Among the most highly anticipated US sports events of the year, Super Bowl LVI took place in front of 70,000 fans at LA’s SoFi Stadium and reported a record viewership of more than 112m. The event included the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, with performances from Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J Blige and others.

ATK Audiotek – the event’s live-sound provider for 24 consecutive years – provided an extensive Dante audio infrastructure featuring components from Focusrite’s RedNet range of audio converters and interfaces that supported DiGiCo mixing and JBL loudspeaker systems. Alongside, ATK made extensive use of Shure and Sennheiser wireless technology for mics and IEM systems.

Net results

‘For the past seven Super Bowls, we’ve employed RedNet with our Dante Audio-over IP network,’ says Kirk Powell, Engineer-in-Charge for ATK/Clair at Super Bowl LVI. ‘We started using RedNet years ago on a small scale, and it’s just grown and grown year after year. This year was just over the top, because we have to feed signal to so many different entities throughout the stadium, not to mention that we were being fed signal as well, so we’ve got to have connectivity back and forth.

‘It’s all about having strategically placed nodes so you can jump into and out of the RedNet system. We used mostly the SoFi Stadium’s fibre, which is very nice because that’s one of the big advantages of this venue. This new facility has tons and tons of dark fibre, so we’re able to use the building infrastructure as opposed to running all of our own fibre. And RedNet is the key component that gives us that interconnectivity and flexibility.’

The Focusrite set-up for Super Bowl LVI included 16 RedNet D16R 16-channel AES3 I/Os; 25 RedNet A16R 16-channel analogue I/O interfaces; 17 RedNet D64R 64-channel Madi bridges; eight RedNet MP8R remote-controlled mic preamps and six RedNet AM2 stereo audio monitoring units.

Additionally, the audio system included four DiGiCo SD5 digital audio consoles (two at front-of-house and two at monitor mix positions); 14 ATK PA carts that each employed six JBL VTX A12 Line Array Loudspeakers; four JBL VTX S28 Dual 18-inch Subwoofers; and four M-Force Subwoofers.

‘The flexibility we have with RedNet is a game-changer,’ Powell says. ‘We’re able to send any signal anywhere in the building; so, for example, if we need a microphone at a particular location, we just plug it into the network, and through RedNet it’s there.’

At Super Bowl LVI, RedNet A16R and RedNet D16R interfaces were used to connect digital and analogue sources and feeds to and from the network. RedNet D64R Madi bridges were deployed for connecting signals to and from the various digital audio consoles in the system, and for connections between production groups. The RedNet MP8R’s remote-controlled mic preamps were employed for audience reaction microphones, while the RedNet AM2s were used throughout the venue by various engineers to monitor their audio signals.

Clock management during the Super Bowl is important not only for the teams on the field, but also for audio production. The RedNet D64R blends a high channel count with the ability to convert sample rates between disparate audio systems on a multitrack scale, providing glitch-free inter-system audio transfer and sharing without a common master reference clock. While FOH and stage monitors could share a clock, Powell explains, ‘the production tracks are on a different clock, because they’re not used all day long. The D64R allows me to break the clock between my system and the production tracks because they’re done after halftime. They start to pack up, and I don’t want to be on their clock and have them shut down.’

Super Bowl LVI was a local event for ATK, based about 38 miles away from the stadium in Valencia. ‘We did a lot of the programming at the shop this year, which really helped us out when the Rams had that championship game at home,’ Powell says. ‘That really threw a wrench in everybody’s workflow, because then we weren’t really allowed to start our normal production schedule until after that game,’ stated Powell. ‘We set the entire system up in the shop. All the racks were next to each other, and we did probably 95 per cent of the programming at ATK. Then when we were on-site, it was really just a matter of getting the nodes up and then doing whatever changes were needed. Another advantage was that since this event was in our own backyard, the cool thing was all these Union guys we worked with on all the other TV shows were at SoFi, so we knew them all. Unlike other cities, we typically don’t know anybody in that Union in that city. In LA, they know us, we know them, so it made things even more seamless.’

Mics and IEMs

Gary Trenda, Lead RF Technician for Professional Wireless Systems (PWS), was called in by ATK to handle wireless microphones and IEM systems for the pre-game, halftime entertainment and referees. Shure Axient Digital microphones have been a key part of our Super Bowl wireless system for the past five years,’ he says. ‘The PWS team deploys a Quadversity antenna system that gives us great coverage. Seeing five bars on the quality meter anywhere on the field gives us confidence in the Axient Digital system.’

Singing into a custom chrome Axient Digital ADX2FD transmitter with a KSM9 microphone capsule, country music artist Mickey Guyton kicked off the Super Bowl with a rendition of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’, while R&B artist Jhené Aiko’s presentation of ‘America the Beautiful’ used an ADX2FD transmitter with a KSM9 mic capsule. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Super Bowl introduction was also given on an ADX2 transmitter with a KSM9 mic capsule.

At half-time, rapper and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg took to the stage wielding a gold-plated ADX2 transmitter with a KSM9 microphone capsule and wore Shure SE215 Sound-Isolating in-ear monitors. All artists in the Super Bowl Halftime Show used four Shure PSM 1000 in-ear personal monitoring systems and 41 P10R diversity wireless bodypack receivers.

