Described by Muse as its best concert of the year, a preview 4K screening of Muse live at Rome Olympic Stadium was recently held at UCI Italia in Milan. For the event, UCI (Italy’s cinema market leader) used an Outline sound system in its UCI Bicocca venue – one of only 20 theatres worldwide selected for the high-profile event.
UCI regards concert screenings as being among the most successful alternative to traditional movies and, after investigating the possibility of offering key venues audio quality on a par with live concerts, their collaboration with Outline enabled them to achieve this, enhancing the screening of the Muse show, recorded in ultra-HD before a 60,000-strong crowd.
Known for its sound reinforcement systems, Outline has also designed and manufactured dedicated cinema loudspeaker systems since 2000 and carried out on-going upgrades to components – woofers, mid-woofers and compression drivers. As well as the Outline Movie enclosures behind the screen (six Movie B215s for low frequencies and three Movie H102s for mid-high frequencies), the system debuted for the Muse film included four Outline LAB 21 HS SP, an infra-sub (23Hz @ -10dB) featuring ingenious acoustic architecture – a hybrid waveguide indirect radiation system able to completely recover low frequency sound pressure from the rear of the unit’s 21-inch woofer – capable of a peak output of 150dB SPL @ 1m.
Processing was via Outline’s Genius M412 matrix (left, right, centre and subwoofer channels). Command macros received from the DoReMi cinema hardware completely change halls’ sonic impact, with each one calling up a preset of the audio parameters (EQ, twin limiter) on the Genius M412. The macros can also change signal routing, enabling rooms to be used for a variety purposes.
Outline iMode’s dual-stage compressor/limiter enables distortion-free maximum sound pressure, even with digital audio content. As well as offering the possibility of monitoring speakers’ status directly from an iPad, the fact that iMode does away with the need for racks of equipment could be a cost-effective solution for cinemas: self-powered cinema systems plus iMode Technology.
Another Outline-equipped UCI cinema recently hosted the Italian preview of Monuments Men, attended by the complete cast, led by George Clooney. At that venue (UCI Pioltello), the set-up comprised three Movie H102 (Mid-High horns), three Movie B215 bass units, two Movie S218 subwoofers and 24 Movie FX81 surround enclosures. Power was courtesy of three Outline M5000-4 amplifiers and control via Outline Genius M412 DSP.
Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group is Europe’s most important cinema operator. UCI Italia has a share of more than 20 per cent and 44 multiplex venues (a total of 447 screens) and currently has two venues in which all the theatres are equipped with Outline audio systems. In 2013 it undertook a project to replace existing audio systems with Outline’s in five other venues.
