Austria - The Wiener Stadthalle is Austria’s largest events complex. Opened in the late 1950s and located in Vienna’s 15th District, the venue has hosted leading international stars for decades, and is regarded as one of Europe’s premier entertainment venues.
To maintain its position as a front-rank venue, the hall’s management team keeps its technology provision under careful review and recently decided to invest in a new audio system. In order to ensure that they chose exactly the right fit, the team invited four leading loudspeaker manufacturers to present their offerings in a comparative test.
After a rigorous shoot-out, the Stadthalle team selected a Coda Audio system. System integrator Audio-Integra of Munich won the contract for the installation, whilst Wilhelm & Willhalm Consulting and Sales (W&W), also based near Munich, oversaw the project, conducted simulations, and provided the most suitable Coda products based on the results.
Christoph Mader, head of sound at Wiener Stadthalle describes the shootout: “We didn’t want to rely solely on our ears, so we engaged a renowned acoustician to obtain objective measurements. Coda Audio performed flawlessly, with a linear frequency response and better dynamics and impulse accuracy than the competitor brands.
“My four colleagues and I, with varying ages and levels of experience all independently awarded Coda the highest scores by a wide margin.”
The system at the Stadthalle was based on Coda Audio’s latest CiRAY compact line array, a high-output three-way dual 10-inch line array. The venue invested in 24 x CiRAY units, complemented by four SC2-F sensor-controlled bass extensions, four SCP sensor-controlled subwoofers, three APS compact arrayable point source, five N-APS ultra-compact arrayable point source, and eight Cue Four high performance three-way stage monitors. Four Coda Audio Linus 14 and five Linus12C DSP amplifiers power the system.
The system was designed by Thomas Dürrbeck from W&W, who was involved in the project from the outset. He was more than confident that the high standards demanded at the Wiener Stadthalle would be comfortably met using CiRAY. He comments: “The acoustician mentioned that the system offers an extraordinary phase alignment and provides a very uniform sound across the entire audience area.
“Another advantage is that the system operates efficiently with minimal amplifier power – three loudspeakers per channel on each array. For me, the decisive factor is that the system delivers a balanced sound without electronic assistance, purely through the design of the components.”
Audio-Integra’s Christian zur-Loye notes: “It was a tight schedule over the summer, but thanks to effective communication between client, integrator, supplier and manufacturer, I was able to complete the project ahead of schedule.”
The system made its debut in Hall F for Flying Hansel & Gretel, a high-energy music and dance show which featured rappers, beatboxers, pianists and electronic sounds.
Global sales and marketing director for Coda Audio, David Webster, comments: “It’s fantastic to see a Coda Audio system chosen for such a prestigious project - it means a lot to us to see such a strong vindication of the quality of our pioneering proprietary technologies. To have led the way in the shoot-out ahead of a number of premium brands is something we’re naturally delighted about. As well as the audio quality, the compact nature of Coda systems, made possible by our technologies, was clearly a factor in our favour, as was the simple and intuitive rigging.”
