LMG's Audio and LED Solutions at the NBC News-YouTube Democratic Debate

	NBC News-YouTube Democratic Debate

NBC News and YouTube co-hosted the first Democratic debate of the new year. The Sunday night Democratic Presidential Debate took place in Charleston, South Carolina at the Galliard Performance Hall from 9:00 - 11:00pm. Three candidates set the stage and focused on the topics of healthcare, gun control, foreign policy, and more. The fourth Democratic debate featured innovative audio and LED solutions provided by LMG.

To enhance the audience's experience and overall hearing of each candidate, LMG provided 150 L-Acoustics 5XT speakers. "Using many speakers deployed at a lower level creates less reflection and makes the live broadcast feed sound a lot cleaner," LMG's director of audio, Shane Smith recaps. "Less of the reverberant, big room sound is desirable for broadcast scenarios."

"Any debate type event is focused on speech and intelligibly. The audience wants to hear every word that a potential candidate has to say," states Smith. "More speakers at a lower volume not only helps with the intelligibility of the debate candidates, but also is great for the broadcast."

LMG worked closely with NBC News' production team with implementing their audio design. "NBC News' PA mixer, Kim Dougherty needed a small speaker solution with great intelligibility for an under the seat sound design," Smith explains. "Kim's design included covering full rows of seating. About every other row was covered with a 5XT placed in front of every third seat. In addition to the 5XT product under the seats, 30 Meyer Sound UPM-1Ps were strategically placed through the house to add some 'sizzle' to the live mix."

LMG's L-Acoustics 5XT speakers were chosen for not only their small size, but also their big solutions. "Besides the size of the 5XT, the 110-degree conical directivity coverage brings a lot to the design. The dispersion of the 5XT also means that less speakers are needed compared to other traditional small speaker solutions," said Smith. "22 LA8 amplified controllers were used for this project, allowing for up to 24 5XT speakers to be driven from a single amplifier if required."

LMG's 3.9MM LED tiles were placed behind the candidates to amplify the audience's experience. One 8x6 LED wall was set up behind the candidates for an overall view of the debate. On opposing sides, two 5x4 LED walls provided the audience with image magnification to deliver the audience with different perspectives throughout the debate.