Orbital Sound has recently installed a d&b audiotechnik White range system at private members’ club Aura in Mayfair. This represents one of the first club installations for the new range, involving a combination of D12 and D6 amplifiers with Q-Sub, 10S-D, 8S and 5S loudspeakers – together with a Ci80 DJ monitor.
Aura has a maximum capacity of 210 in its main room and the emphasis is very much on maintaining an intimate atmosphere – in everything except in respect to its sound. Co-owner Alberto Barbieri explains what they were looking to achieve: “We wanted a system that could deliver a big sound without being in any way obvious, delivering a high SPL with an even sound and clarity. The results are truly impressive – discretely placed, compact cabinets that pack an amazing punch despite their size. The new system copes well with our wide-ranging mix of musical styles, which typically covers everything from R&B to hip hop.”
Orbital’s Tom Byrne and David Bartholomeusz supervised the project, specifying the White range as the optimum platform to give Aura clarity and high SPL levels without distortion.
Byrne explains: “With the club’s layout, the loudspeaker placement wasn’t immediately obvious, but the key to the install was to ensure that the speakers wouldn’t be obvious to the clients. This is a real advantage with d&b – the efficiency and high SPL you can achieve from such a small loudspeaker is impressive. Whereas we might have used a 12in cabinet from another manufacturer, with the White range we were able to use a 10in loudspeaker (the 10S-D) and simply adopted this formula for all the speakers in the club. They already had a couple of Q-Subs, so we augmented these to give the low-end stomach punch they wanted to achieve. Setting up the system could only be done on a busy Friday night – by using the d&b R1 and the BSS Soundweb Blu editor, we were able to EQ the venue wirelessly from the middle of the room through VNC and an iPhone. This would have been virtually impossible in the past!”
Aura’s verdict is that they have achieved a very well-balanced system that is easy to control from the amplifier rack, as well as a technological “first” – as the first club to adopt the White Range sound. The club is co-owned by Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, events and motorsport guru Jonny Dodge and supperclub owner Alberto Barbieri.
