Yamaha’s AFC enhances sound in Seoul
Yamaha’s AFC enhances sound in Seoul
Multipurpose arts venue Seocho Culture & Arts Center has installed a Yamaha and Nexo Active Field Control (AFC) immersive audio system to improve its acoustics for audiences and performers. Located in Seoul, the venue hosts lectures, theatre productions and an array of musical performances.
When it was built 30 years ago, Seocho Culture & Arts Center was designed to have little acoustic resonance to provide optimal sound for lectures and other amplified events. However, the venue found that the acoustics were not well suited to performances which use acoustic instruments, such as classical music.
Systems integrator Sound Korea Eng (SKE) installed the AFC system at the venue. “We installed AFC Enhance at Seocho Culture & Arts Center to enable audiences to enjoy performances with a rich, natural-sounding resonance, as well as a system on the stage to give artists a pleasant sound field to perform in,” commented SKE CEO Geehyoung Kim. “We also installed an AFC Image system to localise sound sources from the audience perspective.”
The solution includes 20 microphones, comprising eight directional microphones on the stage, with four more at the proscenium. Four omnidirectional microphones are positioned in front of the auditorium, with four more at the rear. A Yamaha R-series Rio3224-D2 I/O rack routes the sound from the microphones to the AFC processor, along with the outputs from a RIVAGE PM3 digital mixing system, which is used to mix performances.
Audio is routed via two MRX7-D signal processors from the AFC processor to the Nexo loudspeaker systems. These comprise 18 ID24 speakers installed on the walls around the audience, six more as front fills and 25 more arranged above the audience in a ceiling matrix.
On the stage, eight ID24s are installed as a ceiling array, with eight P8 multi-purpose speakers installed along the stage walls. All of the ID24s are driven by seven Yamaha XMV8280-D multi-channel power amplifiers, with the P8s powered by two NEXO NXAMP 4x1s.
The AFC Image system includes five clusters of four Nexo GEO M10 full range modules flown in a LL–L–C–R-RR configuration across the front of the proscenium, plus four MSUB 15 subwoofers. Additionally, four NEXO MSUB 18s are installed under the stage. Power is courtesy of four Nexo NXAMP 4x4s.
“By placing microphones in both the stage space and the audience space, we increased the number of independent channels,” noted Kim. “This ensured sufficient acoustic energy to generate optimal reverberation for acoustic music performances. As well as the main AFC Enhance system which covers the audience, we added an independent system for the rear of the seats, which ensures enough gain for seamless coverage throughout the auditorium.”
SKE also configured the AFC system to add early reflections, reinforcing support for the performers. It includes returns from the audience sound field which gives the performers the experience of a space with more natural reverb.
“The acoustic environment of Seocho Culture & Arts Center has improved dramatically with the AFC system,” concluded Kim. “At the venue’s 30th anniversary concert, the system received praise for its acoustics from the mayor of the Seocho district and many other local VIPs.”
