The Budapest Opera House chooses Genelec monitors for its new studio 5.1

The Eiffel Art Studios offers a recording space 5.1 Equipped with five coaxial monitors 8341 and a subwoofer 7370 of Genelec in the control room, plus two bidirectional 8040 and musicians employ another pair of 8040 Stereo in the live area.

One of the biggest cultural projects carried out in Hungary is the concert hall Eiffel Art Studios, A large architectural complex, which was once a railway center and today has become the logistics and artistic center of the Hungarian State Opera, also known as the Budapest Opera House.

At the heart of this great infrastructure is the Eiffel Room, A space for workshops, rehearsals and a recording studio for the State Opera; which pays tribute to the 200 years of history of Hungarian operatic culture and the building's industrial past, But it also highlights the best of sound technology., thanks to Genelec monitors.

The decision to build a recording studio was unusual in a place like this., but the reasoning arose from the devastating effects of COVID-19 on Budapest recording studios. It also gave the State Opera the opportunity to create exactly the space it needed., resulting in a colossal recording complex in which changes could be made from any area.

“Now we can record from every room in the studio. This has been designed so that you do not have to go down to the large room for small sound corrections. Like this, whether a vocal or instrumental performance needs to be modified, It's done right there. Or if you have to record a voiceover or an advertising narration, It is also made there”, Explains Kondás Ferenc, of the Hungarian State Opera.

The result has been a Recording space 5.1 Equipped with five three-way coaxial monitors 8341 and a subwoofer 7370 in the control room, digitally managed through a multi-channel interface 9301.

In addition, A pair of two-way monitors are used in the control room 8040 with an iMac for fast recordings, while the conductor and musicians employ another pair of 8040 Stereo in the live area when needed.

the GLM calibration software Used to individually optimize the monitoring system 5.1 in the Friscay studio for different listening positions.

“We perform the measurements with GLM in three different locations: in the position of the sound engineer, in that of the musical director and that of the composer or conductor”, adds Ferenc. “The conductor or composer does not fit with the score next to the sound engineer, So they sit behind them, And that's why this third assembly was created.. In the studio we have created configurations 2.0 and 5.1 in GLM, but for recordings and live broadcasts we usually use the 2.0 configuration”.

Building a studio of this size in a busy city will always have its difficulties., sobre todo cuando hay una vía de tranvía de doble sentido que pasa justo por fuera del edificio. “Lo más difícil fue encontrar una solución para las bajas frecuencias, y el hecho de que los tranvías pasen por fuera nos pone en desventaja”, explica Ferenc. “Por suerte, el equipo de Arató Akusztikai Kft, nuestra consultora acústica, resolvió el problema construyendo un sistema de “caja dentro de caja”. Bajo el suelo flotante interior hay una capa de caucho, y la pared interior de estructura ligera está fijada a la pared principal con elementos de aislamiento de vibraciones. As a result, este sistema de construcción excluye el ruido de la carretera y los tranvías”.

El resultado final ha creado un entorno impresionante tanto para el equipo de instalación como para los músicos.

“La Ópera Estatal de Hungría nunca había tenido un estudio como éste. Los músicos y los ingenieros de sonido están satisfechos, y desde que se terminó el estudio se han hecho muchas grabaciones y transmisiones. El acto de crear un disco no es una cuestión de compromiso. Se trata de libertad artística, que representa un valor añadido en el producto final”, concluye Ferenc.

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