Original article published on Pollstar (03/20/18) by Gideon Gottfried

The Madison Square Garden (MSG) Co. aims to revolutionize the immersive event experience with its Sphere in London, whose audio system is designed to deliver consistent sound quality to all seats. “With MSG Sphere, every guest will enjoy the best seat in the house, with crystal clear audio, and a true-to-life presentational sound stage for every size and type of performance,” says MSG CTO David Dibble. “To do this, we use a modular, steerable audio system that delivers the optional audio mix for every seat in the house simultaneously, putting every guest in the sweet spot. Using state-of-the-art beam-forming technology, audio is directed to specific sections of the venue, at near constant sound pressure levels from point of origin to destination.” Dibble notes directed audio beams could be useful at events where keynotes are translated for international audiences, while artists could make monitoring systems redundant. “In-ears go away,” he says. “The system will identify you, and your beam will follow you around as you perform.” Audience members also will be able to engage with each other and with artists through the MSG Sphere app. The Sphere will seat about 22,000, while MSG's Jayne McGovern stresses the venue's immersive surface must be “absolutely perfect.” Dibble acknowledges that “the vast majority of the technology we're putting in the Sphere when it's built does not truly exist today” at concert venues.

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