HONG KONG: Creating an immersive audio experience is challenging enough. Delivering one in a performance where musicians, singers and dancers are constantly moving through the audience demands an entirely different level of precision. That was the challenge facing Front-Of-House Engineer Simon Honywill when the UK’s acclaimed Paraorchestra brought The Nature of Why to Hong Kong’s No Limits Festival, a production that ultimately found its solution in a TiMax immersive audio system centred around TiMax SoundHub and TiMax TrackerD4.

Founded in 2011 by conductor Charles Hazelwood, Paraorchestra is dedicated to creating professional opportunities for disabled musicians while continually challenging conventional approaches to live performance. The Nature of Why exemplifies that philosophy, placing up to 250 audience members within a 15-metre circular performance space shared with approximately 20 musicians, singers and dancers, most of whom remain in motion throughout the production.

Previous iterations of the show had exposed a fundamental audio challenge. While Honywill had experimented with creating an “acoustic bubble” around the audience, the solutions lacked the positional accuracy required for the experience. More critically, performers struggled to hear themselves clearly when monitoring systems also served as the primary reinforcement system.

Following extensive research, Honywill identified immersive audio as the path forward. “The only way to go, really, was to use a TiMax immersive sound solution.”

For the production’s five-performance run at the Kwai Tsing Theatre in Kowloon, the audio system was built around real-time performer tracking. Six TiMax Tracker D4 sensors were suspended overhead, continuously triangulating the positions of performers and instruments throughout the space. Positional data was fed directly into TiMax SoundHub, which in turn controlled a circular reinforcement system comprising seven Martin Audio FlexPoint FP12 loudspeakers mounted at a height of 2.5 metres and supported by a Martin Audio SXCF118 cardioid subwoofer.

Approximately 20 moving sound sources were fitted with tracking devices, with several performers wearing multiple trackers to maintain accurate localisation. Even larger instruments required individual consideration, with the production’s wheeled marimba carrying three trackers to ensure precise positioning throughout its movements.

At the heart of the system was an object-based mixing approach that allowed each sound source to be treated independently within the immersive environment. DPA Microphones were routed directly to TiMax via Dante, bypassing traditional subgroup mixing techniques entirely. This direct source-to-object workflow enabled the spatial accuracy required to convincingly localise performers within the performance space.

“Using a system like TiMax, every source has its own unique amplitude and phase relationship to the sound system,” Honywill explains. “There’s no problematic phase interaction between sources, so the clarity is exceptional, and it gives that positional information within the space.”

The loudspeaker design worked in tandem with TiMax’s spatial processing capabilities. The ring of Martin Audio FlexPoint FP12 loudspeakers allowed TiMax to create a unique Image Definition for every tracked performer, dynamically adjusting per-cabinet level and delay values in real time to accurately place each sound source within the audience environment. Meanwhile, the SXCF118 cardioid subwoofer delivered low-frequency reinforcement while minimising unwanted rearward energy, helping preserve the integrity of the immersive sound field.

The complete audio package was supplied by Martin Audio’s APAC sales agency Generation AV, with Technical Manager Jeremiah Joseph joining the production team in a dual role as system technician and TiMax engineer. “A valuable addition to the team and very talented,” said Honywill of Joseph.

The benefits of the immersive approach extended beyond technical achievement. For performers, the ability to clearly hear themselves and their fellow musicians despite constant movement significantly improved confidence and ensemble cohesion. For audiences, the system provided the directional cues necessary to naturally follow performers as they moved throughout the space, deepening engagement with the production.

Audience reactions reflected the impact of the experience. Following one performance, Generation AV hosted a demonstration for 15 regional clients, many of whom were experiencing the technology in a live artistic context for the first time. And recalling the response, Honywill said, “they were, to a person, completely blown away. One veteran consultant was moved to tears.”

For Honywill, the project has fundamentally altered his perspective on the role of sound within live performance. “TiMax has given the performance a new dimension,” he reflects. “It’s made the sound such an essential part of it, enabling me to elevate the whole thing sonically to a new level and giving it a bigger energy. It’s not devastatingly loud, but the difference between being within the loudspeaker system and outside it, from an energy point of view, is very marked. You’re either in the show or you’re out of it.”

By combining real-time tracking, object-based audio and immersive loudspeaker design, The Nature of Why demonstrated how advanced spatial audio technologies can become an integral part of storytelling itself, transforming sound from a supporting element into a defining component of the audience experience.