LD Systems provides some Seoul music for VANS pop-up

LS Systems provided the audio for a pop-up event in South Korea for US shoe manufacturer VANS.

The skate brand organised a two-day pop-up event in Seoul that featured a shopping market, skate shows and DJ sets in a disused underground station.

Local audio specialist Sonic Value opted to deploy an extensive LD Systems set-up to provide optimum sound reinforcement in the challenging acoustic environment.

Ethan Yoon, head of Sonic Value’s technical team, says: “The location was a real challenge: stone surfaces almost everywhere, lots of pillars, a tubular shape and low ceilings. Due to the almost unhindered reflections from the hard surfaces, it was clear that we couldn’t play the room at high levels, but had to rely on a clever multi-zone system to avoid blind spots or a drop in level or sound quality.”
 
A double MAILA ground stack was installed as the main PA for the DJ concerts. The set-up comprised a MAILA L with two 15” MAILA SUB subwoofers for the external stereo sound reinforcement, and a MAILA M with MAILA SUBs in a two by two configuration as the internal stereo system.

Photo: Sonic View

“Our aim was to create a natural sound image throughout the room that surrounds the audience,” says Yoon. For this reason, Sonic Value added surround systems to the sides and rear of the main PA.

In addition to another MAILA S stereo system at the rear, 10 CURV 500 array systems – each consisting of a D SAT duplex satellite and an SLA SmartLink adapter – were positioned on stands at the sides and rear. Two further identical CURV 500 units were deployed in front of the DJ stage to provide sound for the front rows of the audience.

Inho Cheon, associate brand manager at Sonic Value, says: “With MAILA, we primarily covered the low- frequency range evenly for the entire location.

The CURV 500s provided support in the mid and high frequencies and ensured an immersive sound image, thanks to their precise dispersion behaviour.

“We had to adjust the angles of the MAILA satellites several times until we achieved the desired room coverage,” says Cheon. “The EasySplay mechanism made this easy. With a conventional loudspeaker system, we would probably not have been able to meet the tight timeframe.”

Photo: Sonic View

A combination of MON 15 A G3 coaxial stage monitors and STINGER SUB 15 A G3 15” bass reflex subwoofers provided powerful monitoring for the DJ stage. The entrance to the VANS store was flanked by three MAUI P900 column PAs by Porsche Design Studio.
 
In front of the DJ booth in the market area, Sonic Value placed two DAVE 18 G4X 2.1 PA systems in a DSP-supported interference-free cluster set-up, each with two closely neighbouring satellites on a T-stand above the 18” subwoofers.

Two MAUI 11 G3 column PAs served as the monitoring system for the reception-style DJ booth – one in black, one in white, based on the iconic chequerboard design of the VANS’ most famous shoes.