In a former bicycle workshop in Amsterdam, the first complete 360° L-ISA immersive configuration has transformed the space and the expectation for nightclub experiences. The Other Side is a nightclub as well as a record label and agency representing DJs and producers, and it’s leading European nightlife with its new spatial audio system. The world’s first nightclub to offer an L-ISA immersive experience, The Other Side’s main, 900-capacity room has a fully immersive 14.1.5 L-ISA configuration designed to wrap the audience in a 360-degree auditory experience. The system offers a unique and creative palette for artists and takes the nightclub experience to a whole new level for revelers.
Doeshka Vrede and Jasper Löwik are the multi-hyphenate duo behind The Other Side. In addition to owning and managing the club, both are producers, musicians, and artist managers as well, and explained that from the outset, optimum audio quality was at the forefront of their minds. “The Other Side is a place where artists grow, creativity flows, and self-expression is the name of the game,” explains Vrede. “If you start a club like this, the main product has to be sound.” The couple has worked with Stefan Liem, sound engineer and spatial audio expert, to ensure their vision. Liem, already familiar with L-Acoustics and L-ISA spatial technology, welcomed the chance to get it onto a real-life dance floor.
Working with Netherlands-based L-Acoustics Certified Provider Audio Solvation, Liem designed a 5.1 Scene system comprised of one A15 Focus and one A15 Wide per hang. Nine X12 coaxial enclosures provide surround, three each on the left, right, and back walls. Five further X12 are placed in the ceiling for overhead sound. Two stacks of four KS21 subwoofers are placed on 360SOUND Next level immersive nightclubs either side of the stage for low-end extension, and two X8 coaxials are situated near the DJ booth for front-fill.
The system is powered by one LA7.16i and five LA4X amplified controllers. The system turns the venue into a creative instrument. Visiting DJs choose how they wish to use the technology – they can perform in stereo using L-ISA Stereo Mapper functionality, or they can delve into the full immersive capacities and explore the creative potential of L-ISA to the fullest, with Liem’s guidance.
“L-ISA is amazing,” says Liem. It was really important for The Other Side to be at the forefront of technology, to bring new experiences to our audience, and to have a high level of involvement from the artists who want to use it. L-ISA has been much more stable than other immersive technologies that I’ve worked with. We needed everything to work seamlessly, and L-ISA does that.”
Looking forward, Vrede is excited about what the future holds for The Other Side and how they can continue to push boundaries. “Many people talk about the sound system being the best in Amsterdam. It’s a new experience for both the audience and the performers. Everyone is excited to be a part of it.”
At AREA15, the new art and entertainment district located minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, visitors should expect the unexpected. Behind the looming exterior façade, the vast, 200,000 square-foot interior houses a collection of themed retail and entertainment options, all surrounded by an air of cosmic mystery. One principal attraction of the multivenue space is a space called “The Portal” where, behind imposing metal doors, visitors can plunge into a 360-degree projection-mapped video experience supported by immersive audio enabled by Meyer Sound’s new Spacemap Go spatial sound design and live mixing tool.
The 6,584 square foot Portal was initially conceived to compete with the posh hotel ballrooms on the Las Vegas Strip while offering its own unique ambiance. To that end, the projection systems were designed for four-wall coverage allowing surround video for the entire space, or for one or two walls when the room is subdivided into smaller spaces.
The opening of AREA15 was delayed by the pandemic, and when the public finally was admitted the total numbers had to be limited to about 25% capacity. That put most meetings and party events out of the picture. Fortunately, with a boost from Spacemap Go, the Portal was transformed into an immersive experience where visitors could stay distanced in the spacious room.
“When Steve Ellison of Meyer Sound first introduced me to Spacemap Go, I didn’t quite get it,” admits David Johngrass, production manager at AREA15. “I figured I could do much the same thing with our digital console. But he pointed out that I would have to do things like bounce out a new track, and then drop it back into the show file. But with Spacemap Go I could do it on the fly, in real time, and here in the space so I know exactly the effect I’m getting. That’s when it clicked. This is huge, I thought.”
Some basic spatial sound trajectories were incorporated into the first experience in The Portal, Gallerie 360, a 30-minute sound and light exhibition by digital artists Darpan and Max Cooper. “We’ve just scratched the surface with Spacemap Go,” says Johngrass. “But over the coming months, we will be using it big time as we start pumping out more theatrical shows where we can fully utilize these tools.”
The overhead Meyer Sound system supporting Spacemap Go — along with the other presentation modes — comprises 12 ULTRA-X42 loudspeakers in a 3 x 4 grid pattern. Deep bass is augmented by two 750-LFC low-frequency control elements, while the GALAXY 816 Network Platform, originally specified only for loudspeaker processing, now also accommodates Spacemap Go’s spatial sound mixing.
