Long-running live music venue PAARD in The Hague has installed a new sound system from d&b audiotechnik, including the first permanent d&b Soundscape installation in The Netherlands.
Among the Benelux region’s top live music and club destinations since opening in 1972, the venue hosts a diverse programme events – from spoken word and punk, to international pop, DJs and club nights – in its two spaces. The largest, The Grote Zaal (officially the Grolsch Zaal), has room for 1,100, while the Kleine Zaal holds up to 350. Recently, after seven years of service from the previous sound systems, the time had come for a renewal in both.
‘Keeping up with new technologies is essential, but being forward-thinking is even better,’ says Head of Technical, Wauter Wormser. ‘For us, sound is about treating the audience, and making the musical experience as powerful as possible.’
Having already explored immersive sound possibilities, the PAARD team decided to push technology boundaries in the Kleine Zaal, and opted for a d&b Soundscape system. This would be the first permanent d&b Soundscape installation in The Netherlands, and the first immersive sound system in a Benelux live music venue. The 360° d& set-up comprises A-Series loudspeakers paired with XSL-Subs, plus further A-Series cabinets for delays and E3s for surrounds.
‘We want to keep surprising our audience and allow them to experience music as intensely as possible,’ Wormser explains. ‘Even a simple left-right recording immediately sounds richer and more spacious through intelligent use of the software and the truly masterful reverb within Soundscape’s En-Space module.
‘I believe we’ll now be able to focus much more on making music together with the artists, instead of worrying about the colouration of the room or fighting with channel EQ, or bus summing just to make individual sources audible.’
The Amptec installation team was led by Project Manager Bob Roodenburg, with Steven Aerts as Technical Lead.
For PAARD’s main space, Amptec supplied and installed a d&b KSL system whose directivity control allows a quieter stage area and improved clarity, as well as control of off-site noise for noise regulations compliance.
The system uses two flown arrays, each of eight KSL8 cabinets with a KSL-Sub, plus a further four KSL-Subs at ground level. Six clusters of AL60 cover the upper balcony, with eight 44S cabinets as under-balcony delays, and four Y7P and Y10P point source cabinets for out fill. Monitoring on the otherwise ‘quieter’ stage is via 14 M4s and a pair of CCL-Subs.
‘The SL-Series is one of the most revolutionary developments of the past decade,’ Wormser says. ‘The quieter the stage, the more control you retain in the audience area, allowing all the different instruments to be heard. At FOH, we no longer have to deal with the enormous amount of indirect sound. We think it’s important to keep looking for ways to reduce sound pressure levels without compromising the experience. Thanks to d&b’s KSL and ArrayProcessing technology, we can reduce SPLs without compromise.
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