Cathedral of the birth of Christ

Officially called the ‘Cathedral of the birth of Christ’ and set to be the largest church in the Middle East, in presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Pope Tawadros II in the Egyptian new administrative capital.

The edifice, sprawled over a surface of 7,500 square meters, can hold up to 8,200 worshippers. This will be home to several features including papal headquarters, administrative offices, a main square, papal headquarters, and a reception hall.

During the planning and simulation stages of the project, it was already apparent that the imposing building would create several challenges for Audio Technology Egypt, the company responsible for sound reinforcement. Due to the cathedral’s huge dome, high vaulted ceiling and all its smooth walls and floors, the 135,000 cubic meter interior has an extremely long reverberation time (11 seconds on average). Also, from the Choir to the far end of the main nave is an area over 120 meters in length that requires sound reinforcement.

These challenges could be met by Linea Focus systems with FOHHN Beam Steering technology. This latest generation of line source systems with electronically steerable beam characteristics enables a very direct, precise sound coverage. Excellent results with speech intelligibility can also be achieved. The measured Speech Transmission Index (STI) is on average 0.6.

14 Linea Focus systems have been used in total: Two DLI-430 installed at the sides of the sanctuary serve as the main PA system. These brand-new line source systems – which are over 4 meters long – have been specially developed for applications requiring long reaches. Two further DLI-430 cover the Choir. Along the nave, eight DLI-230 systems form four delay lines. Two additional DLI-230 take care of both side aisles.

A Soundcraft Vi1 with compact stage box used for their unrivalled sound quality and versatile effects.

A high quality bundle of wired and wireless microphones from SHURE used to capture crisp, clear sound for sermons and performances in the church.