O Beach

DAS Audio’s SARA cardioid subwoofers are ensuring that the owners of Dubai’s latest beach club, O Beach, are keeping the peace with the neighbours

Having become a staple of the Ibiza beach club scene, famed for its huge pool parties, roster of international DJs and legendary champagne spray shows, O Beach has just opened the doors of a satellite venture in Dubai’s JBR district, bringing everything that made it famous in the Mediterranean to the emirate that never sleeps. Owned and operated by IMI Group and running well into the night seven days a week, O Beach promises patrons fully immersive entertainment shows and Instagram-worthy performances from all angles – the sky, ground and pool. But it couldn’t create such awe-inspiring shows without the backing of a powerful audiovisual setup. Enter Procom Middle East, which as the region’s DAS Audio distributor, was pulled in to support the project at the management’s insistence that audio at the new Dubai outlet be powered by the Spanish manufacturer’s loudspeakers in order to faithfully match its offering in Ibiza.

“The owners, clients, the guests, everyone was super happy with the DAS system in Ibiza,” explains Procom Middle East’s Anro Schroeder. “So, when they decided to come here, we discussed, in tandem with DAS, doing a similar setup in Dubai. We’re very proud of the fact that it’s using SARA for the first time in the region and for the first time in a beach club.”

The choice of SARA speakers made perfect sense in the uniquely shaped space, explains Schroeder. “The venue really is a step above the standard beach club experience in that there’s tonnes of entertainment going on all around. They’ve got a massive crane that hangs over the pool and drops down giant set pieces and inflatables, as well as aerial artists on wires and poles around the pool. Everything has been designed very much with the show in mind.”

This isn’t an understatement. Spanning over 5,000m2, the venue has both indoor and outdoor spaces, including luxury cabanas and showcase VIP beds, a nearly 400m2 swimming pool and a unique elevated restaurant with 360° views over the beach. The main pool area is where the party happens – there’s a dancefloor area in front of the pool serving as the main DJ booth, adorned with LED screens. Behind is a dedicated VIP area.

“The use of the SARA subwoofers specifically, which are cardioid, naturally developed out of the need for O Beach not to have any sound spilling into the harbour residences, as the club is located right next to hotels and apartment blocks. Obviously, they want to play music at a decent level within the venue, but they have to respect the neighbours.” Audio in the main dancefloor is delivered primarily from 28 arrays of DAS WR-320-DXW dual 1-inch line array cabinets, with low-end reinforcement from six SARA-SUB-W subwoofers and a further dedicated double 18-inch WR-218S-DXW dancefloor sub. Multiple ARTEC-510-W and ARTEC-322S-W cabinets provide additional fill as required.

While blending into the poolside aesthetic, audio is front and centre at O Beach
A total of 19 ARTEC-508-W keep the cabanas and 360° restaurant fully covered in combination with four ARTEC-S15-W, while 24 DECO-8-T-W extend BGM to the changing rooms and bathrooms. All cabinets have been finished in pure white to match the venue aesthetic and are powered collectively by a combination of seven DAS PA-4000, eight PA-1500, 12 PA-2700 and nine PA-500 amplifiers. Everything is networked over Dante through six Netgear GSM4230P switches, with 36 Blustream DA11ADE decoding the Dante digital streams down to 2-channel analogue audio.

“Everything was designed collectively with DAS, it was very much a team effort,” explains Schroeder. “The result is a very linear and time-aligned directional system that accounts for noise spill. This was very important in order to meet the requirements of the owners, the surrounding venues and, of course, the landlord. The entire system works in harmony as a single solution over a very large area, delivering exceptional clarity and tonnes of punch. It met all the requirements needed in terms of weatherisation, the cardioid configuration, dispersion and SPL levels.”

As is common in Dubai, Procom only got the call to assist on the O Beach project just a few weeks before the doors were due to open. Nevertheless, its expertise quickly went beyond simple assistance with speakers. “The primary focus for Procom was supporting the audio integration as the client was adamant they wanted really good sound and that everything must be DAS. But we also recommended several lighting fixtures we knew would work well inside the venue, which led to Ayrton moving heads being deployed around the venue.”

Given the fact that the Dubai venue would be wiling away the hours until the early morning, whereas O Beach Ibiza is typically more of a daytime affair, lighting in Dubai takes on increased emphasis. “There’s a lot more lighting here,” admits Schroeder, “and a lot more effects as the party carries on all the way into the evening. This is something that we’ve tried to account for. Ayrton was ideal because the venue is completely outdoor. The equipment has to be able to withstand day and night, 365 days without covers or any protection. It’s in the sun and right on the beach.”

Fixtures supplied by Procom include six Ayrton Argo 6 washes, eight Rivale Profile S, 16 Kyalami, 35 CPX418OP, six Flash202, two Flash202RGB, three FlashBar600, three RAW20FB4 IP65 lasers and 11 Whopper409RGBW20 for uplights. Control of the system is from an Avolites Tiger Touch II console, which together with the audio is managed in-house by the venue’s dedicated technical team. A Madrix Luna handles distribution. The dancefloor LED screen is formed from 3.9mm pixel pitch panels from VisioTekk with processing from a Novastar VX600. A Blustream IP200UHD-RX and IP200UHD-TX manage video transmission.

Like the loudspeakers, all the lighting fixtures have been custom-finished in white to match the décor. “It’s worked really well because during the night when they’re dropping all of those things down into the pool with the crane, we have tonnes of fixtures with profile settings to uplight everything. We can also light the performance when there’s a stage in the middle of the pool.”

It appears as if venue operator IMI Group has succeeded in its mission to bring a taste of Ibiza to the melting pot that is Dubai Marina. “We are incredibly happy with the results achieved here with the DAS sound system,” concludes Duance Linekar, partner at IMI Group. “The directional control of all frequencies is incredible, and the cardioid subs really help keep the sound within the club, minimising disturbance to neighbours. Over the last three years, we have installed new DAS speakers in both venues in Ibiza and Dubai, and both have yielded similar results: less noise spillage to neighbours and surrounding areas. We are very pleased with the outcome and Procom has been a great partner to work with, providing exceptional sound and lighting solutions. They have been very supportive throughout the process and completed everything under very tight and demanding circumstances.”

DAS Audio Catalog
Article ProAVL Magazine: “Going to Ibiza”