Sennheiser captures the sound of the World Cup

A total of 36 Esfera microphones (SPM 8000) will collect 5.1 surround sound in the twelve stadiums.

The host broadcaster of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Host Broadcast Service (HBS), is employing the new Esfera surround microphone system Sennheiser, which produces 5.1 surround sound from a compact stereo microphone.

An HBS spokesperson acknowledges that "for us, high-quality images and sound go hand in hand. With Esfera we can easily create 5.1 sound, even in post-production. Due to their compact construction and the small amount of cabling required, the Esfera microphones will be used in a variety of areas in stadiums including the player tunnel and the outskirts of the stadium to capture the atmosphere of Chamber 1 with 5.1 stereo sound."

A total of 36 Esfera microphones (SPM 8000) will record the sound in the twelve stadiums. Meanwhile, at the International Broadcast Centre, two Sphere processing units (SPB 8000) will be used to produce 5.1 sound from stereo signals.

Sound in the target area will be captured using around 300 shotgun microphones, including long-range microphones such as the MKH 8070 to achieve very precise recording of distant sound sources; MKH 8060 short shotgun microphones, as well as MKH 418-S stereo shotgun microphones. Likewise, the MD 46 coverage microphones will also be in action on the edge of the field.

Un total de 24 transmisores plug-on de la serie 2000 se utilizará para los micrófonos inalámbricos tipo boom y para los micrófonos MKH 8060 montados en las spidercam.

Cada equipo de cámara tendrá además un juego para cobertura inalámbrica (compuesto por un receptor de cámara EK 2000, un transmisor de bolsillo SK 2000, y un micrófono de solapa MKE 1), así como un micrófono cableado para reporteros MD 46. La señal de audio será monitoreada a través de audífonos HD 25 de Sennheiser.