Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Germany (Disney Germany) has installed an Alcons cinema sound system in its in-house screening room. This is used to check German-spoken trailers and German dubbed film versions, mixes and DCP QC of all Disney movie versions for final approval.

In order to assess the quality of a cinema film sound reliably, a sound system was required that meets the highest demands. In addition, new digital cinema technologies put additional demands on sound cinema in general, and to production company screenings in particular. Munich-based digital cinema systems specialist zweiB has been supporting Disney Germany for many years, and had previously installed digital cinema projectors in the screening room.  ‘In my opinion, the use of Alcons pro-ribbon speaker technology behind the screen is a gigantic thing,’ says zweiB CEO, Tammo Buhren. ‘I was convinced from the beginning that Alcons would be the ideal solution for this project. At Disney Germany main focus is to check the quality of the film sound and possibly verify defects therein. The Alcons system with its high-resolution, direct and clearly perceived sound image convinces. ‘

Disney Germany accepted on the recommendation, and opted for the Alcons system. Installed were three Alcons CR1 screen speakers (using Alcons’ proprietary RBN401 4-inch pro-ribbon tweeter) and a CB181 18-inch subwoofer. All elements of the system are driven by an Alcons Sentinel3 four-channel DSP class-D amplified loudspeaker controller. For surround, six Alcons CCS8 are used. With this configuration, the room is also prepared for future support for Dolby Atmos.

‘The benefits of pro-ribbon technology are clearly audible, especially behind the screen – where you need plenty of headroom for a clean sound reproduction, especially at high frequencies,’ says Buhren. ‘Here the strengths of Alcons are hard to miss. For me, Alcons currently offers the best products in the field of cinema sound. ‘

‘With our multiple-patented pro-ribbon speaker technology and 96kHz DSP class-D amplifiers, Alcons provides the exceptionally high quality, which is required in a reference screening room,’ adds Alcons Germany Sales & Technical Support technician, Carsten Albrecht. ‘In order to assess the sound quality of a film on a professional level, the sound system has to guarantee a very high resolution and an uncompressed, undistorted sound reproduction. Alcons delivers spot-on.’