Lorde tour uses L-Acoustics L-ISA and L Series to scale immersive sound in arenas
Background and context
Lorde’s current Ultrasound World Tour is the latest large-scale outing to test immersive audio in mainstream arena production. The run supports the artist’s fourth studio album, Virgin, and follows earlier tours that have already adopted spatial sound, including her Melodrama arena tour in 2018.
On that earlier tour, Lorde became one of the first performers to use a full L-Acoustics L-ISA deployment in arenas. For Ultrasound, her team has returned to object-based mixing, this time pairing L-ISA Hyperreal Sound with the manufacturer’s newer L Series loudspeakers on the North American leg.
Clair Global supplied and integrated the system, while front-of-house engineer Philip J. Harvey—who has mixed Lorde since 2014—continued his long-running collaboration with the artist, adapting her catalogue to the spatial format.
Key announcement
The Ultrasound World Tour marks one of the first major arena-scale tours to use the L-Acoustics L Series—specifically L2 and L2D modules—as the main L-ISA Scene system. According to L-Acoustics, a single L2 or L2D is designed to cover the same vertical contour as four K2 elements, in a smaller and lighter package.
For North America, Clair Global’s standard L-ISA arena configuration comprised five main arrays of three L2 over one L2D for the central immersive Scene, plus two further L Series arrays for out-fill. Additional left and right hangs of Kara II loudspeakers extended coverage to approximately 220 degrees, supported by flown KS28 subwoofers and KS21 subs built into the stage edge.
Front-fill and ground coverage were handled by A10 Wide and A10 Focus enclosures, with specific adjustments at venues such as Madison Square Garden, where extra L2 arrays were flown in an LCR arrangement over the rear of the floor to work around a large central video display.
The system was driven by LA7.16 amplified controllers for the L Series arrays and LA12X units for the rest of the PA. Two L-ISA Processor II units—one in redundant mode—handled object-based rendering, with P1 processors managing system control and distribution over Milan-AVB.
Industry impact
For touring audio professionals, the Ultrasound setup highlights how immersive systems are being scaled for repeatable arena use rather than one-off flagship productions. Systems engineer Chris Demonbreun used L-Acoustics Soundvision software and its automatic configuration tools to adapt the design to different venues while aiming for consistent coverage.
According to Demonbreun, around three-quarters of the audience typically fell inside the main L-ISA immersive zone, with the remainder covered by fill systems. The tour also used L-ISA’s Sound Spaces feature to render a dedicated spatial environment for the front-fill zone, extending the immersive experience to those closest to the stage.
From a deployment standpoint, the tour relied on the Clamp 1000 rigging system to rotate L Series arrays from the ground. This approach is intended to reduce motor counts, shorten load-in times, and ensure consistent array orientation from show to show—important for maintaining a stable immersive image.
Why this matters
For the wider live events sector, the Ultrasound World Tour demonstrates how object-based audio and more compact line source designs are moving further into standard touring workflows. The combination of L-ISA processing, L Series arrays, and networked amplification shows a maturing toolset aimed at delivering spatial sound at arena scale without significantly increasing rigging or logistics demands.
Creative choices such as following the artist’s vocal position across the speaker arrays, or reshaping older material to fit an immersive aesthetic, underline how these systems affect show design as much as technical execution.
For event technology providers and production teams, tours like Ultrasound offer a reference point for what can be achieved with current immersive platforms in terms of coverage consistency, load-in efficiency, and integration with visual production. More technical detail on L-ISA Hyperreal Sound and the L Series is available via the manufacturer’s website at https://www.l-acoustics.com.
