Every year, new benchmarks are set for technology and skills in design and commissioning of boundary-stretching projects. Whether the technology is new, the POs are huge, or the installation presents crazy new challenges, there is much to be gained from a project that almost knocked you over but instead boosted you up with new excitement about what this industry accomplishes every day.
In the special Fall Yearbook Edition of SCN, we asked manufacturers to describe the most significant projects completed with their products this year. The stories they gave us represent the broad range of work done by our readers, and the rapid expansion in technological and engineering expertise that keep the work rolling in, from vertical to vertical.
- Biamp
- Calgary Light Rail Transit - Calgary, AB, Canada
The Calgary Light Rail Transit completed an audiovisual system upgrade across six of its the 44 stations, utilizing Biamp’s Vocia to provide the quality audio and system functionality needed for stations located in diverse settings, with changing traffic flow and ambient noises levels, seasonal weather conditions, and continued system growth. Specific capabilities such as remote system monitoring provided Calgary’s LRT automatic status updates confirming the health of each station’s system along with the ability to exactly pinpoint any issues that may need attention, saving LRT both time and money in the service and management.
Barco
Marriot München - Munich, Germany
Barco ClickShare is helping Munich-based Marriot München elevate its customer meeting room experience, giving the hotel a significant edge over its competition to become a leader in business hospitality. Since updating the site’s meeting packages, it has enhanced the reliability of its presentation and collaboration systems, providing greater comfort and convenience to customers looking for a hassle-free way to host off-site meetings. Its ease of use enables anyone to quickly master this unique system, which is becoming widely known: two customers have already specifically requested ClickShare for their meetings at the Marriott, while many first-time users are spreading the word.
Bose
Boston Opera House - Boston, MA
After a meticulous audition process, RoomMatch loudspeakers from Bose Professional Systems were chosen to provide coverage to the expansive balcony area of the historic Boston Opera House. Massachusetts-based Adtech Systems installed the system, about which Boston Opera House production manager, Mike Marchetti, stated, "Vocal clarity is very important for the type of performances held here, and it was difficult to achieve for some touring systems. I was skeptical at first, but I [have] started telling… the industry how impressive the RoomMatch system is. The response has been enthusiastic from both audience and touring sound engineers. It’s a success all around.”
Crestron
Hatfield-Dowlin Complex - Eugene, OR
The Hatfield-Dowlin Complex at the University of Oregon is not a stadium, but a six-story football player practice, education, and recruiting center. It was made possible by a gift from Nike founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny, whose standards were exceptionally high. The Hall of Champions at the entrance is outfitted with a Dutch acoustical ceiling, state-of-the-art 3D sound, and a 64-screen video wall that greets visitors with a mosaic of inspirational 4K videos and stills, plus live sports broadcasts. At the heart of the facility’s video systems are Crestron DigitalMedia and Crestron control technology. The project is a clear example that 4K has arrived and organizations like the University of Oregon are benefiting today from their ability to distribute 4K video. Much of the video the staff shoots is 4K; the DM network is fully 4K-compatible and transmits that video to the editing suite, video servers, and then to the video wall.
EAW
Hanover Theatre - Worcester, MA
The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts upgraded its sound reinforcement system with EAW Anya loudspeakers.
The theatre is a large, rectangular room with seating for 2,300 on the main floor and large balcony that dominates the back of the room. “The new design approach with Anya eliminates the anomalies created by the shape of the room and produces clean, clear sound throughout the entire listening area,” explained Hanover audio designer/head of audio Nick Joyce. The back wall of the orchestra level is parabolic in shape and focused a lot of energy back on the seating area. The slap back was a constant focus of complaints from audience and artists. Because Anya controls vertical energy so well, it delivers specific vertical coverage to the seating area. It reduces the affect of the room on the system so clarity is much greater than any other system installed in the theatre. The system design, which was created by EAW’s Application Support Group (ASG) team using EAW Resolution software, consists of 12 Anya modules hung left/right, six per side, from the proscenium.
Kramer
Calvary Baptist Church - New York, NY
The challenge at New York City’s Calvary Baptist Church was to create a cutting-edge, user-friendly system that would add high-quality video to an existing, elaborate sound system. Created by PanAVid, the primary switching unit in the system is the Kramer VP 747 ProScale InCTRL dual scaler seamless switcher with the VP 747T RC console. The system also incorporates eight Kramer VM 2Hxl 1:2 HDMI Distribution Amplifiers, a Kramer VS 88H matrix switcher, four Kramer Electronics VM 114H4C switchers/distribution amplifiers, several PT 571 and PT?572+ DGKat twisted pair transmitters and receivers, a TP 50 twisted pair receiver and TP 121EDID twisted pair transmitter, along with two Kramer HDMI ProScale Digital Scalers. “With Kramer products, we designed something that could add a whole new dimension to their services. The church has never had technology like this before, and Kramer helped us to make it seamless for them,” stated Dennis Mitchell, client relations manager for PanAVid.
