Lisbon, Portugal – Home to Lisbon’s Benfica football club, the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica – known as the Estadio da Luz (Stadium of Light) – is now providing an unparalleled stadium sound experience, thanks to the installation of the world’s first totally cardioid d&b audiotechnik sound system.
Unique for a football stadium, the new system was installed by Portuguese specialist NAN Audiovisuais, as part of a complete refurbishment aimed at achieving a more dynamic standard of utilization for the venue. The operators knew that a new sound system would be imperative – and according to the vision of the club, this would be achieved using the best technologies, facilities, and resources available.
The exceptional standard set by this installation is thanks to the d&b XSL 8 and XSL/12 cardioid line array elements, along with the new XSL- SUB and A-Series augmented array. Together, these produce an even and powerful sound distribution, based around a series of small arrays just 1.7 meters in length. With each array providing more than 60 meters of vertical coverage from the uppermost seat to the very front row, this is one of the most discreet systems ever installed. The impressive broadband frequency control achieved by the cardioid technology of the XSL system minimizes reverberation times, taking intelligibility to a new level, one never achieved before in the stadium.
In terms of technology and performance, the installation placed the Estadio da Luz at the top of the list of worldwide reference venues. It was to ensure that the facility remained as attractive as possible to the public, corporate clients, and promoters, while always meeting the high standards laid down by UEFA and FIFA.
Benfica’s technical team, worked closely with NAN Audiovisuais, and d&b’s Head of Global EAS, Stefan Goertz. Additional support with the creation and fine-tuning of d&b ArrayCalc and EASE files was provided by d&b’s stadia team, led by Senior Application Engineer, Dominika Obwarzanek.
NAN Audiovisuais director, Luis Vidigal, says, “This was the biggest challenge we have ever taken on, and we had only three months to deliver it in the run-up to Christmas. We are very grateful to our suppliers, including our partners at d&b audiotechnik, who have helped us to achieve what is possibly the fastest supply and the most advanced sound system installation for any stadium of this size on the planet.”
He adds, “For this project we had a very simple task to achieve. As the Benfica club leaders put it, ‘We are the best team, so we must have the best sound.’ So that was our target!”
The result generates a unique experience for a stadium environment hosting more than 65,000 people. As Mario Correia, Benfica’s Director of Audiovisual System, says: “In 16 years of stadium history I never felt such a high level of emotion from the audience. The voice from the speakers and the music never produced anything like this before, getting the crowd so alive and such a part of the show!”
