IN THE MEDIA
New MLB Walk-Up Playlists Put New Sound System Designs on Deck
Dedicated walk-up systems and subwoofers leveraged to support better sound quality for urban-music genres requiring LFE reproduction
If you’ve been to an MLB game this season, you’ve probably noticed a shift in the stadium’s sound energy. Ballplayers’ walk-up music artist choices to get them pumped and excite the crowd are incorporating more hip-hop and urban genres, including Latinx.
As a result of the LFE (low-frequency-energy) music, it’s bringing a new bottom to baseball sound within the bowl and requiring dedicated sound systems to handle the more muscular music, especially on the low end.
“Just in the last year or two,” says Justo Gutierrez, Director of Engineering, Media for Diversified’s Sports & Live Events team, “we’ve been getting requests to design and install dedicated walk-up systems that cover the area from the dugout to home plate and can reach the pitcher’s mound. Batters are asking for aggressive, high-volume, high-impact music as they approach the plate, and the same for relief pitchers and closers when they come in from the bullpen.”
The dedicated walk-up systems are a subsystem of the main PA that have to be uniquely designed to fit the needs of each stadium. With this growing trend, it looks like the MLB walk-up sound system is on deck to become the must-have item for baseball teams for the near future.
