Summer X Games 15, the biggest yet, used DTS-Neural equipment for the first time to provide surround sound for events in LA.

Kevin Cleary, senior technical audio producer for the ESPN broadcast, declared it the best-sounding so far as well, due in large part, he said, to the granular level of access that ESPN, which also produces the event, offers audio.
“We could put microphones in places you typically could never get to,” he explained. This year, that included the jump ramps. For instance, Cleary positioned several of ESPN’s own piezo-electric X-ducer microphones along a lip of coping at the top of the ramp, where turning and skipping skateboards made a memorable clang when they hit.

“It was like ringing a bell and everyone in the arena heard it clearly,” he recalled. “Capturing that sound so directly and putting it into the surround mix really puts the viewer into the arena, hearing everything the fans there did.”
The surround formula placed announcements in the centre channel and crowd ambience in the surrounds. The left/right channels were the most fluid, using a method similar to ESPN’s Nascar speed-shot audio setup, with approach microphones following the rider. On the skatepark course, X-ducers and Sony ECM-77D lavaliere microphones were attached to the wooden riding surface with screws anchored through the wooden backing and into the concrete behind, transferring the vibrations from the riders.

Via the DTS-Neural surround-sound equipment, the Staples venue had its surround effects submixed through a Digico SD8 console, connected via MADI to the main mix on a Calrec Alpha in the Denali Summit truck and a MADI remote rack connected the ramp mics via a five-pair coaxial cable, which replaced the many DT-12 cables previously used.

In the Home Depot Center, the Moto Venue SS-20 truck had a Calrec Sigma main mixer supported by an analog Midas console for submixes. The skatepark/street/vert venue was mixed on a Calrec Alpha located in SS-25 and the vert (vertical) was submixed on a Soundcraft Vi6. Where the skatepark and the street course were set up, a Calrec Omega on the tower was mounted on a dolly, allowing it to turn and swivel between events.

The most exciting audio came from two ESPN reporters who rode shotgun inside the rally cars and interviewed drivers during runs, speaking into lavalier microphones inside their helmets.

“That was amazing stuff,” said Cleary. “I can’t wait until next year.”