The S.Muse nightclub, which opened recently in the Tanggu district of Tianjin, is deriving all its music power from a combination of highly efficient Powersoft process-controlled amplification and a premium EAW Avalon dedicated club system.
Synonymous with art and high fashion, the new 600-capacity Muse is the latest in this top entertainment brand. Opening in the fashionable, newly created Binhai area, it is part of a growing chain of more than 18 chic Muse nightclubs, started by property developer You Chaoneng and spread across the country. The brand has become a byword in elegance and a high-octane sound and light experience is high on the agenda.
Sanecore Audio, Powersoft’s Chinese distributor, first sent Powersoft amplifiers and EAW loudspeakers to Tainjin for evaluation last year and then provided this winning combination again for the 2013 Muse Group Annual Board Meeting when the board of directors gave a resounding thumbs-up to these leading brands.
With the operators setting extremely high demands on sound quality, Sanecore’s Alan Ho said that getting Powersoft and EAW specified represented a real breakthrough: “We maintained good communication with the club owners throughout the process and proved that we could deliver optimal sound quality.
“We demonstrated Powersoft’s reliability and high output, with an impressive power factor of more than 0.95. We also stressed the high signal-to-noise ratio and damping factor, with four presets on board and selection button. They experienced the excellent sonic quality and amp clip limiters and patented ripple cancellation network.”
Other important issues were rack space economy from the 1U devices (part of the overall efficiency), and the way in which Powersoft was able to convert the energy into raw high power, while its 2Ω channel impedance compensation is able to minimise the wire loss.
Overall, said Ho, Sanecore was able to sell the Powersoft solution on the strength of its built-in DSP, with each channel configured fully parametric EQ, and clip limiter. The Ethernet interface for system set-up, monitoring and control was the icing on the cake.
The system design over the two floors needed to compensate for a lot of hard surfaces (and the resulting sound reflections). “When we design a sound system, we try and place the loudspeakers in optimised locations, so as to avoid aiming at those reflectors. This also requires a sophisticated tuning process,” said Ho.
To accomplish this, Sanecore turned to Powersoft’s flagship K series amplifiers, said to set a new benchmark in switch mode amplification, providing high power with the lowest weight and highest efficiency.
Four K10 amplifiers (2000W per channel into 8Ω), 22 x K3 (1400W per channel into 8Ω) and nine M28Q 4-channel amplifiers (offering 360W per channel into 1U) have been specified. All these amplifiers offer remote control and advanced signal processing abilities through Powersoft’s Armonía Pro Audio Suite.
These modules are assigned to four EAW Avalon Club.two and Avalon Sub.two enclosures — with an Avalon Club.four serving as DJ monitors — along with EAW JF59 full range system in the first floor lounge area (with dual 18in subs providing LF extension). These are processed through EAW’s dedicated UX8800 DSP and mixed through an Allen & Heath GLD-080/X.
Of the new nightclub audio design, the venue’s manager, Mr Sun, believes the sonic performance sets a new standard. “I think the performance of the sound system and sound effects has been taken to extremes; it sounds really amazing!” he said.