L-ISA lands in Singapore
L-ISA lands in Singapore
Concept Systems Technologies Pte Ltd has opened its doors to the first immersive hyperreal sound demonstration suite and showroom in the south east Asia region. Having added its AV signature over two decades to a wide portfolio of hotels, houses of worship, theatres and hospitality venues in Singapore and beyond, the systems integrator is now making its presence felt as a major supplier and distributor. Having assumed responsibility for the Symetrix, Martin Lighting and AOTO brands since 2018, the Ubi-based setup turned heads having been appointed as an official Certified Distributor for L-Acoustics in late 2019.
Despite unavoidable delays created by Singapore’s circuit breaker programme, the L-ISA Auditoria opened its doors to invited guests this week. Located in Ubi, the 220m2 space is divided between the L-ISA Auditoria for promoting a multidimensional sound experience and a training centre/showroom. In addition to hosting audio demonstrations, the L-ISA presentation relies on 4K video content being transmitted to the audience from a large AOTO LED wall.
The L-ISA experience is achieved through speaker deployment and by object-based sound mixing that places audio objects in a 3D space. An L-ISA multichannel audio processor lies at the heart of the operations. Controlled by the L-ISA Controller software, the object-based 3D audio processor controls pan, width, distance and elevation for up to 96 objects. “With the L-ISA immersive setup, it's not like you install the speakers to the left and right of the stage and off you go,” explained Concept Systems Technologies director of sales Gerald Fong. “Various speaker hangs are placed across the stage, on the sides and on the ceiling in order to immerse and envelop the audience in sound.”
The setup comprises seven X8 speakers and four SYVA subs with a surround sound consisting of seven 5XTs together with another six 5XT coaxials installed overhead. “For the L-ISA presentations and demonstrations, we have to strictly adhere to the protocols and we only just recently embarked on a three-day training programme prior to the official opening,” furthered Fong. “Our target audience is primarily theatre owners who want to know more about immersive audio, although we are also targeting house of worship leaders. Theatre audiences, technicians, show designers and producers will really appreciate this technology when they experience it.”
Intended to be a unique audio experience for the invited guests, the four-day event has also taken Concept Systems Technologies out of its comfort zone as sales and business development director Jimmy Lim explained. “For a product launch prior to Covid-19, we would have welcomed and expected hundreds of people to come and experience whatever we were promoting on one single day. However, owing to the restrictions created by Covid-19, the L-ISA listening experience has in many ways been enhanced. As such, we are hosting three sessions with six guests each over four days. These private groups experience a more exclusive presentation followed by a more intimate Q&A session. Whilst most Singaporeans know about immersive audio, not all of them have experienced it. I believe that we have picked an ideal time to introduce and demonstrate the L-ISA concept, whilst the theatre sector remains in limbo.”
Having been forced to self-isolate for a full week upon entry into Singapore, L-Acoustics APAC director of application projects, Alvin Koh, was happy to conduct the full training programmes. “As the Concept Systems team had not been trained and was being asked to provide details on L-ISA, we decided to host these sessions. So, the decision to create the L-ISA Auditoria took things to a new level and we had to properly prepare a system for a live show. They have built a great place where engineers will in future be able to book a slot to prepare their works, including the control”
The permanent L-ISA setup will be put to good use, continued Koh. “To a listener, the audio may appear three-dimensional, but technically I would say that we are transforming an audio signal and turning it into an object. This is because the audio incorporates metadata of a special location and we can move the sound object within the sound field in the room. Once the engineers become familiarised with the controller and the workflow, they will become increasingly confident and speed up. Many engineers who have attended our demonstrations have gone on to accept and use L-ISA. We are fortunate to be able to work with such forward-thinking technicians who are willing to take up the challenge and use the technology.”