Electro-Voice weatherised line arrays, high-output point-source systems and Dynacord networked processing electronics have been deployed across the new 60,000-seat stadium at the Greater Bay Area Sports and Cultural Centre in Guangzhou, China. Both marques operate as sister brands within Keenfinity Group’s professional audio portfolio, pairing Electro-Voice acoustic design with Dynacord amplification, DSP and system control.
Designed by Guangdong Province Architecture Design Institute, integrated by Beijing Aotewei Technology and installed by Guangzhou Gulaudio Technology, the sound reinforcement package addresses high reverberation, complex multi-tier stand geometries and severe coastal humidity and salinity. The main bowl coverage is anchored by Electro-Vo
ice X1i installation line array elements, divided into five hangs of 14 enclosures in the west stand, five hangs of six in the east stand, and five hangs of 12 across both the north and south stands.
Field-of-play coverage for opening ceremonies and field events is delivered by six Electro-Voice MTS series high-SPL point-source loudspeakers capable of up to 154dB peak SPL. Uniform coverage across under-balconies, fills and auxiliary areas was calculated using Electro-Voice PREVIEW prediction software, incorporating EVH horn-loaded enclosures, portable ZX5 cabinets on the VIP rostrum, and 66 ZX1i compact loudspeakers across the viewing deck.
Amplification and DSP are driven entirely by Dynacord hardware. A fleet of 29 IPX5:4 and four IPX10:4 multichannel DSP amplifiers power the loudspeaker system, linked to six MXE5-64 Matrix Mix Engines. System management, zone control and monitoring are configured via Dynacord SONICUE Sound System Software and accessible to operators through five TPC-1 wall-mount touch controllers.
The networked infrastructure runs over a fully redundant IP network architecture using Dante with hot-standby switching, paired with parallel analogue fallback lines and dual power supply paths.
Freddy Zhang of Electro-Voice said: “The stadium required long throw distances while significant height differences among upper, middle, and lower stands made it difficult to achieve consistent SPL and even coverage for both near-field and far-field listening areas. Added to this, there were heavy reverberation and multi-path sound reflections that created major difficulties in meeting national STI standards for speech intelligibility. To meet these needs, the team opted for X1i arrays which deliver long throw performance and precise constant directivity control.”
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