Xi’an Olympic Sports Center will be the main venue for the opening and closing ceremonies – as well as various events including basketball, volleyball, ice hockey and gymnastics – for China’s 14th National Games in 2021.
When construction began on the venue, which is located in Xi’an International Trade and Logistics (ITL) Park, officials wanted the18,000-seat venue to include a PA system that would give every seat a memorable experience. With help from pro audio distributor EzPro International, they found the solution they sought in EAW’s Radius (RSX) Series loudspeakers and subwoofers.
‘In designing the sound system, the goal was to provide the same frequency response for each listening area and to address any unevenness throughout the audience areas,’ says System Designer, Zhang Xianjun. ‘We first built a 3D model for the stadium in AutoCAD, according to the architectural drawings. We then imported the model into Ease4.3 acoustic analysis software, followed by a 1:1 Ease model setup. We choose EAW’s RSX line array for its strong directivity, ability to optimise speech intelligibility and its overall fantastic sound.’
Integrators installed six clusters of 44 EAW RSX212L active loudspeakers and eight EAW RSX18F single 18-inch active subwoofers in six arrays. Four EAW RSX129 active speakers were installed under the in-arena scoreboard and four single 12-inch EAW VFM129i moving wedges were configured for the rostrum.
‘All of the speakers were installed under the catwalk of the stadium, which makes it difficult to see their operational status,’ Xianjun says. ‘Thanks to the self-detection of EAW’s RSX series active loudspeakers, the sound engineers can quickly access their operational- and signal-status. The catwalk of the stadium is an asymmetric-hexagon structure, so it is harder for us to control installation angles of loudspeaker clusters. We were able to overcome this by using EAW original flyware, fixing the arrays under the catwalk by 3T electric hoist. We used two safety cables and the horizontal coverage is adjustable. With Radius series speakers, we have much less sound diffusion and direct sound coverage is improved.’
EAW’s Radius Series is designed to streamline set-up and deliver optimum results in minimum time. The line features OptiLogic to cut down on set-up and tuning time, while the EAWmosaic app provides full system optimisation from anywhere in the venue, plus intuitive room design and prediction in a single application.
‘The EAW RSX Series delivers an excellent listening experience with high fidelity and extended dynamic range, while also proving Dante integration across the line,’ Xianjun says. ‘The system has admirable intelligibility and it is easy and seamless to switch between signals to keep the system safe and sound.’
