Sony Hall

Sony Hall produces events that load in and load out within a day. A sound engineer needs to walk up to the system with an understanding of how it works so they can accomplish their goal quickly. The workflow at Sony Hall facilitates that in the simplest of ways. Each console bus out connects with an input of Soundscape. The engineer performs their sound check in the same manner they always do, with the enhancement of object placement utilising En-Scene. The stage layout for the band’s rider is matched with Soundscape and refined during the sound check, providing a cleaner sonic experience since the level and time arrival from the performer to each audience member is aligned with a simple graphical interface. This setup additionally allows room acoustics to be added with the convolution reverberation provided by En-Space at the flip of a switch, making the venue to sound less like a basement and more like concert hall.

Blue Note Entertainment Group wanted a flexible and adaptable space that can suit the needs of many types of events. There were multiple design challenges due to the low ceilings and reluctance to renovate this historic space below the Paramount Hotel. With an installation timeline of 40 days between the first day in the venue to the first public audience, there was little room for error. The solution was to install a d&b Soundscape system. Sony has a proprietary immersive playback technology bypassing the Soundscape system, but most of the performances at Sony Hall use Soundscape in a variety of different ways: creating a four-corner system with objects for DJs, localising acoustic sources on stage with En-Scene, and creating effects with non-acoustic sources using En-Scene and En-Space with the surround loudspeakers.

A new concert hall in the heart of New York City’s Times Square, Sony Hall, is the American venue that pioneered the Soundscape technology. This technology is able to create an expansive, immersive sonic experience and support a diverse range of artists from major hip-hop acts to rock n’ roll legends. So far, Sony Hall has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from artists, technicians, and audiences regarding their experience in front of a Soundscape system. Sony Hall proudly established its presence with the first Soundscape installation in North America making it a go-to performance venue, raising the bar on everyone’s expectations for installed sound systems in music venues. This complex idea and installation is achieved with simple execution and has led to artists and audiences wanting to return to this venue on a regular basis.