During Pope Leo XIV’s recent visit to Spain, the Catholic leader participated in a week of liturgical celebrations, public appearances and institutional events.
With such a packed schedule, his team required an AV infrastructure capable of serving both massive live audiences and millions of viewers around the world.
Among the technologies deployed to support these events were professional wireless solutions from Wisycom and precision microphones from DPA Microphones, distributed by SeeSound.
Lluc Torres, SeeSound’s broadcast division product manager, says: “Events of this scale demand absolute confidence in every part of the signal chain.
“Whether you’re focused on wireless RF performance or speech intelligibility, there simply isn’t an opportunity for a second take. The technology must work flawlessly from the first moment to the last.”
The final stages of the papal visit brought the production to Gran Canaria and Tenerife, where engineers faced the challenge of coordinating complex wireless operations in demanding RF conditions.
The team at Hi Vision, which was responsible for broadcasting the event for local television, relied on a Wisycom wireless ecosystem based on MCR54 multi-channel receivers, MTP60 bodypack transmitters and MTH610 hand-held transmitters.
The deployment also incorporated Wisycom’s RPU500 full duplex reporter system, along with MTK982 in-ear transmitters and MPR60 receivers, to support monitoring requirements throughout the event.
“The system was selected for its ability to deliver dependable RF performance while supporting the flexibility required for a production to operate across multiple venues and changing environments,” says Torres.
“Stable wireless operation was essential, not only for live speeches, but also for the coordinated production workflows that took place behind the scenes.”
While reliable RF performance was a major part of the equation, capturing speech with exceptional clarity was equally critical.
For Pope Leo XIV’s addresses, the production utilised DPA’s 4098 gooseneck microphones, which are ideal for spoken-word applications. Their immunity to RF interference also makes them well suited for complex broadcast environments with dense RF activity.
“The DPA 4098 has become a trusted solution whenever speech clarity is a priority,” says Torres. “Its ability to reproduce the human voice while naturally rejecting unwanted noise allows audiences to remain focused on the message, regardless of the scale of the production.”