In addition to the overhead system, the pre-COVID-19 plans also called for a direct reinforcement system suitable for both meetings and nightclub-style celebrations. For this application, Solotech specified a Meyer Sound system anchored by 10 LEOPARD line array loudspeakers bolstered on the bottom end by four 1100-LFC and two 900-LFC low-frequency control elements. Rounding out the system are four ULTRA-X40 loudspeakers for fills, four MJF210 stage monitors, and a second GALAXY 816 for system drive and optimization.
The system integrator was Solotech, under the general direction of Aaron Beck, business development executive and senior engineer. Also contributing were Design Engineer and Programmer Brandon Andreasen and Project Manager Kevin Roberts.
The installation also features a new state-of-the-art HOLOPLOT sound system in The Portal. This upgrade establishes The Portal as a top-tier venue for audio excellence, sharing HOLOPLOT DNA with its sister venue The Sphere.
The newly installed sound system features four X1 Modul 96 and four X1 Modul 80-S from HOLOPLOT, now owned by Sphere Entertainment. Unlike traditional sound systems, the HOLOPLOT X1 system utilizes 3D Audio Beamforming and DSP to direct sound with pinpoint accuracy, creating an enveloping audio environment without relying on increased decibel levels. This technology enables sounds to be steered precisely, focusing on target areas only and thereby enhancing clarity and detail without the usual spread and loss of sound quality in large spaces.
“Integrating HOLOPLOT’s revolutionary audio technology with our existing Meyer LFC1100 subwoofers elevates the auditory experience to match the stunning visual capabilities of our Panasonic 4K projectors,” said JD Bouck, director of production, AREA15. “This upgrade is part of our commitment to providing unparalleled sensory experiences for all our visitors.”
Imaginary Immersive
Immersive technology doesn’t just enliven nightclubs in real life. David Byrne’s Broadway musical Here Lies Love is set in an imaginary immersive nightclub—it was the first Broadway show to take advantage of the L-Acoustics L-ISA immersive spatial sound system, comprising more than 220 L-Acoustics loudspeakers, supplied by L-Acoustics Certified Partner PRG.
For the production, Scenic Designer David Korins gave the Broadway Theatre’s classic layout a major transformation, converting the venue’s traditional proscenium floor space into a dance club environment by first removing all of the orchestra seats. There, standing audience members can enjoy moving with the performers, acting as an integral part of the story. For those preferring to sit, there are multiple options: two 90-footlong rows of elevated gallery seats flanking and overlooking the left and right sides of the dance floor; a large mezzanine; and an exclusive Club Lounge section located just under the front mezzanine. Suffice to say, such a unique theatrical space and wide variety of audience geometries required a complex sound design.
“Here Lies Love is a unique show in which the audience blends with the performers; it can be experienced from the dance floor, from seats around the dance floor, or seated in a traditional setting,” says Sound Designer Cody Spencer, who co-designed the show with M.L. Dogg. “We actually have six different zones that we are controlling with two L-ISA Processors, which we’re running in tandem. We have an L-ISA Processor doing the dance floor’s 360-degree sound, and then we have another one for the frontal system, which is the voices in the front with surrounds and stuff all around. Where L-ISA came in really handy here is to give people up in the mezzanines the experience of sound going around them and not just in front of them, because with most theatrical experiences, the sound is only in front of you.”
The fully immersive dance floor area is covered by 14 L-Acoustics A Series arrays: three hangs of one A15 Focus over two A15 Wide are flown above the two short ends of the rectangular floor space, while four hangs of two A10 Wide line each of the long sides of the floor. Runway fill is supplied by two centrally flown arrays of A10 Wide, with a pair of X8 providing additional fill when the axis of the runway is rotated 90 degrees. A ring of 16 compact 5XT dots the perimeter of the actor walkways surrounding the dancefloor to provide additional localized fill.
In the traditional theatre audience seating area upstairs, three more A Series arrays—each comprised of four A15 or A10—hang over the first mezzanine in an LCR arrangement while three arrays of seven Kara II cover the larger rear mezzanine. A variety of X12, X8, and X4i enclosures provide fill for other locations, including the gallery seating areas, while two dozen KS21 subs distributed around the room solidly anchor the system’s club-like low end. A total of 50 LA4X amplified controllers, all fed via Milan AVB, drive the system. The AVB feed comes from a MADI output converted from the show’s DiGiCo Quantum7T mixing console found in the house mix bunker located just under the DJ station.
Here Lies Love will close its run in November, but L-ISA’s Broadway collaboration with Spencer carries on, now supporting the smash hit The Outsiders which just earned the 2024 Tony for Best Sound Design of a Musical.
