Clair Brothers continued the legend in the 15th "China and Korea song festival"

The China-Korea Song Festival (Korean: 한중가요제) is a large-scale multinational pop music gala jointly launched by China Central Television (CCTV) and South Korea's KBS TV station in 1999. It has been held annually, alternating between China and South Korea.

On November 25, 2013, the 15th China-Korea Song Festival kicked off once again at the Xingguang Film and Television Park in Daxing, Beijing. With a powerhouse lineup of stars and electrifying performances, the atmosphere in the venue was instantly ignited. Heavyweight artists from both China and South Korea—including Jane Zhang (Zhang Liangying), Aska Yang (Yang Zongwei), Laure Shang (Shang Wenjie), Wanting Qu, Huang Qishan, Shui Mu Nian Hua, M.I.C., B.A.P, and U-Kiss—took the stage together to battle it out with their vocals. While setting trends on fire, they also passed their sincerity and passion on to the wildly cheering fans.

In recent years, as the scale and audience market of the China-Korea Song Festival have grown substantially year by year, the complexity and professionalism of its behind-the-scenes recording and broadcasting systems have placed higher quality demands and technical challenges on the production team. For a gala of such high standards, the sound system is required to deliver immense power, ensuring that every audience member present can fully experience the fiery atmosphere on site.

With this standard in mind, the audio team for the China-Korea Song Festival ultimately chose to join forces with the "legend of the audio world," Clair Brothers, adopting their equipment as the full-venue sound reinforcement system. Meanwhile, to ensure an even smoother and flawless audio presentation for this grand event, Trans-New Technology Co., Ltd.—the exclusive distributor of Clair Brothers in Greater China—dispatched technical experts to provide comprehensive professional support throughout the live sound process.

This year's festival took place in a 2,200-square-meter studio at the Xingguang Film and Television Park in Daxing, Beijing. During the initial installation and tuning phase, given that Clair Brothers speakers offer greater power and wider sound field coverage within the same cabinet size, technicians originally planned to hang line arrays consisting of 8 speakers on each side above the stage as the main PA system. However, after on-site measurements, the technicians confirmed that using just 6 i212-M full-range line array speakers per side would meet the requirements based on the venue's characteristics. At the same time, 4 iS218-M subwoofers were stacked on both sides of the stage. The high-performance combination of the i212-M and iS218-M delivered outstanding full-frequency performance, eliminating the need for any additional subwoofer systems. The powerful bass and perfect coverage of the iS218 previously left a deep impression on over 40,000 passionate fans at the "Asian Pop King" Eason Chan's concert.

Once the main PA system was finalized, considering that the audience area was quite close to the stage, 4 FF2-H front-fill speakers were used to ensure sound field coverage reached the front rows, maximizing the excellent live experience for the audience seated there.

For the audience, an exciting performance stems not only from stunning visual and auditory effects but more importantly from the performers' ability to deliver their best and maintain control on stage. Therefore, in a live sound system, an excellent monitor system plays a crucial role in ensuring a great performance by the artists on stage. For this gala, the monitor system undoubtedly featured the renowned 12AM stage monitor speakers—a brand with a close history of collaboration with international superstars like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and U2. Despite its compact size, the 12AM packs astonishing explosive power and offers unparalleled sound clarity. In domestic cases, it has received unanimous praise from the live band engineers of variety shows like The Voice of China. Meanwhile, Clair Brothers i208-M compact full-range line array speakers were also used as side-fill speakers on stage, adding the finishing touch to the entire monitor system.

During the system tuning phase, the entire setup utilized EASE FOCUS for acoustic simulation calculations and corresponding processing, along with the built-in Lake processing modules and controllers in the amplifiers. Each module provided precise handling of gain, delay, crossover, equalization, and limiting. Furthermore, the Lake processor offered both classic crossovers (up to 48dB/octave) and linear-phase crossovers. The crossover slope could exceed 180dB/octave, and linear-phase crossover points could better restrict acoustic lobing and reduce off-axis attenuation.

The Lake Controller (DLC) software provided a unified interface to control and monitor all functions of the PLM system, as well as all parameters of the Lake processors. Regarding the DLC software, the version included with the PLM 10000Q could control and monitor Lab.gruppen units—such as digital input gain and attenuation—and perform load changes and performance monitoring via LoadSmart and SpeakerSafe. Another feature of the DLC was its seamless integration with SmaartLive software (for real-time sound measurement, optimization, and control). This complete integration allowed users to take measurements using Smaart™ while adjusting the system's EQ within the same user interface.

The legendary history of Clair Brothers has always been a popular topic of conversation. From Elvis Presley to this China-Korea Song Festival, Clair once again took the lead and continued its legend. Ms. Kang Sun-jung, the sound director from South Korea's KBS TV station, was deeply impressed by the on-site sound quality. She specifically sought us out to express her admiration and trust in Clair Brothers speakers, stating that in Korea, they are also the preferred partner for major events. This is because, compared to any other sound reinforcement speakers, Clair Brothers can release greater energy within an equally or even more compact cabinet, with highly distinct high-frequency advantages. At the same time, she noted that the performance and technology of Clair Brothers speakers truly require a discerning expert with refined skills to fully unlock their potential.

At the request of the Korean production team, Trans-New Technology also provided DPA d:fine series headset microphones and DPA 4099 instrument microphones. Surprisingly, the sound engineers from the Korean production team treated the DPA equipment with absolute reverence—handling and transporting them with extreme care. It was later revealed that DPA products are priced very high in Korea, so not every production team gets the opportunity to use them freely.

The entire line of DPA condenser microphones enjoys an outstanding reputation in the global audio industry. Their exceptionally high gain-before-feedback and flat frequency response not only allow artists to deliver powerful and expressive vocal performances but also enable sound engineers to easily capture vocal nuances for more precise adjustments. In recent years, new DPA products such as the d:facto, d:fine, and d:vote (the upgraded 4099) have been widely adopted in numerous world-class live sound reinforcement events and recording studios globally. Domestically, top-tier variety shows like The Voice of China, I Am a Singer, and Sing Out Loud have also extensively implemented them, consistently delivering excellent performance and receiving rave reviews.

Finally, the recording of the 15th China-Korea Song Festival in Beijing, China, came to a successful conclusion. Following the recording, it is scheduled to be broadcast to audiences nationwide and overseas Chinese on CCTV-1, CCTV-3, and CCTV-4. South Korea's KBS TV station will also air the program during prime time. The festival is the crystallization of wisdom from the powerhouse production crews and top-tier performers of both nations. Its broadcasts have consistently received unprecedented acclaim, further expanding the brand influence and appeal of the China-Korea Song Festival, while making significant contributions to promoting cultural exchange between China and South Korea. We also look forward to more technical collaborations and exchanges with the elite production team of the China-Korea Song Festival in the future.