In February, Ed Sheeran's successful Mathematics world tour concluded in India. A PA system featuring KSL loudspeakers from the revolutionary SL-Series by d&b audiotechnik was used to meet the need for a flexible and lightweight system without compromising on sound quality.
In addition to delivering clean sound and delighting audiences, the tour also marked a couple of important firsts for the local live touring industry.
When Ed Sheeran's Mathematics world tour arrived in Mumbai, local professional audio specialist NJSM ProSound Pvt Ltd, part of the SOUND.COM Group, provided a KSL sound system from d&b audiotechnik for the Indian leg of the tour—along with a historic milestone for the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Based in Mumbai, NJSM ProSound supplied the d&b KSL system for Sheeran’s tour. The entire India leg used a KSL system provided by a single supplier, underscoring the widespread adoption of KSL across the subcontinent. More significantly, before the five concerts in Indian cities culminated in Delhi, the capital, on January 24, the first-ever international concert in Bhutan, the small Himalayan nation, took place.
To ensure seamless delivery and system design despite the logistical challenges of a tour across such a vast subcontinent, the NJSM ProSound team worked closely with Neil Lean, d&b’s EAS (Education and Application Support) representative in India. This leg of the tour was presented in a simplified format—a less complex setup compared to the 360˚ in-the-round stage productions of previous legs. This streamlined configuration was chosen to ease deployment challenges given the tight schedule. KSL was selected because the production required a top-tier system that was available in multiple cities, allowing them to avoid touring the PA and instead supplement the rider with local supply if needed. Thanks to KSL’s cardioid performance and unmatched full-bandwidth directivity, it also provided consistently high-quality, controlled sound from the stage to the far end of the audience areas at each venue.
The system design included main clusters of KSL8/KSL12 (16 boxes per side), accompanied by 10 flown SL-SUBs per side, plus 24 SL-GSUBs stacked on the ground in an end-fire configuration, aligned along the main propagation axis. This setup was complemented with d&b V8 and V12 loudspeakers as front fills, with delay lines using KSL, XS, and V-Series speakers as needed for each venue.
The most significant challenge for the team was transport logistics. India is nearly the size of Europe (excluding Russia), and all the gear had to land in the correct city early in the morning and be fully deployed as a system by 10 AM. Another logistical hurdle was ensuring proper connectivity and the availability of the right amplifier racks at each venue.
Thanks to the well-known ease of deployment of d&b systems—with their proprietary platforms and integrated rigging—along with the on-site support provided by d&b India experts, the system was rigged and tuned smoothly at every tour stop.
The outstanding cardioid performance of KSL—the defining feature of d&b’s SL-Series—ensured that audiences could enjoy undistorted music without feedback, a perfect match for an artist of Ed Sheeran’s global stature.
The cardioid pattern of the SL-Series allowed us to deploy the system without worrying about feedback from Ed’s on-stage guitars. The best way to judge a touring PA system is the consistency it delivers, show after show—and this system performed flawlessly throughout the tour. The production teams, including representatives from AEG and their Indian partner BookMyShow, were extremely pleased with the system’s quality, and in every city we visited we received fantastic feedback on social media about how great the audio was, explains Neil Lean from d&b.
Ed Sheeran’s touring audio team, made up of Simon Kemp at FoH and system engineer Adam Wells, echoed the audience’s positive feedback and expressed their appreciation not only for the exceptional audio quality but also for the dedication and professionalism of the local crew.
We delivered outstanding results, and it’s very rewarding to know that Simon and Adam felt the same, says Warren D’Souza of NJSM ProSound.
