L-Acoustics brings power and flexibility to NDR's Landesfunkhaus Niedersachsen in Hannover

The powerful Kiva II and the flexible Series A update the sound of the NDR's Kleiner Sendesaal and Großer Sendesaal auditoriums.

Among the beauty of royal parks and palaces, green strips and museums, Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, is home to the Lower Saxony State Broadcasting Center, one of the most recognized landmarks in the region and part of the regional public broadcaster Radiotelevision North Germany (NDR).

In its emblematic building there is Smaller Mission Hall, a 350-seat venue that hosts a number of corporate and music events, along with the Large broadcast hall, with 1,250 seats, which has been used mainly for the Radio Philharmonie of the NDR, which produces more than one hundred concerts each year. This summer, both venues received a major audio upgrade designed around the ultra-compact L acoustics, the powerful Kiva II and the flexible A Series.

Both venues host events ranging from live music to cinema concerts with cinema sound, and the existing sound system did not meet the demands for high-quality sound reinforcement. Ingo Black, head of the music production team at the Landesfunkhaus in Lower Saxony, comments that “increasing sound quality requirements, together with the demands of incoming productions, led us to look for a new optimized sound system that would usher us into a new era of audio.”

After an evaluation of the available solutions, the NRD looked at two systems and commissioned Theapro to start the final comparison round. L-Acoustics was the winner in both the technical sound measurement and the hearing tests. “Apart from the requirement for distortion-free reproduction of certain acoustic levels such as headroom, the list of key criteria included achieving the most uniform possible coverage of the entire auditorium,” continues Schwarze.

“We also needed a system that would eliminate reflections from the walls, achieve high speech intelligibility and attenuate sound on stage,” he adds.

Architectural requirements

In addition to sound quality considerations, the team was working on architectural requirements. There were clearly defined anchor points with weight limitations, height restrictions for cinema performances where the hung speakers had to be away from the cinema screen, and pre-configured placement of side and front fillers.

With L-Acoustics confirmed as the system of choice for both rooms, L-Acoustics Sales Director, Sebastian Wittrock, y Martin Rode, head of application at Install, began creating the system design. The final configuration for the Großer Sendesaal comprises left/right systems of seven Kiva IIs and two SB15ms in cardioid arrangement.

Tres subwoofers L-Acoustics SB18m have been placed on each side of the stage, while five Kiva IIs have been deployed for side fill. For the front, nine coaxial speakers 5XT They are spaced evenly across the stage, ensuring fully distributed sound throughout the auditorium.

“Kiva II excels in the large room, where the hexagonal floor plan makes it exceptionally difficult to achieve even sound distribution,” says Schwarze. "Previously, we had major problems with reflections, frequency cancellations, and resulting poor speech intelligibility. With Kiva II, those problems have been greatly improved," he concludes.

The Kleiner Sendesaal boasts of having a A10 Focus and a A10 Wide hanging left/right. Two SB18m subwoofers have been placed on the left and right, again in cardioid mode, continues Schwarze. “The A-Series was chosen for the small room because the team wanted a full-range system that could also be very versatile, since submarines cannot be flown or placed there,” explains Wittrock. “The variable directivity of the Panflex A Series gives us the ability to direct dispersion in the horizontal plane, avoiding unnecessary reflections on walls.”

Schwarze particularly appreciates the fact that the SB18m subwoofers are mobile. “We can use them in both rooms, depending on the sound requirements, which is great for our return on investment,” he emphasizes.

The complete implementation of the system was carried out by the company Amptown System.

"We are really satisfied with the system design for both rooms. Our first experiences with the overall sound are extremely positive, especially the low-frequency range which, even without using the SB18m mobile subwoofers, is impressive. We are looking forward with great interest to the first post-pandemic shows with physical audiences and are sure that they will appreciate the excellent sonic quality of the new system," concludes Schwarze.