Rightway Audio increases Macau’s rider appeal
Published: ASIA
MACAU: Formerly known as the Venetian Arena, the Cotai Arena is an indoor venue located in the Venetian Macau resort. Having opened in 2007, the 15,000-seat venue hosts sporting events such as basketball, tennis and boxing in addition to international concerts and televised awards shows. Internationally renowned, Las Vegas Sands contracted Macau-based JK Brothers Ltd to upgrade the audio systems, ensuring that they would maximise its appeal to international riders, whilst enhancing flexibility in the multi-purpose venue.
JK Brothers had no hesitation in opting for an extensive L-Acoustics loudspeaker system, for which the main L-R FOH system comprises 24 three-way K1 WST enclosures and 16 K1-SB dual 15-inch subwoofers. For fills and scaled down events, 32 K2 WST and 36 Kara cabinets in addition to 28 SB28 subwoofers provide compatibility and plenty of bass. Rigging, fly-bars and hoists were included in the delivery from Hong Kong-based Rightway Audio Consultants Professional (RAC Pro) in addition to eight standalone Arcs II constant curvature speakers. Fifteen L-Acoustics touring racks each consisting of three LA8 amplifier controllers supply enough power and DSP for the various events staged in the Cotai Arena. RAC Pro also supplied DiGiCo SD7 and SD10 digital consoles to fulfil FOH and monitoring mixing requirements. The venue reopened in time to host Katy Perry’s recent Asia Pacific tour.
The Kotai Arena isn’t the only venue in Macau to adopt sound reinforcement systems from the French manufacturer recently. Widely regarded as Macau’s premier live entertainment auditorium, the Broadway Theatre in the Galaxy resort is a 3,000-tiered seating venue with an adaptable stage for hosting a variety of shows, events, conventions and sports tournaments. The Broadway Theatre has become a popular tour stop for famous Cantonese, Taiwanese and Korean-pop artists. China-Tech Engineering Ltd was called upon to install a full audio, lighting and theatre infrastructure into the Broadway. The distance from the lip of the stage to the rear of the hall is only 30m, providing an intimate ambience.
Wooing the international tour promoters, an L-Acoustics K2 loudspeaker system comprising L-R arrays of 12 per side now fulfils the theatre’s audio needs. Eight XTi and six 8XTi coaxial models have been added for bridge and OB delays respectively, whilst a further 12 8XT speakers provide front fill coverage. A total of 12 SB28 dual 18-inch subwoofers provide the extended low frequencies, whilst 14 touring racks together with four LA4X amplifier controllers to provide the required wattage and DSP for the combined speaker system. A six per-side Kara system has been installed primarily for side fills, but in addition this smaller system can also be deployed as a standalone system in a smaller ballroom with a capacity of up to 1,000 people.
In addition to supplying the loudspeaker system, RAC Pro also supplied several DiGiCo digital consoles for the Broadway Theatre networked via 192kHz ST fibre optic cabling. An SD5 36-fader console has been upgraded with a Waves Soundgrid kit for extensive mixing capabilities. The FOH/monitor mix is connected to an X-SD stage rack and onwards to a second floor production suite where SD Mini Racks outfitted with 8-channel SD racks complete with analogue mic and line input, analogue line output, AES I/O and Dante I/O cards offer full audio and video recording functionality. Another X-SD rack takes signals from the SRK-102 wireless microphone inputs.
MPHK Group Limited were called upon to design and install the lighting technology in the venue, including moving heads, theatrical lighting, dimmers, lighting control, lighting control interface panels and associated cabling. An extensive Martin Mac inventory including 18 Viper Performance, 18 Viper Wash and 24 Viper AirFX are controlled via a grandMA2 console. In addition, MPHK Group also installed nine ETC dimmers, 80 ETC Source 4 spots and 48 Robe Parfect100 in addition to three Robert Julia follow spots.