About the sound

Imagine a pebble being thrown into a pond. The resulting ripples are the way sound travels.

The further they spread, the less focused they become, eventually losing definition.

Close to an array of speakers, the sound is loud. Farther away, it could be too soft.

When two pebbles are thrown into the pond, where the ripples collide is how performance sound gets really ugly.

David Dibble, CEO of MSG Ventures and leader of the company’s technology initiatives, said the “spray and pray” sound system most venues have has been state of the art — until now.

According to Dibble, the use of “planar waves” and “beamforming” will enable the MSG Sphere to deliver sound with laser focus and precision. Through directionalized sound pressure levels created by newly developed software, sound can be more evenly dispersed.

Banks of tiny speakers embedded in walls will replace some of the large hanging boxes. That means the sound can be as loud — or as quiet — to the front row as it is in the back.

Beamforming can also direct sound strategically. A presentation to a multilingual audience can send English to some parts of the venue, German to others and Chinese to still others. Everyone will see the same performance but could hear a different narration.

The concept also can help performers who want to be able to hear their own instrumentation as they play. Through beamforming, it can be redirected to them, cutting audio feed cords.

“Infrasound” will be built into the floor so that concertgoers can feel the bass notes. It’s also well focused; step a few steps away and that sound can disappear.