Set in the central Hungarain city of Szolnok, the Szigliget Theatre recently brought in TiMax SoundHub spatialisation with TiMax TrackerD4 precision stagetracking to dynamically enhance the audio experience of its audiences. Hungarian TiMax specialist Votec Ltd recommended the solution to achieve vocal clarity across the auditorium where previously up to a third of the audience had struggled to hear clearly.
As well as providing full saturation audio immersion through a small number of unobtrusive loudspeaker positions, the TiMax SoundHub spatialisation platform provides playback and adds 3D sound effects capabilities. TiMax TrackerD4 actor tracking enables the individual voices on stage to be not only heard clearly but perceived from exact positioning on the stage, which confers a deeper level of context to the audience.
The theatre opted for a package of 12 TTd4 Tags, so that groups of singers and soloists can be ‘tracked’ and processed by TiMax SoundHub to match the performance, along with static spatial imaging for the orchestra.
Distributed above the stage and around the auditorium, a network of five TiMax TrackerD4 Sensors with inherent overlap redundancy provides reliable and responsive 3D tracking of the miniature TTd4 Tags easily secreted in the actors’ costumes.
As part of a wider audio upgrade carried out by Votec, an Allen & Heath desk also triggers cues in TiMax which in turn outputs to 12 Powersoft amplifiers controlling loudspeakers from Votec’s proprietary ESAudio range. The traditional proscenium stage has speakers positioned LCR across the arch and front fill positioned on the ground floor, as well as delay positions on the theatre’s box seating areas and the dress circle balcony, all independently driven from TiMax for optimal spatial control.
The decision to include TiMax SoundHub spatialisation and TiMax TrackerD4 stagetracking was a simple one for the theatre’s board members. In a prior year, at the Szegedi Szabadtéri Játékok open-air festival where audio is managed by Votec, the theatre board witnessed the transformation of a lavish production of Aida, achieved using TiMax SoundHub spatial reinforcement controlled by TiMax TrackerD4. Here, Votec created for the first time, a new level of vocal and orchestral immersion for an audience of 8,000 over two nights.
‘TiMax renews the sound quality of any venue,’ says Votec International Business Manager, Otari Tsereteli. ‘In the Szigliget Theatre, it now feels as if there is no sound system – which is the highest compliment.’
‘As both rental operators and designers of their own ribbon-loaded loudspeaker products, Votec and ESAudio Ltd are incredibly focused on coherence and clarity in sound reinforcement, and we are very fortunate to partner with them for the addition of TiMax spatialisation in the Hungarian marketplace,’ adds Out Board Director, Dave Haydon.
More: www.outboard.co.uk
