TT+ Audio Powers Marseille Jazz des Cinq Continents with Cardioid Solutions

The festival welcomed an international lineup including Ezra Collective, Marcus Miller, José James & China Moses, Sun Ra Arkestra, Mammal Hands, Kassa Overall, Adi Oasis, Awa Ly, Xênia França, Gilles Peterson, Abdullah Miniawy featuring Erik Truffaz, Israel Galván; Michael Leonhart, and the Orchestre National de Jazz, alongside emerging artists and special collaborations.

System design and engineering were carried out by Olivier Bertrand, System Engineer and Technical Support Specialist at RCF France.

“La Vieille Charité is a remarkable venue, but its architecture and audience layout required careful system design,” said Bertrand. “Our objective was to achieve consistent coverage while minimizing low-frequency energy toward the stage and the surrounding stone structures. To mitigate comb filtering caused by the subwoofer placement, the two center subwoofers were time-aligned to emulate the behavior of a curved subwoofer array (arc configuration).”

The main system comprised six TT+ Audio GTX 7C compact cardioid line-array modules per side, supported by six GTS 16C cardioid subwoofers configured with two units per side and two at center stage. XPS 16KD amplifiers powered the system. Four RCF HDL 26-A active modules provided front-fill coverage, while two additional HDL 26-A loudspeakers covered the outer audience areas. The system was modeled in RDShape before installation and monitored and controlled on-site via the RDNet platform.

“The two centrally located HDL 26-A modules were also delayed to preserve image localization and maintain acoustic coherence with the corresponding subwoofers. Following system alignment, a global delay equivalent to 4 m, referenced to the stage center, was applied to the entire system. This improved temporal alignment between the PA and the direct sound from the performers, resulting in more coherent acoustic summation,” Bertrand added.

“The GTX 7C delivered exactly what we were looking for,” said Pierrick Testut, CEO and front-of-house engineer at MDE – Sound Live. “Coverage was even, intelligibility remained excellent throughout the audience, and cardioid control was outstanding in this challenging environment, providing a clean stage that was ideal for acoustic instruments. The consistency of the system made mixing straightforward and allowed every performance to translate naturally across the venue.”