L-Acoustics’ Source Intelligence Brings Sound Separation Tech to Live Settings

Los Angeles, CA (June 1, 2026)—The most difficult audio source to manage for any production is usually the vocal; put a microphone in a singer’s hands and you’re liable to get bleed, crowd noise, feedback and more in addition to their voice as they traverse the stage. Aiming to help clean up all that unwanted audio detritus, L-Acoustics has introduced Source Intelligence, a proprietary real-time voice-separation technology.

Integrated in the L-Acoustics system workflow as a subscription-based application on the L-ISA Processor II, Source Intelligence uses machine learning to identify the voice in a microphone signal and remove everything else while reportedly preserving the tone, character and intelligibility of the source.

Once installed on the L-ISA Processor II, Source Intelligence doesn’t require a threshold setting, ongoing adjustment or changes to the existing console workflow or signal routing. End-to-end latency is spec’d at less than 8.5 ms over MADI—an amount that stays fixed regardless whether processing is active or bypassed, so that automation and snapshot changes don’t affect system timing. Full PSU, network audio and DSP redundancy are standard through the L-ISA Processor II platform.

According to L-Acoustics, the technology works with handheld, headset, lapel and distant-pickup microphones, and processes up to four channels simultaneously. Each instance can handle one vocal at a time and can be placed in the path of a group of channels so that a single instance can, for example, serve all handheld microphones in a corporate workflow.

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The concept has been applied to a variety of productions while in development—Source Intelligence has been used in the field since Spring 2025 on a number of touring productions, Broadway shows and house-of-worship campuses. Current beta partners include Solotech on the Harry Styles tour, Clair Global on Benson Boone and Rosalia tours, and PRG on the Broadway production of Dog Day Afternoon.

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As Ryan John, Director of Product Management, Software at L-Acoustics, noted, “Source Intelligence…is continuously listening and continuously working, so the engineer can focus on the mix instead of fighting feedback, and the performer can own the whole stage.”