Sound Design With Axiom; The Sound Reinforcement Issue - PROEL AXIOM - VERSION 2.0 Manual

4. Sound design with AXIOM

Vertical array systems offer a series of advantages when compared to traditional systems, and we dis-
cussed them extensively in the introduction to this manual. Nonetheless, because of the high quantity
of sources employed, vertical array systems present a natural complexity which needs to be dealt with
correctly. A careful acoustic and mechanical design when configuring the installation will help face such
complexity painlessly.
You need to spend time considering the sound reinforcement needs and the
This phase should never be omitted
the array, with regard to shape and dimensions. Thanks also to the LAC simulation software for AXIOM
Array Systems, design time is minimal and guarantees correct acoustical and mechanical installation,
ensuring performance and safety.

4.1 The sound reinforcement issue

The combination of all steps undertaken to design a sound reinforcement system for a specific event
can be defined sound design. Generally the aim is the creation of the most uniform coverage possible
with a certain pressure level over the entire audience area.
When the area that needs to be covered is limited and the sound pressure level required is not par-
ticularly high, the simplest solution is the use of a single speaker enclosure, or of a couple of enclosures
if you were to prefer a stereophonic image.
When you need provide sound coverage of large areas or to reach high pressure levels, or both, you
are forced to use speakers with a certain angular dispersion diagram or speakers which can supply a
certain power. It does not take long before you reach the physical limit beyond which single speakers
featuring such power and dispersion cannot be created, and this is the case in common situations
of professional sound reinforcement of certain dimensions. The only available solution is the use of
several speaker enclosures. Thus is born the problem of how to reach the specified coverage and
sound pressure objectives. In fact, because of the inevitable time gap between the signals reaching a
hypothetical audience, when you combine the effect of two or more sources you have to face interference
between their output.
Among all the possibilities available for the combination of several sound sources, we can single out
two categories of approach to sound reinforcement: centralized systems and distributed systems.
With a centralized system you employ a single source (actually, a combination of sources) to cover all
the area that needs to be reached, whereas with the distributed approach you employ a series of sources
positioned in different spots. These two approaches can be combined to satisfy specific needs.
1
Only when the conditions for installation are exactly the same, or close, the repetition of one installation design can be taken
into consideration.
2
We had better speak of audience areas, as they could be spatially distant, and of a certain trend for the frequency response,
as certain music genres need a marked emphasis in the lowest portion of the spectrum, while others require a flat response, or,
as for voice reinforcement systems, the band that needs to be reproduced is limited.
3
An example of a combination of both approaches is the classic concert set up with one or more delay line systems to cover a
very wide area.
installation limits when designing your array.
1
as it allows the evaluation of all possibilities for the installation of
2
.
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3
. With