Event technical production specialists Ampere was recently contracted by production company Helium to install a d&b audiotechnik surround sound system for the Silwerskerm Film Festival, a celebration of Afrikaans filmmaking held annually in the Camps Bay suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. 

The requirement was for an industry-compliant 5.1 cinema audio installation to address an audience of around 420 attendees, involving a X-curve audio calibration to ensuring a cinema experience.

Ampere supplied a d&b audiotechnik sound system comprising 12 V8 line array loudspeakers in an LCR configuration with two J-subs for LFE, and six E12 point-source loudspeakers for surrounds. A combination of three D80 amplifiers and two D12 amplifiers were used to drive the system.

‘d&b’s ArrayCalc software streamlined our pre-production work, while the use of R1 software to control all amplifiers, set relative delays and adjust gains, made tuning the system accurate and straightforward,’ says Aeion Group Operation Manager, Antonio Baleiza. ‘Fine adjustments could be made as needed without physical intervention.’

The installation at the film festival came with challenges, however, as the venues circular shape and domed roof gave resonance issues. Further, a large resonant cavity behind the loudspeakers caused reflections that muddied the sound. Attention was paid to minimising sound directed toward the dome, using both physical design and sound system DSP. The tuning and calibration process also had to account for the anticipated impact of the audience on the building’s acoustics, given the high reverberation time of the space.

Ampere overcame these obstacles, delivering a surround sound system to complement the magic on screen. ‘The audience enjoyed a truly immersive viewing experience thanks to the d&b system and particularly the integration of the J-Subs for low-frequency effects,’ Baleiza says. ‘We’re pleased to have received great feedback from both attendees and the filmmakers themselves on the audio quality.’