8 Music Venues With The Best Sound Systems Across India

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A memorable experience at your favorite club or music festival is one that’s always directly proportional to the quality of the music that’s being blasted out through the speakers. The bridge that connects an artist to their audience is built on the foundations of the sound system that they have to work with. Unfortunately, in a country like India, the importance of acoustics during a live show by a band or at a party with a DJ almost always was swept under the carpet. But things have changed!

The dawn of the age of the discerning listener has spurred club owners, festivals and sometimes artists themselves to go out of the way to tackle the issue of dodgy sound and have made them realize the role it plays in completing a fulfilling musical experience. Swanky discotheques, exuberant visuals, and the occasional fireworks are just add-ons that can never rank higher in importance than a top-quality audio setup. “Sound is the most important aspect of a gig night. The importance of which cannot be stressed enough” explains Uddipan Samrah, the band manager of post-rock starlets ‘As we keep searching’.

From Chennai to Kolkata we look at some of the best sound systems that our country has to offer.

I. Cloud Nyn, Bangalore :

We begin with one of Bangalore’s most well-kept secrets. Cloud Nyn is a club that’s modeled around a futuristic alien-space ship ( Yes, that’s correct ) and is seriously as cool as it gets. A world class sound-system, state of the art tech & a dual console make for a mouth-watering spread for an audiophile.

The club hosts a state-of-the-art Funktion-one rig that is often considered as the holy-grail of audio systems. It is custom built for space and is specifically tuned to the needs of electronic music as it spits out crisp and clear sound waves no matter where you are standing in the room.

II. Kitty Su, Mumbai & Delhi :

Probably one of the most well-known discotheque chains in India, Kitty Su leaves no stone unturned when it comes to delivering top-class audio quality. The naughty night clubs in Mumbai and Delhi pack a monstrous Void Acoustics system in the main room which can blow the roof off any dance floor. Void are known for sonic excellence, bad-ass designs and are often considered a close competitor to the aforementioned Funktion-one.

This high-performance sound system also allows the clubs to remain versatile in terms of booking artists who belong to different genre pools making sure that the club always has different avenues to ensure footfall.

III. Kismet, Hyderabad :

If you like Bollywood music and if you’re a stickler for great sound then look no further than Kismet in Hyderabad. The swanky club is equipped with the notoriously powerful Void Acoustics assembly that stirs up some serious dance floor debauchery and that certainly does make a huge difference to how we hear our favorite desi numbers.

Purposefully custom built for space, no expense was spared in making sure Kismet stands out as one of the best clubs Hyderabad has to offer.

IV. Mbassy, Chennai :

When it comes to delivering a balanced aural experience M’bassy in Chennai certainly nails it and is ranked right up there with the best in the business. Equipped with two bass-bins and four tops, the setup is locally manufactured and installed by Audio Lotus.

Although not as large as regular club ensembles, the rig still performs admirably well and has easily established itself as the best in class in the city. The staff at this bar and kitchen take their sound extremely seriously and it is no surprise that the system runs at full tilt on weekends and caters to a whole palette of sounds.

V. Pebble - The Jungle Lounge, Bangalore :

Pebble is not only famous for throwing down some of the meanest parties the country has ever seen but also are one of the only venues in India to host a custom-built system designed specifically for the environ.

About four years ago, the club undertook a complete overhaul of its sound system and it more than paid off. Prym-audio headed by audio guru Sreekumar Gopinathan put together a monstrous outdoor rig and coupled it with an extremely tight indoor setup that could give even the world’s best a sure shot run for their money.

Describing the process, he explains “This was the first ever PRYM Audio installation. It posed a lot of challenges as Pebble is an outdoor venue and we need to deploy a very directional sound system. Since subs are Omni directional we had to use a “SUB ARRAY” concept to get the directivity we needed to prevent the sound from going out towards the sides which are surrounded by residential areas ”.

Even at its peak the system only was up to 50% of its actual capacity, which should give you a fair idea of its auditory power.

VI. The Humming Tree, Bangalore :

The Humming tree in Bangalore is one of the most sought-after venues in the country and for good reason. The extremely versatile main room has hosted DJs, Bands, Rappers, and electronica acts with consummate ease.

The in-house sound is curated by a full-time audio engineer post and can be tuned to suit any kind of vibe. Excellent on stage monitoring and a system that is continuously upgraded in line with the demands of Live performance make this venue unique in more ways than one. The intimate space also imparts a warm, fuzzy character making it one of the best spaces for a live performance. All of these factors translate into The Humming tree staying on top of their game, year after year.

VII. 10,000 Lions, Goa :

Sometimes, artists take things into their own hands and decide to go all out to put together their own dream rig that’s best suited for the music that they play. 10,000 lions is a custom-built, handmade sound system that was dreamt and translated into existence by the Reggae group - The Reggae Rajas.

The travel-friendly system is seriously massive in size and sound, making appearances in many festivals such as Sun Splash in Goa and Vh1 Supersonic in Pune. Heavy on bass and extremely pleasing on the ears, 10,000 lions is an attempt to spur the growth of #soundsystemculture in India, breathing new life into a movement that started in Jamaica in the 1950’s.

VIII. Bass Foundation Roots (BFR) Soundsystem, Delhi :

One of only three such speaker systems in Asia and the first of its kind in India, the BFR sound-system is purposefully built from scratch by Delhi Sultanate, Begum X, EZ Riser and Rahul Mangal. The project was listed for public funding on Indiegogo and was launched in 2016 in New-Delhi.

Aiming to bring the dance-floor crowd together through bass-friendly vibrations alongside warm and organic textures, the BFR assembly is seriously powerful. Portable and eye-catching, the system is well traveled and is a resident tradition at festivals such as the Magnetic Fields in Rajasthan.