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PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Clyne Media, Inc.
Tel: (615) 662-1616

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Genelec Smart IP loudspeakers bring four billion years of history to life for Melbourne Museum’s new immersive exhibition

— View video profile here —

Natick, MA, March 17, 2026 — On Australia’s southeast coast, the nation’s largest public museum organization, Museums Victoria, welcomes over two million visitors annually to discover the environmental and cultural past, present and future of the state of Victoria. One of the organization’s five unique venues, Melbourne Museum, explores the wonder of life on Earth. The recently opened immersive exhibit, Our Wondrous Planet, invites visitors into vibrant ecosystems filled with over 800 animals from the museum’s collection, tracing four billion years of life. At the heart of this exhibition is a series of hands-on interactive experiences powered by spectacular lights, projections, and an immersive layered soundscape delivered through Genelec Smart IP loudspeakers. View video profile here Our Wondrous Planet was due to be the largest gallery redevelopment in Melbourne Museum’s history, setting expectations high for their new immersive experience. “The museum knew what they wanted the exhibit to be from the outset,” says Mike Miller, Technical Project Manager and System Designer for the museum. “The rest of the multimedia team and I joined the project during the early development stage as the discussion around interactive elements began to evolve. The plan was to create seven new gallery spaces — all fitted with multimedia systems, including an immersive audio solution.” The exhibition is a showcase of Earth’s living systems, introducing visitors to ocean currents, root networks, coral reefs, rainforest canopies, and the creatures that inhabit these ecosystems. “We needed a sound system that would create an immersive soundscape, while also isolating audio in each zone to reflect the individual habitat,” Miller explains. “A particular challenge was the large projection screen in the center of the gallery. It hangs over the open gantry and causes unwanted sound to project down to the gallery floor below. We needed a solution that would allow for clarity and coverage in each zone, without overpowering the surrounding spaces.” Many previous exhibitions at the Melbourne Museum have successfully relied on Genelec loudspeakers to create immersive environments. “Although this project was more technically demanding, Genelec loudspeakers offer exceptional sound quality and an advanced feature set that has proven crucial in the past,” notes Miller. “As a result, Genelec was my first choice for this new exhibition.” Australian audio-visual specialists, Lumicom, were responsible for installing the new sound system, carefully curated by the museum’s multimedia team in collaboration with musicians and sound design duo, Fuligin Sound. “We chose a combination of Genelec’s Smart IP series because we required an easy-to-install PoE solution to connect to the museum’s Dante® network,” Miller continues. “A total of sixty-nine Smart IP loudspeakers were installed throughout the exhibit.” The system comprises forty-one compact 4430s, seven 4435 in-ceiling models, and three 4436 pendant loudspeakers to provide the general environmental sounds in each ecosystem, while eighteen super-compact 4410s are positioned for more detailed elements to enhance the immersive soundscape. “We wanted the audio to sound like it was coming from specific interactive elements or animals in the exhibit, so the 4410s are discreetly positioned to isolate sound to these areas. Two loudspeakers are even placed inside an octopus,” reveals Miller. Larger 4430 loudspeakers are deployed around the open gantry and the walkway on level one to guarantee that wherever visitors stand, they feel part of the immersive experience. “In parallel with the Genelec system is a network of Yamaha passive loudspeakers to deliver the general soundscape, while the Genelecs serve the immersive experiences with the more detailed sound.” To avoid overpowering the gallery below and to ensure sound is localized to each zone, eleven channels of audio are mixed in Dolby Atmos® to sync loudspeakers with their immersive elements. “This gallery used to hold temporary exhibitions, meaning there are a lot of network patch points,” he adds. “Having a PoE loudspeaker that only needs one cable plugged into the existing infrastructure to be up and running saved significant time during the installation phase. Smart IP Manager also proved incredibly useful for controlling and identifying each loudspeaker during the setup, as well as for day-to-day system management.” Visitors can now discover different animals and ecosystems while surrounded by a carefully constructed soundscape that sounds as though it originates from the environment around them. “Genelec provides an outstanding combination of exceptional audio quality and a practical feature set that makes a complex installation like this so much easier,” reveals Miller. “Our Wondrous Planet has become one of Melbourne Museum’s most popular exhibitions. I’m extremely proud of how the immersive elements have come together to create an experience that feels natural. The detail and precision delivered by Genelec loudspeakers have been pivotal in making this happen.” For more information, please visit www.genelec.com.

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Photo file 1: 2026_Melbourne_Museum_PR_Image_1.JPG Photo caption 1: Smart IP technology drives immersive audio across seven gallery zones, bringing ecosystems and over 800 animal specimens vividly to life. Photo file 2: 2026_Melbourne_Museum_PR_Image_2.JPG Photo caption 2: Museums Victoria welcomes over two million visitors a year to explore Victoria’s natural and cultural heritage. Photo file 3: 2026_Melbourne_Museum_PR_Image_3.JPG Photo caption 3: From rainforest canopies to coral reefs, Genelec Smart IP creates natural, richly detailed environments throughout the exhibition. Photo file 4: 2026_Melbourne_Museum_PR_Image_4.JPG Photo caption 4: PoE-enabled Smart IP loudspeakers ensure precise, localized sound for Melbourne Museum’s most ambitious multimedia installation. PDF file: MelbourneMuseum_Case_Study_Genelec.PDF PDF caption: Genelec Melbourne Museum case study Genelec, the pioneer in Active Monitoring technology, is celebrating over 45 years of designing and manufacturing active loudspeakers for true and accurate sound reproduction. Genelec is credited with promoting the concept of active transducer technology. Since its inception in 1978, Genelec has concentrated its efforts and resources into creating active monitors with unparalleled sonic integrity. The result is an active speaker system that has earned global acclaim for its accurate imaging, extremely high acoustic output from small enclosures, true high-fidelity with low distortion, and deep, rich bass. Genelec is also marking its 20th year of Smart Active Monitoring™ technology, which allows studio monitors to be connected, configured and calibrated for the user’s specific acoustic environment. Each Smart Active Monitor or subwoofer is equipped with advanced internal DSP circuitry, which tightly integrates with the GLM (Genelec Loudspeaker Manager) software application, running on Mac or PC. GLM’s reference microphone kit allows the user’s acoustic environment to be analyzed, after which GLM’s AutoCal feature optimizes each Smart Active Monitor for level, distance delay, subwoofer crossover phase and room response equalization, with the option of further fine tuning by the user. By minimizing the room’s influence on the sound, Smart Active Monitors deliver an unrivalled reference, with excellent translation between rooms. Visit Genelec on social media: https://www.facebook.com/Genelec https://www.linkedin.com/company/genelec-oy https://www.instagram.com/Genelec_oy/ https://x.com/Genelec https://www.tiktok.com/@genelec_oy Other brand and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. —For more information on the complete range of Genelec Active Monitoring Systems, contact: Genelec Inc., 7 Tech Circle, Natick, MA 01760. Tel: (508) 652-0900; Fax: (508) 652-0909; Web: http://www.genelec.com/.