Trackdown installs ‘full cinema loudspeaker system’ for monitoring
Published: ASIA

AUSTRALIA: Trackdown recording and post studios has recently opened the new ‘Theatre One’, a 20-seat theatrette at it’s Moore Park Facility in Sydney. Hoyts, an Australian cinema manger and distributor, was commissioned to install a state of the art cinema system into the theatre, comprised of a Christie projector, Harkness Microperf Screen, Xpand 3D System and Doremi Showvault 4K DCP Server.
The Theatre’s first job was impressive; picture checking of visual effects for Baz Luhrmann’s blockbuster The Great Gatsby. ‘We finished painting in the morning and it started working in the afternoon,’ said Elaine Beckett, general manager of Trackdown.
The company has previously provided the orchestral recording for features films such as Happy Feet, Warner Bros animated comedy. The new theatre, in partnership with Definition films, is being used for grading, audio post, mixing and 3D screening or the company’s upcoming features, and has been working solidly since February.
So what does a world-class audio and post facility choose for cinema monitoring? Surprisingly, not monitors. Trackdown, with assistance from Jands' Rod McKinnon, copted for a full cinema loudspeaker system from JBL with matching amplification and DSP from Crown.
The full-scale L/C/R system features three 3722-Ns 15-inch woofers, four JBL 8340A two-way surround speakers, with a 3635 single 18-inch sub handling the low end.
Three Crown DSi2000 cinema power amplifiers specifically mated JBL ScreenArray loudspeakers power the system and take care of signal processing on-board, with the ability to handle crossovers, EQ, delay and output limiting. Mixing and control duties are driven by a 24-fader Avid D-Command control surface, and the theatre runs a ProTools HDX-2 system with a full suite of plugins.
‘One mixer in particular was thrilled to be working in a premix space with theatre monitoring,’ said Ms Beckett. ‘It’s quite common to have small monitors in premix rooms. He was very impressed he got to work with theatre speakers in a premix environment before moving on to a final mix stage and finishing. What he mixed in the theatrette translated so well to the large theatre because of that.’