Hoshioto Camp 23, which took place recently at Budou Romankan in the Japanese prefecture of Okayama, became the first outdoor music festival in Japan to introduce immersive sound that was reinforced by local rental company Bright Co. deploying Martin Audio WPC line arrays as mains.
WPC was recommended as the right overall fit for its sound quality, controllability and sense of scale after evaluation against other systems. Kazuyuki Oshita, president of Bright Co., adds that other reasons why he recommended it to the organizers is the ability to deliver consistency of sound across the area and to mitigate against noise pollution by being able to contain the energy uniquely within the sound field, one of the properties of Martin Audio’s proprietary DISPLAY control software.
The 16 principal WPC boxes were powered by Martin Audio multi-channel iK42 amplifiers, and to create the full immersion, a variety of other loudpeakers were deployed, including eight XD15, four SX218 subwoofers, six XP12, and various XE300 and ADORN A55 enclosures. Various other local rental suppliers, introduced to the main contractors by Martin Audio Japan, also tapped into their inventories to complete the complement required, which also included SPAT Revolution processing. These included Super 4; Music Reserve; Freeway and Network Papa.
Review notices were positive, with one stating, ”Of course the sound in front of the stage was powerful, but I felt it sounded good even from a distance.” Another said, “I’ve participated in Hoshioto at least five times, including camps, and the sound was the best ever.”