L-Acoustics
Wallis Annenberg Center - Beverly Hills, CA
Electrosonic of Burbank installed L-Acoustics WIFO and XT loudspeaker systems in the 500-seat, proscenium-arch Bram Goldsmith Theater of Beverly Hills’ first performing arts center, the Wallis Annenberg Center. Hosting a steady lineup of world-class theatre, dance and music performances—including Natalie Cole, who performed at the invitation-only gala opening—“the Wallis” is equipped with a central array of three ARCS FOCUS and one ARCS WIDE. Coaxial 12XT enclosures provide left-right and delay reinforcement, while SB18i subs handle the low-end. A 7.1 surround system comprised of 8XTi and 5XT enclosures rounds out the visually discreet yet powerful and well-balanced system.
LG Electronics
Georgia Aquarium - Atlanta, GA
Georgia Aquarium, the second largest aquarium in the world, sought to update its antiquated projection equipment and enhance the way it communicates with visitors. The aquarium turned to LG Electronics to provide a striking and engaging signage solution with exceptional picture quality, and installed two LG 84-inch class Ultra HD Displays and a 55-inch class 2X2 video wall in two of its main galleries. These now provide a unique and immersive entertainment experience for as many as three million visitors annually.
NanoLumens
I-X Center - Cleveland, OH
The I-X Center, a 2,200,000-square-foot exposition center with over 1,000,000 square feet of exhibition and conference space, needed to engage and entertain its 1.5 million annual visitors. To transform the indoor space, facility management turned to NanoLumens to supply 22 indoor LED displays, ranging from 30-foot x 17-foot NanoSlim screens to 8-foot x 8-foot NanoWrap screens that encircle key columns across the total 2.2 million square feet. The finished installation has become a compelling showcase for NanoLumens design and manufacturing capabilities, as well as an enhancement for the diverse schedule of trade shows that the I-X Center hosts.
Revolabs
Iberia Bank - New Orleans, LA
The upscale executive conference room at IBERIABANK in New Orleans served as the inaugural installation of the Revolabs’ Executive Elite. IBERIABANK needed wireless tabletop microphones to capture and optimize audio from all meeting members during sensitive financial board meetings across a 23-foot conference table. The Executive Elite offered a combination of quality audio, failsafe security, and a clean, contemporary design that is uniquely geared toward the demanding requirements of today’s corporate conference room environments. Its new distributed architecture circumvented any space constraints by separating the base unit from the remote antennae while AES-256 encryption provided the security that IBERIABANK required.
Harman
Petco Park - San Diego, CA
The San Diego Padres stadium, Petco Park, is now equipped with JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers, and BSS Audio processing components. This deployment is one of the largest to date of Harman HiQnet Audio Architect audio system design and configuration software. Petco Park has two large amplifier rooms, each with 80 amplifiers, and up to 30 amplifiers in each of six smaller rooms. Daktronics Audio replaced each of the older amplifiers in the smaller rooms with Crown DCi amplifiers; the upgrade to the Crown DCi amplifiers in the larger rooms is ongoing.
Hitachi
First Baptist Church- Allen, TX
Jeff Mize, minister of music for First Baptist Church in Allen, TX, discovered Hitachi projectors after being introduced to environmental projection in late 2013. The church purchased three Hitachi CP-X8170 projectors to be installed in the 1,400-person-capacity sanctuary. Along with its practical price point, the Hitachi CP-X8170 projector was recommended to Mize based on its sharpness and clarity. Mize stated that the church has found more than just environmental projection uses for the projectors as well.
Soundcraft
Wesley United Methodist Church - Beaumont, TX
Wesley United Methodist Church in Beaumont, TX recently improved its audio capacity with the new Soundcraft Vi3000 digital console and Soundcraft Si Performer 3 digital console. The consoles are part of a sound reinforcement project aimed at providing better audio fidelity to the 100-year-old church, which provides contemporary services for up to 500 people. With a completely remodeled sound and lighting infrastructure, the church is set to handle another decade of contemporary performances. With the “spectacular and natural” Lexicon effects, the new Vi3000 provides church members with the sound they sought.
Sony
Odeh Engineers - Providence, RI
Odeh Engineers, specializing in the structural engineering of buildings, created an immersive video wall in its new main conference room, where they can meet clients and review every aspect of a building’s design. The technology is driven by 10 of Sony’s VPL-FHZ55 laser projectors and Scalable Display’s edge-blending software generating 18 Megapixel graphics, resulting in a meeting environment that’s more productive, efficient and collaborative. The workflow concept supported by the new video wall is based on Building Information Modeling (BIM), a new approach to designing and constructing buildings that’s used extensively by major firms, architects and engineers, and contractors to deliver workflow innovation by eliminating conflicts when designs are turned into reality.
Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems
The Township of Evesham Courthouse - Evesham, NJ
The Township of Evesham Courthouse is a municipal courtroom and doubles as a non-jury courtroom, council meeting room, and a township meeting room. Up to 16 microphones may be in use at any given time, and recently, ACIR Professional of Mays Landing, NJ replaced the live portion of the audio system to obtain a cleaner, clearer sound. To accommodate the customer’s request for a continuation of the ability to send audio via multi-track to record, ACIR recommended a Yamaha MTX5-D processor with the EiX8-8 channel extender to accommodate the 16 inputs required. The processor also handles the routing of multi-track and a four-zone (mix minus) to the Yamaha XMV4280-D Dante-enabled four-channel amplifier. Yamaha VXC8W speakers were installed and zoned for maximum gain before feedback. A Dugan MY-16 Auto Mixer card was installed in the MTX5-D and there are extensive parametric EQ capabilities on each zone output.
