
Eight Yamaha STAGEPAS 1K Systems Used To Showcase Immersive Live Sound posted: 22/05/2020
As an audio professional with experience stretching from the Paleo festival in the 1970s, through working with many of the world's highest profile artists, to his current role of designing high end audio installations for events and venues, Pierre-Andr Aebischer knows a thing or two about sound. This experience is why he chose Yamaha's STAGEPAS 1K all-in-one portable PA systems to demonstrate the advantages of multi-channel, immersive live audio.
Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, Pierre-Andr has always been fascinated by immersive audio. He has recently started using eight Yamaha STAGEPAS 1K systems under the banner of Superdiff.com for a range of immersive audio projects. These have included the Stokata.io invisible orchestra' project, a one-off show Les Grands Espaces, as well as a regular experimental multi-channel event Immersive, demonstrating how immersive sound can improve the live experience.
I needed some small, portable multi-channel line arrays for a system which could demonstrate immersive audio in a live music situation, he says. I needed narrow vertical coverage, wide horizontal coverage and reasonably long throw, to make sure everyone in the room had the best experience and could hear all sounds coming from all the loudspeakers. They also needed to be self-powered, with coherent amplification and processing, easily transported, and with as few cables as possible.
The STAGEPAS 1K system was an ideal solution for Pierre-Andr 's needs, thanks to its high quality reproduction and because it includes a subwoofer in each array. This lets him quickly steer the low end content from one location to another.
When moving from theory to practice with live immersive audio, there is a lot to learn, he says. It requires lower SPLs, offers cleaner, clearer sound quality and accurate localisation, delivering huge benefits for audiences. It minimises interference like comb filtering, ensuring instruments sound as much like their original source as possible. The sense of space it creates is also very reassuring for the ear/brain system, replacing the need for high SPLs from traditional systems and making for a comfortable and peaceful listening experience.
He continues, You will ideally have one loudspeaker for each instrument, making accurate localisation possible, even with your eyes closed. You can also let the listener's brain do some of the mixing. If the ears can accurately localise and isolate every instrument, the brain will naturally emphasise certain sources that it likes, while minimising others.
To prove these benefits, Pierre-Andr deploys the eight STAGEPAS 1K systems in a line or 180 arc, each system running independently and reproducing as few different instruments as possible to minimise interference.
A 360 system is perfectly adequate, but extra care is needed when using rear points for music because of the obvious timing issues for different locations within a space, he says. But people like the immersive nature of 360 sound, even if the rear speakers are just used for things like wind noise or animal sounds, so I have tended to use those for sound effects.
Pierre-Andr composes the music for all the demonstrations, recording it to a digital audio workstation (DAW) and then routing it to the loudspeakers in a variety of ways.
For the Stokata.io project, each input source was independently sent from the DAW to an individual output of a mixing console and from there to one of the STAGEPAS 1K systems, effectively using the mixer as a router. While for others, like Les Grands Espaces, the mixer pre-amplified several guitar effects, freeze and looped tracks, which were then routed to the eight output channels via an external object mixer. This allowed me to map the trajectories of sounds and pan' them across all eight loudspeaker systems, he says.
In the same way that demand for line array systems exploded in the early 2000s, I believe that the demand for live immersive audio will soon be on the verge of a huge expansion. Yamaha STAGEPAS 1K systems have helped me to open people's minds to the amazing possibilities that this brings.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...