Held on the slopes of Jungfrau in Interlaken, the Unspunnen Festival celebrates Swiss traditional dress and culture through a programme of historic games, wrestling matches and traditional music. In order to provide accompanying music and commentary for the16,000-strong audience, event technology provider Stagepro Veranstaltungstechnik worked with local Wharfedale Pro distributor, Sacher Music, to a provide a versatile audio system.
The set-up was based on Wharfedale Pro’s WLA-112 line array loudspeakers, with system design oundertaken in collaboration with Wharfedale Pro Applications and Solutions Manager, Alex Lane.
‘The primary scope for the system was speech intelligibility and a predictable but even coverage of all seating areas,’ Lane explains. ‘The main challenge of the space was having no overhead truss to deploy flown speakers and the largely spread-out nature of the arena. Another key goal was to not impact the viewing of the event itself.’
The festival grounds featured four major grandstands with almost 4,000 seats encircling the central performance stage. ‘The entire system was designed using Ease Focus 3 acoustic simulation software to the client’s requirements,’ Lane says. ‘This ensured that set-up and installation were quick and easy, with no surprises on event day.’
In all, 20 WLA-112 loudspeakers were emplyed, driven by five DP-4100N power amplifiers including redundancy. Each grandstand was served by five WLA-112 elements, mounted on low pole stands at a 2.5° upward angle, delivering coverage and clarity across the audience. Further, the system used the built-in Dante networking features of the DP-N amplifiers.
‘Due to the exceptionally even polar pattern and linear phase response of the WLA-112s, the system could cover the audience areas from below, with sonic consistency moving from zone to zone and importantly, minimal impact to sight lines during the event,’ Lane. Says. ‘Using DP-N series amplifiers with Dante networked audio also allowed localisation of amplifiers to the four largely spread apart areas, reducing copper cable lengths while still allowing full system control from a single point.’
‘The WLA-112s delivered superb quality at a very good price,’ reports Stagepro owner, Markus Malther. ‘With the DP-N series amplifiers, we were also able to use fibre optic cabling which made the on-site setup quick and practical.’ On the impressive range of the WLA system, he comments, ‘Someone in the audience was looking for the subs, but with the full range characteristics of the WLA-112s and the system design we did not need any.’