Referees were issued Axient Digital ADX1 bodypack transmitters paired with Shure’s subminiature TL47 TwinPlex omnidirectional lavalier microphones. While omnidirectional lavaliers are typically used in controlled audio environments like theatres, TwinPlex was also suited to this stadium application.

‘Given its reliability and extremely consistent sound, TwinPlex was an excellent choice for our referees,’ says Jack Bowling, Super Bowl LVI stadium FOH audio engineer. ‘Our team depended on TwinPlex and Axient Digital to deliver high-quality audio from our refs for both broadcast and PA.’

ATK equipped the production staff with 30 Shure BRH441M single-sided production headsets for set-up week, pre-game, halftime, and post-game shows. All crews from staging, to audio, to lighting and video experienced seamless two-way communication via the comfort and audio clarity of the BRH441M during every minute of set up and execution for Super Bowl LVI.

Unprecedented in scale, talent and technical complexity, the halftime show saw five artists using Sennheiser’s Digital 6000 wireless. ‘Of all the things our team is involved in, the half-time show is by far the most complex, and this is where the Sennheiser Digital 6000 series was used,’ Trenda says.

While the technical and RF planning for the Super Bowl begins months in advance and is dependent on available frequency bands, Trenda and PWS do their best to accommodate the performers with their equipment preferences. ‘And as the artists request the different microphone systems, we say, ‘OK, if you bring in a Sennheiser Digital 6000 microphone, we have a specific frequency range available for it,’ this year we had Sennheiser allocated in the 600MHz range.

‘Dr Dre, Mary J Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent were all on the Sennheiser Digital 6000, using SKM 6000 transmitters coupled with MD 9235 capsules,’ he adds.

With hundreds of frequencies routinely in use at such a high-profile event, Trenda and his team must make important decisions to attain the best possible performance in challenging conditions: ‘Very often you will see a fluctuation in the RF level, and with various systems turning on and off throughout the stadium you see a change in background noise level. In these cases, we find the Digital 6000 gives us excellent reliability in such a congested environment.’

‘The support that Sennheiser gave us was great,’ says ATK Audiotek General Manager, Brett Valasek. ‘Very often we don’t know what we have to supply equipment-wise until the artists are announced. Sennheiser is always there to help us in this regard, particularly in light of the current supply chain issues the world is facing.’

Pre-game performances

Before fans had descended on the SoFi Stadium, Sennheiser and Shure had already delivered audio for Budweiser’s Super Bowl Music Fest concert series at Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center), including the Friday performance headlined by country superstar Blake Shelton.

Once again, Shelton’s crew depended on Sennheiser Digital 6000: ‘Anytime we are going into a big stadium we are nervous about RF these days because you just never know what it is going to look like,’ says monitor engineer, Brad Baisley. ‘With the Sennheiser Digital 6000, we have much better spectrum efficiency, and it can help us fit in frequencies where we need them.’

Shelton sang through a Sennheiser e 935 wired microphone, as did all the background vocal singers. ‘The 935 suits Blake’s voice beautifully so I see no reason to try anything else,’ says Baisley. ‘Blake uses wedge monitors,’ he continues. ‘In this application I get really good gain before feedback on the 935s, with a little condenser-like top end — even though it is a dynamic mic. I never had Blake sing into anything other than the 935 in ten years. It has a broad frequency response without an overbearing top end.’

Shelton’s backline saw Sennheiser mics on drums, with an evolution e 602 and e 901 on the kick drum, an e 905 on the snare, e 904s on the rack toms and an e 902 on the floor tom. For the hi-hat and ride cymbals, Baisley deploys e 914 small-diaphragm microphones and for cymbal spot microphones, Neumann KM 185 super-cardioid microphones. For guitar and pedal steel cabinets, he uses a combination of e 906 and MD 421 dynamic microphones. Finally, Baisley had Sennheiser e 906s, permanently mounted inside the top part of the Hammond B3’s Leslie with the low roll-off switch engaged. Meanwhile, the lower rotor is miked with an e 902. ‘That’s a great combo to capture the full spectrum of the instrument,’ he says.

The concert series also included performances on Axient Digital, including Machine Gun Kelly who sported a custom pink ADX2 transmitter with an SM58 capsule, Halsey, Gwen Stefani, Green Day and Mickey Guyton. Miley Cyrus was on a wired Shure 565SD and her horn section relied on Shure KSM313 ribbon mics. Shure’s PSM 1000 in-ear personal monitoring system was used by Machine Gun Kelly, Halsey, Gwen Stefani, Green Day and Mickey Guyton. Gwen Stefani and Green Day’s crew used the wide-band UHF spectrum scanning, analysis, and frequency coordination of Shure’s AXT600 spectrum manager for their sets.

At this year’s NFL Honors broadcast, ATK called on 16 channels of Axient Digital handhelds and belt packs, eight channels of UHF-R for the centre tube and guitar packs, 16 Shure TwinPlex omnidirectional lavaliers and 12 channels of the PSM 1000 in-ear monitoring system for the band and orchestra. The handheld microphones used for NFL Honors, including those used by host Keegan Michael-Key, were Shure KSM9s. The host and award show participants were equipped with a mix of AD1 and AD2 transmitters.

‘I was extremely happy to have Shure Axient wireless mics on NFL Honors,’ says Paul Wittman, production sound mixer for this year’s broadcast. ‘I love the clear and natural sound Shure mics deliver, which is so important to me for TV mixes.’

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