The 2023 Beijing Xishan Forest Park Concert was recently staged in the Chinese capital’s Xishan National Forest Park. The Symphony Orchestra of the Chinese Central Ballet Troupe (China’s national ballet company) was conducted by the well-known and highly regarded Tan Lihua, who is also the conductor of the Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra. As well as being hotly anticipated, the concert also provided leading production specialist Tongbo with an ideal opportunity to deploy a CODA Audio immersive sound system for the first time.

The system was based around CODA’s latest product, the immersive sound processor Space Hub, which Tongbo had spent almost a year trialling at the CODA Audio Beijing Operations Centre. Having carefully examined the practical applications of Space Hub, Tongbo’s technical team felt that the Forest Park Concert offered the perfect environment in which to take their achievements with immersive sound out of the rehearsal facility into the real world. The team addressed two principal areas in the studio, firstly in the context of stage monitor mixes for musicians and then to enhance the experience of the audience at concerts.

Following thorough communication with the organisers of the Forest Park Concert, the go-ahead to use the immersive system was granted with their full support. Everyone involved with the project was excited to witness what could be achieved. Essentially, the team wished to provide the audience with an experience similar to sitting in an indoor concert hall while being outdoors. This was to be achieved by combining traditional stereo sound with immersive sound techniques to simulate the acoustic environment of a concert hall.

The main system deployed traditional stereo reinforcement using 8 x CODA Audio AiRAY per side for the mid to far field, supplemented by 6 x ViRAY suspended below for near-field coverage. 3 x SC2 subs per side were arranged in a heart-shaped configuration to ensure that low-frequency signals were kept away as much as possible from the stage area.

In conjunction with the main system, the Space Hub immersive system utilising its built-in acoustic processor, adopted a U-shaped layout, surrounding the audience area on the remaining three sides of the space in a 270° wraparound configuration. A distance of 6.5m separated 6 loudspeaker positions on each of the sides. Each position used 2 x HOPS8 8” full range point source loudspeakers, at heights of 1.5m and 2.5m respectively. A further four speaker positions were located at the back of the audience area, each comprising a single HOPS8 deployed at a height of 3m.

The system worked extremely well. The combination of uniform, realistic and clear musical layers delivered by the main array, enhanced by the supplementary Space Hub-based system successfully recreated the sound environment of an indoor concert hall in the beautiful setting of the Forest Park. More than a thousand people enjoyed the perfect summer night, leaving conductor Tan Lihua to express his excitement after the performance:

“The sound left a deep and lasting impression on me. It allowed every musician and listener to enjoy the fresh air of nature whilst listening to the beautiful and brilliant sounds of the concert hall!”

The concert received great critical acclaim from multiple media outlets, with the Tongbo team especially happy that their preparation and hard work had paid off. CODA Audio’s global director of Sales and Marketing, David Webster commented:

“This was a highly successful and meaningful endeavour which we believe marks a new chapter in the field of immersive sound reinforcement for live performances. The Tongbo team were painstaking in their preparations for this hybrid system which had such a positive impact. The possibilities offered by Space Hub are exciting indeed and it’s great to see our friends at Tongbo pushing the boundaries with CODA Audio technologies to achieve successes like this!”

CODA Audio