The historic Souk Okaz was was established 12 centuries ago and has been revived as a tourist resort in Taif. Now celebrating its sixth anniversary year, Souk Okaz which was re-established by Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal is an annual event featuring a variety of cultural events including seminars, poetic evenings and folk performances. At the heart of Souk Okaz is the public theatre which boasts a seating capacity for over 3000 people. The modern day auditorium which is built in the historic marketplace is the venue for the poetry and storytelling competitions which are the highlight of the deeply cultural event.
Eager to ensure the very best listening experience for the visitors to the fair, but limited by minimal experience in the field of audio engineering, Ascon Co. Ltd., the contractor for the project, turned to Modern Lifestyles, a Jeddah based distributor specializing in audio and entertainment solutions. The Souk Okaz theatre is a semi-permanent tent structure and Modern Lifestyles was tasked with designing a solution which would account for unique echo and reverb issues in such a setting. Also, given the nature of the structure, the systems would have to operate effectively under a wide range of weather and site conditions.
Modern Lifestyles proposed a solution by Sennheiser Middle East, given the vendor's consistent performance as a top market brand, that included a DAS Audio AERO 8-A Line-Array system and Sennheiser G3 wireless systems with antenna distribution.
Commenting on the factors behind the selection, Majd Al Khattib, technical director at Modern Lifestyles said, "With the poetry and story telling competitions taking center place at the fair, Saudi Diyar and Ascon had set extremely high expectations of the audio systems. The solution had to be customized to handle speech and poetry with the utmost clarity. These requirements coupled with the complexity raised by the tent-like structure meant that we need to select a vendor with both the best product and the most professional support services."
Majd Al Khattib added, "We carried out extensive market analysis and we were extremely impressed with the professionalism displayed by the Sennheiser team throughout the stringent selection process. They were the most thorough and unlike any of the other vendors, they carried out extensive acoustic analysis, with the direct support from DAS Audio, to present us with simulations that ensured optimal performance."
Sennheiser ME worked closely with Modern Lifestyles through each phase of the project including programming and commissioning of the system.
(Jim Evans)
