main priority. I used hundreds of amplifiers in this opening ceremony and none of them were broken. In my opinion, the LAX system already possesses the strength to go abroad and expand into new markets.’