The new venue will be showcased for the first time through a series of U2 concerts, debuting on September 29, 2023 and marking the venue's official public opening. The audio system was one of the major reasons the band chose Sphere as the home of their 25-show residency. Postcard from Earth, the first Sphere Experience directed by prolific filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, debuts October 6 and will additionally utilize the full technological capabilities of Sphere, including Sphere Immersive Sound.
Sphere Entertainment is the live entertainment and media company created to manage the Sphere in Las Vegas and others in the planning stages around the world. The goal is to create next-generation entertainment venues powered by cutting-edge technologies. Sphere Entertainment includes MSG Networks, which operates two regional sports and entertainment networks, MSG Network and MSG Sportsnet, as well as a direct-to-consumer and authenticated streaming product, MSG+, delivering a wide range of live sports content and other programming.
Sphere Immersive Sound is the world’s largest concert-grade audio system and was specifically developed for Sphere’s unique curved interior. It consists of approximately 1,600 permanently installed and 300 mobile Holoplot X1 Matrix Array loudspeaker modules and includes a total of 167,000 individually amplified speaker drivers. This also allows for custom audio to be played at different parts of the venue, offering a truly individualized experience where audience members can hear entirely different content, sound effects, or even languages depending on where they’re seated.
The system utilizes Holoplot’s next-generation 3D Audio-Beamforming and Wave Field Synthesis technology to transform how audio is delivered in large-scale venues. This results in controlled, consistent, and crystal-clear concert-grade audio for audiences of up to 20,000 people, providing each audience member with a truly exceptional and personalized listening experience. The entire sound system is completely hidden behind the Sphere's 160,000 square foot interior LED display plane. Any audio transmission losses are fully compensated for by Holoplot's algorithms in the optimization engine, resulting in clear, full-range sound with virtually no coloration and a completely unobstructed visual LED surface – which wraps up, over and around the audience and combines with Sphere Immersive Sound to create a fully immersive environment.
"The beauty of Sphere is not only the ground-breaking technology that will make it so unique, with the world’s most advanced audio system integrated into a structure which is designed with sound quality as a priority; it’s also the possibilities around immersive experiences in real and imaginary landscapes. In short, it’s a canvas of an unparalleled scale and image resolution, and a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We all thought about it and decided we’d be mad not to accept the invitation," says U2’s The Edge.
"Sphere Immersive Sound is a cornerstone of the custom-designed technology that will make Sphere unlike any venue, anywhere in the world, providing audio with unmatched clarity and precision to every guest, no matter where they are seated," adds David Dibble, CEO, MSG Ventures, a division of Sphere Entertainment. "Creating this experience required us to go far beyond existing audio technology, and in Holoplot we found a partner at the forefront of innovation to help achieve our vision and truly transform what is possible with audio."
Traditional loudspeaker technology in large-scale venues can result in audio quality that diminishes as distance from the speakers increases, due to the uncontrolled nature of sound wave propagation. Holoplot's patented technology uses intelligent software algorithms to create unique, highly controlled, and more efficient soundwaves than conventional speakers, ensuring that levels and quality remain consistent from point of origin to destination – even over large distances. Holoplot’s propriety beamforming technology can also simultaneously send unique audio content to specific locations in the venue, optimizing the whole experience for each seating area.
Sphere Immersive Sound utilizes Holoplot's unique Wave Field Synthesis capabilities, a spatial audio rendering technique that leverages virtual acoustic environments. With conventional audio technology, the perceived origin of a sound has traditionally been the location of the loudspeaker. Using Wave Field Synthesis, sound designers can create a virtual point of origin, which can then be placed in a precise spatial location. This enables audio to be directed to the listener so that it sounds close, even though the source is far away – for example, an audience member could hear a whisper that sounds like someone is talking directly in their ear.
Since its founding in 2011, Berlin-based Holoplot has been at the forefront of audio innovation, using 3D Audio Beamforming and Wave Field Synthesis technology to develop groundbreaking audio systems. The multi-award-winning company has received global recognition for its patented technology, and with its unique 3D sound capabilities drew the attention of MSG Ventures – which is responsible for developing the advanced technologies used to create immersive experiences for Sphere.
The installed system has two venue coverage modes that are both completely unique to Sphere, yet easily accessible to operators and the show control system. The Full Venue Coverage Mode sets each Audio Array to cover the entire venue evenly and will be used mostly for large concerts and residencies. An Immersive Coverage Mode is designed for more intimate experiences by setting the pattern of each Audio Array to cover Sphere’s 10,000 immersive seats and will be used for Sphere Experiences, including Postcard from Earth.
Each coverage mode automatically adjusts and compensates for changes in atmospheric conditions such as temperature and humidity, allowing the venue to provide a consistent sound quality regardless of the current environmental conditions. The venue’s specially designed acoustics absorb as much sound as possible, allowing Sphere Immersive Sound to create acoustical conditions from cavernous to intimate depending on the creative intent of a specific performance. The acoustical condition in Sphere can change on demand from show to show — and even throughout a show.
"From the beginning, Holoplot has been focused on radically transforming audio technology, rethinking the underlying physics of sound reproduction as we know it," says Roman Sick, CEO, Holoplot. "Working alongside Sphere Studios on Sphere Immersive Sound has been a truly thrilling opportunity for our team – challenging us to extend the boundaries of our technology at an unparalleled scale and create a revolutionary listening experience."
The Sphere sound installation powered by Holoplot is just one aspect of the advanced technologies that will work together in the new venue to create extraordinary immersive experiences that activate the senses. In addition to Sphere Immersive Sound and the interior LED display plane, Sphere also features patented 4D technologies such as infrasound haptic seating, and various atmospheric and environmental effects, such as warm breezes, evocative scents and changing temperatures, to create multi-sensory experiences that take storytelling to an entirely new level.
Sphere will open its doors on September 29 with the first of U2's 25 performances of "U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere," and the Darren Aronofsky-directed Sphere Experience, Postcard from Earth, will debut on October 6. Tickets are currently on sale at thespherevegas.com.
Sphere intends to redefine the future of live entertainment and create a venue where the foremost artists, creators, and technologists will create extraordinary experiences that take storytelling to a new level and transport audiences to places both real and imagined. The venue will host original Sphere Experiences from leading Hollywood directors; concerts and residencies from the world’s biggest artists; and premier marquee events.
www.sphereentertainmentco.com
www.holoplot.com
All images courtesy Sphere Entertainment
