The Royal Albert Hall has upgraded its in-house sound system by installing the latest cardioid technology from d&b audiotechnik, another step-change in the audio experience at the legendary London venue.
Its updated system, based around the company’s SL and CL-Series elements, is renowned for its directivity control and has been designed to deliver the highest quality audio experience yet at the historic venue, for current and future generations to enjoy.
The successful ongoing collaboration between d&b and the Hall began in 2018, when the venue underwent a major sound upgrade. A distributed system of over 400 d&b loudspeakers, designed by the supplier with input from acoustic consultancy Sandy Brown, expanded the sound quality and service on offer to visiting productions. This has seen nearly every event in the Hall since then make use of the house system.
Matthew Todd, Director of Programmingat the Royal Albert Hall, says: “Technology within live audio moves so fast, and it’s crucial to the concert experience for artists and audience that the Hall is always pushing forward and embracing cutting-edge technology within this historic space.
“In 2019, we unveiled a £2m upgrade that gave the Hall a sound system tailored to its unique requirement – and featured more loudspeakers than anywhere else in the world. This upgraded system means we can continue to get the utmost from that remarkable infrastructure, whether it’s being used to showcase world-leading artists like RAYE, community events, or up-and-coming songwriters in our Future Makers strand.”
The 2018 upgrade was hugely successful in addressing the Hall’s previous acoustic challenges, significantly improving the hall’s operational landscape. Before, it had no full-time sound personnel, but since the house sound team has grown to eight full-time staff, with access to around 30 freelance crew as needed.
The Cardioid Revolution
In the same period, d&b’s technology has continued to advance. Its systems’ cardioid performance, embodied by SL-Series and more recently CCL, can now offer a vastly more controlled sound environment to benefit audiences, artists and engineers alike.
Richard Sally-Lower, Audio Operations Manager at the Royal Albert Hall, says: “The distributed system of 2018 was remarkable – way better than anything we’d had before. The new system improves even further on that. It’s mostly like-for-like, but with newer technology. Yes, there are some extra elements – we’ve gone a little bit bigger to cater for the larger shows – but the key improvement is the cardioid aspect.”
The new installation is the result of an accumulation of innovations – with cardioid performance being central to the upgrade.
Steve Jones, Team Leader of d&b’s Education and Application Support EMEA, who led the designs of both the 2018 and 2026 upgrades, summarises, “With the distributed system design, the impact of ArrayProcessing providing that evenness of coverage everywhere, and now with the added cardioid advantage, pretty much all of the energy in that room is pointing at the audience members, and being absorbed by them. There is very little sound going anywhere else.”
KSL, XSL and CCL
Following a market comparison looking at alternative manufacturers’ systems, the chosen d&b concept – as required by the brief for the Grade I listed building – retained most of the 2018 positions and infrastructure, adding new equipment only where it improved coverage and capability.
The system sees KSL, XSL and CCL arrays, with their inherent cardioid characteristics, improve controlled directivity and clarity across the 5,272-capacity auditorium.
In total, the new installation draws on more than 140 new loudspeaker elements. The main left and right hangs, 12 deep, are KSL, while XSL arrays are used for out-fills and choir positions, as well as for two entirely new central hangs intended to enhance Soundscape use.
To increase capability, additional low end is provided via a reconfigured central hang of SL-SUBs and new XSL-SUBs on the ground.
CCL arrays serve as circle delays, while 42S speakers have been added as discrete front-fills, particularly for orchestral shows, replacing the 16C column speakers employed previously. Meanwhile, the boxes and gallery speakers remained largely unchanged – with 4S speakers adding delays and a degree of ‘depth’ to the previously isolated boxes.
The entire system is driven via new 40D install amplifiers running Left, Centre, Right and Soundscape hangs.
New D90 amplifiers are installed for flown subs, while the rest of the system utilises pre-existing D80, 30D, 10D and 5D amplifiers.
Likening the improvement to the time he first heard d&b ArrayProcessing in action, Jones says, “Audiences at the Hall are going to hear the difference. It’s one of those moments where, once you hear it, you never want to go back to the old way.”
The Expansion of d&b Soundscape
The 2018 upgrade included d&b Soundscape capability to allow an additional creative offering for incoming productions if required. Now, that capability has been enhanced.
Whereas previously, its use had required additional loudspeaker hire, cabling, amplifiers and labour, this new upgrade has added permanent, flown XSL hangs dedicated to Soundscape, to avoid the setup burden. It also expanded from two DS100 processors to three of the latest DS110 units (including one for redundancy), increasing the available output capacity, and therefore system resolution.
Sally-Lower explains, “We’re finding that touring productions are increasingly asking for Soundscape, but we also use it for our own productions, for example our seasonal run of shows in December. We also see value in using it proactively to enhance the service we offer clients – even when it’s not a specific client request.”
A Big Step Forward
The new system marks a milestone for the sound of this challenging room. Importantly, as well as being effective right now, it lays the ground for the future progression – maximising both the Hall’s reputation and its investment.
Jones says, “With an iconic venue like the Royal Albert Hall, where there’s history in the brick, you can’t just keep moving the PA every five years. You’ve got to respect the building and get the design right. Here, we’ve put in not just a PA, but infrastructure that will last through generations of PA. In 2026, we’re using pretty much every point installed in 2018, without changing that infrastructure. That’s a testament to the right questions being asked during the first project.”
Sally-Lower concludes, “This system is a massive benefit for such a reverberant space. It’s such a challenging room to put a show into, and this is another really important step forward in improving that. And that improvement is across the whole system – not just a small part of it.”
