Both shows were filmed at Berlin's largest TV studio, which, at around 3,000 square metres, has 1,100 seats for live audience members and enough space for a large stage set. The studio is owned and operated by technical production company Studio Berlin Adlershof (SBA). Exclusive audio supplier for The Voice of Germany is Werner Audio, whose owner, Fried Werner, provided the show with 10x Nexo PS15-R2 monitors and four NXAMP 4x4C amplified controllers in active biamp mode for stage monitoring.
"The Nexo speakers were specified by monitor engineer Christian Orth, who's employed by the production," says Werner. "At the time of investment we were also looking for a good multipurpose loudspeaker, so the request suited us fine. All vocalists - both the talent and their coaches - were very positive about the loud and clear monitor sound we were getting with the PS15-R2s."
Orth, who runs the Kern+Orth+Kling agency for audio engineering and sound reinforcement consultancy, has worked on all three seasons of TVOG. "I wanted to have a monitor that wasn't over engineered in a particular frequency range or forced to especially reproduce the vocal frequencies," he says. "What I was after was a flat sounding wedge; a good, fat, punchy and clear sounding one."
Orth was also looking for something that could produce the highest possible SPL in the smallest format available. "In the range of 15in LF/2in HF monitors, the active PS15-R2 is simply one of the loudest, best-sounding wedges when driven hard," he continues. "Throughout my years of experience, the NEXO PS15 monitors in active mode are the ones which I can simply make the loudest before feedback. In particular, it was an enormous tool on TVOG Kids to get the tiny voices on top of the musical mix. In short, the performance of the NEXO PS15-R2 is just great and they did exactly what I expected and wanted them to do."
The first two rounds of the show, Blind Auditions and Battles, were produced in live-to-tape mode and broadcast in weekly intervals, with the final stages broadcast completely live on Friday evenings. The children's competition was won by mini diva Michele, while the adults will battle it out for first place on 20 December.
(Jim Evans)
