Guangzhou Juyong stage Equipment Co., LTD

In the blink of an eye, 2022 has passed its halfway mark, and it has been over half a year since the conclusion of Joker Xue’s “Something from Outer Space” tour. Fans’ musical DNA has long been stirring, with many taking to Weibo to call for his return, expressing hopes that he would soon launch the “spaceship” once again—everyone is eager to board.

Looking back at Joker Xue’s 2021 concert tour, the theme “Something from Outer Space” served as its core concept. A spaceship made a spectacular landing, a thrilling “Tower of Desire” kept the audience on the edge of their seats, a romantic merry-go-round captured hearts beyond the venue, and high-wire acts delivered breathtaking excitement… Memorable moments such as “scalped tickets were everywhere,” “paying to watch him eat instant noodles,” and “the lighting technician playing the music” still feel as vivid and hilarious as ever.

After a two-year hiatus, Joker Xue made a grand return with his “spaceship,” initiating a dialogue with Earth as the “Interstellar Executive Officer.” He led fans on an intensely immersive sci-fi musical journey uniquely his own. The entire performance brimmed with wondrous imagination, feeling more like a moving universe where sound, entertainment, and science fiction converge.

Behind the electrifying live experience, the audio team meticulously designed the system to align with the concert’s theme and accommodate diverse musical styles. They employed high-end audio equipment, including the renowned Rupert Neve series—featuring the Neve MBP Bus Compressor, renowned for its tonal excellence, the 5045 Feedback Controller, and the RNDI Instrument Transformer—to ensure impeccable sound delivery. These tools enriched the music with greater warmth, texture, and emotional impact, while also offering engineers an intuitive workflow and exceptionally accurate sound reproduction. Now, let’s take a closer look at how they work their magic.

The Neve Portico II MBP features dual-channel compression and limiting, along with stereo width expansion and the powerful Silk transformer saturation function. Designed for ease of use, it enables engineers to quickly achieve the quality and functionality expected from professional bus processing.

During Joker Xue’s concert, which spanned a variety of musical styles from ballads to rock, the Silk transformer saturation feature received high praise from Mr. Zhang Junjun. He made subtle adjustments to the Silk effect using the Texture control. For more rock-oriented songs, he opted for the “Silk Blue” mode—which effectively enhances harmonic content in the low and low-mid frequencies, resulting in a thicker, more solid sound that reinforces the rock aesthetic.

Additionally, the MBP’s stereo width expansion function was put to great use during the performance, allowing the engineer to easily adjust the stereo image in both width and depth. What offers even greater flexibility is the ability to focus the enhancement on specific frequency bands, magnifying subtle details in the audio and giving the music more “character.”

Rupert Neve DesignsRupert Neve Designs features custom input and output transformers, with its all-analog circuitry delivering exceptional control and sonic performance without compromising the integrity of the sound source. Hence, the Neve 5045 is hailed as the most intuitive, natural, and effective feedback reduction processor on the market.

During performances, the live environment is often noisy, filled with the screams of fans. However, when integrated into the signal chain, the 5045 allows microphone signals to gain more headroom before feedback howling occurs. Background noise is filtered to some extent before entering the mixer for amplification, significantly improving the signal-to-noise ratio. This results in cleaner sound entering the system, ensuring that the audience can hear clearly.

Mr. Zhang Junjun commented after using it: "With the 5045, I can push the sound up by 7 or 8 dB without any howling—it’s really impressive."

The Neve RNDI, an active transformer DI box, is equipped with a custom RNDI transformer and a Class A discrete FET (Field-Effect Transistor) amplifier. It can convert high-impedance signals from band instruments during performances to low-impedance ones without losing their original tone. Thanks to Rupert Neve’s proprietary transformer technology, the RNDI preserves complete signal information and dynamics during transmission and conversion, while providing ample headroom and enhancing sonic details.

Additionally, the RNDI offers input level selection between "Instrument" and "Speaker" modes, increasing usability flexibility. These two modes can be freely switched to meet various sound needs in concerts.

The RNDI features a rugged metal enclosure with industrial-grade powder coating, ensuring stability on tour comparable to its performance in the studio. Paired with Shuangmu Classic’s custom flight case, it remains protected during transportation.

We’ve entered the third year of "the pandemic era," long accustomed to wearing masks daily, and keeping our health codes green has become a daily goal. Many lament that a significant portion of their youth has coincided with these three years of the pandemic. What’s more, this year’s May Day holiday season has been called "the worst ever"—according to a survey by the China Association of Performing Arts, major first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, which are usually the most active in the performance market, saw all performances suspended during the holiday. Outdoor music festival projects have also largely come to a halt this year.

Whether for fans, artists, or bands, every performance is incredibly precious, and we should cherish every opportunity to meet. In the face of the pandemic’s impact, we hope all friends in the music industry will never lose heart or get discouraged. What we need to do is stay prepared, update and adjust our "livelihood" equipment, and be ready to meet the challenges with our best when performances resume. We will always stand by you, providing high-quality products and professional services, as we all look forward to the next show. In the meantime, we warmly welcome all friends to reach out for inquiries and experiences.