Words from the Wise – Oriental Sound Employs LD Systems for Sound at the Papal Service in Iraq

From March 5 to 8 2021, Pope Franziskus made an historic journey. For the first time ever, a head of the Christian Church visited Iraq. One highlight was the mass he performed at the church in Karakosch, which had been destroyed by Islamists. The Pope used the opportunity to set an example of religious tolerance and to make a symbolic statement against hatred and terror. The Iraqi integrator Oriental Sound relied entirely on LD Systems audio solutions for the transmission of the historical spoken words, as well as for the sound in the church.

For sound amplification and transmission at the newly rebuilt Catholic church in Karakosch, Oriental Sound chose the CWMS 52 two-way wall-mounted loudspeakers from the LD Systems CONTRACTOR series. To ensure the best possible speech intelligibility, the integrator installed the 5.25” loudspeakers along the round arches above the solid columns on the outer walls of the church. The loudspeakers were fashioned in a discreet shade of white. Additional CWMS 52 loudspeakers were placed on the outer walls of the church building in order to allow the papal proclamations to extend to the outside.

All the loudspeakers were powered by LD Systems XS 700 class-D PA power amplifiers, each with 2 x 350 W. For signal distribution, a ZONE 622 two-zone mixer on a space-saving 1U housing were used. Before Pope Franziskus’ voice reached listeners in the church through the CONTRACTOR series loudspeakers, the microphone signals were processed through an LD Systems VIBZ 24 DC 24-channel mixer. To ensure smooth communication with the technical personnel, a U500 GM 530 CC gooseneck conference microphone was used – this device is based on electret condenser technology with a kidney structure on a D 1015 CMB base.

The following LD Systems products were used at the church in Karakosch:
LD Systems CONTRACTOR CWMS 52 5.25” two-way wall-mounted loudspeaker
LD Systems XS 700 Class D PA power amplifier
LD Systems ZONE 622 two-zone mixer
LD Systems VIBZ 24 DC 24-channel mixer
LD Systems U500 GM 530 CC gooseneck conference microphone