Renkus-Heinz has brought steerable sound to one of Malaysia’s largest mosques in a two-phase upgrade that has resolved long-standing audio issues.
Set within thirteen acres of tranquil gardens, the National Mosque of Malaysia (Masjid Negara) has a 240ft minaret, a 16-point star on its roof, and space for up to 15,000 worshippers at any one time.
Since its construction in 1965, the mosque has seen several upgrades to its PA system, in both the indoor and outdoor prayer spaces, but has continued to struggle with poor intelligibility, inadequate coverage and a system that was difficult for mosque operators to manage. It wasn’t until the fourth and most recent refit using steerable loudspeakers from Renkus-Heinz and the brand’s OmniBeam technology that the sound issues were fully resolved.
Leading the project was specialist AV integration and acoustic consultancy firm, Acousticon. “This was a highly complex project that we implemented in two phases due to scale and budget,” notes Azizi Bin Ala, Acousticon founder and technical director. “The grand design was developed in 2019 with the consultant, the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Federal Territory, using AES67 audio networking for improved interoperability. We opted for a Renkus-Heinz solution throughout based on the company’s strong track record of installations in Malaysia, notably at the Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque in Putrajaya. Renkus-Heinz is known for performance and reliability and is endorsed by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM).”
Delivered in 2020, Phase 1 focused on bringing clear yet unobtrusive sound to the mosque’s outdoor prayer area. This was a complex task due to the narrow 80m-long covered terrace, 48 supporting pillars, and the mosque’s proximity to residential and commercial properties. To address previous system shortcomings—such as ineffective beam-steering, lack of zoning control, and overheating issues—Acousticon designed a distributed audio system from Renkus-Heinz based on twelve passive Iconyx ICX7-II mechanically steerable line arrays. These were installed using the fixings of the previous system to comply with strict heritage regulations that prohibited further mountings on walls or pillars. Properly optimised with the help of EASE Focus 3 software, the new system provides clear, intelligible and properly contained audio throughout the prayer area.
The upgrade also introduced a Q-Sys digital control system, replacing complex manual controls with an intuitive touch panel interface—an essential improvement for staff with minimal audio training. Notably, this became the first mosque in Malaysia to implement AES67 networking, making the system both scalable and future-proof.
Phase 2 of the project – which was completed in 2024 – concentrated on improving sound within the main prayer hall, a 50m x 50m indoor space notorious for its challenging acoustics. This phase saw active steerable loudspeakers installed which are capable of overcoming the hall’s high reverberation time (RT60) while also complying with the strict heritage preservation regulations. Following EASE modelling and sound measurement testing, active Iconyx IC24-RD digitally steerable line arrays from Renkus-Heinz proved to be the ideal product. Furthermore, as the IC24-RDs support multi-mode connectivity including Dante, RHAON and AES67, the integration into the digital network ecosystem implemented in Phase 1 was a success.