Angkasapuri Mediacity’s recent opening in Bukit Putra, Kuala Lumpur marks the dawn of a new era for the Malaysian broadcast media industry. The 18-storey office building serves as the new headquarters for Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and Malaysia’s Ministry of Information.
Launched in October last year, the building also contains within its sixty-thousand square metre space, a music recording studio, several television broadcast studios and auditoriums, and an outdoor plaza; all fully equipped with modern digital equipment and broadcasting systems. As part of the RM860 million project, its Auditorium Seri Angkasa has been installed with an L-Acoustics Kara system to ensure a modern live audio solution that will cater to its broadcast programming of music and orchestral concerts, and television variety programs.
Spearheaded by Sean Iskhandar of Motifv8 Projects, the installation was a close collaboration with Stagetec Asia and VME, who have been working with RTM for many years. Iskhandar has been working on various L-Acoustics K Series system rental and installation projects since 2012, including the proposal design for an L-Acoustics Kiva II-based system in the Auditorium Perdana of the older RTM building in the same Bukit Putra vicinity.
Iskhandar led the team at Motifv8 to work with system integrators VME for the brand-new broadcast auditorium through a bid-for-tender process. Knowing that RTM’s technical and sound engineers were already familiar with the kind of operation, performance, and signature sound qualities an L-Acoustics system can offer, he proposed a Kara-based system design.
Motifv8 worked with L-Acoustics Director of Application Project APAC, Alvin Koh, to propose a design using the L-Acoustics Soundvision 3D modelling software. The initial proposal included a centre hang of six L-Acoustics KS28 subwoofers; however, it was quickly apparent that the hang would appear in-frame of certain broadcast camera angles. So Iskhandar and Koh returned to the design and proposed splitting the centre hang into two. This proposal was accepted, and Motiv8 built a custom rigging bar for the two clusters of three subwoofers hung in cardioid mode. An LCR system was chosen, with two L-Acoustics A15 boxes serving as centre-fill, while the main L/R system consists of 12 Karai per side. An L-Acoustics X8 per side delivers side-fill. Eight a LA4X amplified controllers drive the entire system.
“The RTM team is very pleased with the brand-new installation,” says Iskhandar. “Their engineers now have a system that delivers consistent coverage and SPL throughout the auditorium with headroom that fits their range of broadcast performance content.”
In line with RTM’s goals to be a media hub for the region, the brand-new Angkasapuri Mediacity can now support digital media creative content production with a modern technological infrastructure.
