Two stadiums, one sound solution: Electro-Voice and Dynacord system design a winner for Texas school district

8 Mar, 2019 | Dynacord, Electro-Voice

• Five weatherized Electro-Voice EVH and EVF loudspeakers provide full-range coverage for 8,000-seat stadium
• Dynacord C3600 amplifiers provide power, DSP and FIR-Drive speaker optimization for cohesive, full-range audio
• Southwest Building Systems delivered cost-effective service with a single system design custom-integrated into two similar stadiums

“We’ve had nothing but awesome reactions from everyone. People are blown away by the sound. Now we can really get the place rocking, from the time the team comes out of the locker room and all through the game.”

When legendary Texas football coach Mike Spradlin joined Magnolia Independent School District in suburban Houston as Director of Athletics in 2016, he set about upgrading the football experience at the district’s high schools. Part of that plan was the installation of new video scoreboards and sound systems at both Magnolia and Magnolia West. Southwest Building Systems (Sillsbee, Texas) was engaged to design and install new sound systems at both facilities.

“Our old systems were just a few horns mounted on top of the press box. They sounded terrible, and music was out of the question,” says Robert Patty, Sports Information Coordinator for the district. “We wanted to create more of a college-type game day experience, to get the fans and players pumped up.”

The goal was to deliver full, even coverage in the bleachers, with clear, high fidelity sound quality for game announcements, music, and sponsor video commercials. Southwest Building Systems designed a PA system featuring long-throw Electro-Voice loudspeakers powered and processed by C Series amplifiers from EV’s sibling brand Dynacord. The same system was installed in both stadiums, which have virtually identical bleacher and scoreboard layouts.

The system is based on three EVH-1152D/43 coaxial loudspeakers, a two-way, horn-loaded design that delivers up to 139 dB SPL. This highly directional 40 x 30 version provides the tight dispersion required to deliver clear sound throughout the 8,000-seat venue. Two 1152s cover the home side of the field, with the third handling the smaller visitors’ bleacher section. Two EVF-2151D subwoofers provide low frequency support.

Power is provided by four Dynacord C3600 amplifiers, with integrated DSP and FIR-Drive to optimize loudspeaker performance (Dynacord amps are optimized for use with EV speaker systems). One is dedicated to each biamped EVH-1152D, while the fourth amp powers the two subwoofers. One interesting problem posed was the fact that there are no other buildings near the scoreboard. As Brent Thornhill, President of Southwest Building Systems, explains, “Normally we house the amplifiers in a nearby fieldhouse, but that was over 500 feet away. We wanted to put the Dynacord amps close to the speakers, so we came up with an outdoor-rated, climate-controlled rack room to put them in. We call it The Fridge.”

The speakers feature Electro-Voice’s fully weatherized design option, with fiberglass cabinets, powder-coated stainless steel grilles with hydrophobic mesh, and water-tight input panel covers. The loudspeakers are housed in an enclosure above the new video scoreboard, providing further weather protection while keeping them out of sight.

“We like to provide a sleek, integrated look to our end zone systems,” says Thornhill. “The enclosure has a special black fabric cover that blocks out the wind-driven Texas rain but doesn’t interfere with the sound. We printed them with the school logos, so they look like part of the scoreboard.”

As a final touch, the announcer’s microphone in the press box was outfitted with the Electro-Voice PC Desktop-18, a gooseneck design with sturdy, weighted steel base and selectable pick-up pattern from the PolarChoice range.

Fans, teams, coaches and administrators of both the Magnolia Bulldogs and Magnolia West Mustangs are impressed with the way things are sounding:

“We’ve had nothing but awesome reactions from everyone. People are blown away by the sound,” reports Robert Patty of Magnolia ISD. “Now we can really get the place rocking, from the time the team comes out of the locker room and all through the game. Our superintendent was there for the first game, and came over and told me, ‘Man, this sounds like a rock concert!’

It’s really brought our whole football program to a higher level, just like we hoped. We couldn’t be happier.”

The Overtones hit all the right notes on tour with Electro-Voice X-Line Advance and Dynacord TGX

1 Mar, 2019 | Dynacord, Electro-Voice

Platinum selling vocal harmony stars The Overtones sold out concert halls across the UK when they set out on a 26-date tour at the end of 2018, accompanied by long-term front of house engineer Mark Clements. For technical production specialist Merlin PA Hire, the sheer variety of venues on the tour meant that the sound system had to be as flexible as possible while still delivering the clarity of performance required for the precise and detailed Overtones sound.

“The guys are very particular about what they want and for me it needs to be precise; crystal clear vocals and the ability to retain the character of their individual voices,” explains Clement, the band’s engineer for nine years. “It’s not a broad-spectrum EQ, it’s very defined for each performer and there’s a lot of time spent riding the faders.” Most importantly, Overtones shows are renowned for inspiring audiences to leap to their feet and dance in the aisles.

Delivering the all-important blend of versatility, performance and power was an Electro-Voice X-Line Advance X2 line array system driven by one of the first Dynacord TGX-20 amplifier set-ups to hit the road. In choosing to use the already award-winning Dynacord TGX amps, Merlin PA’s Neal Allen also adopted a fully OMNEO workflow for the tour, combining Dante audio transport with OCA control.

“It was a leap of faith,” confirms Allen. “The TGX amps arrived two weeks before we came away and this was our first time using OMNEO all the way through, a fully Dante workflow. But everything worked flawlessly.”

Depending on each venue’s size and load bearing capacity, Allen specified a configuration to suit with a mixture of EV X2-212/90 and X2-212/120 elements, plus XLE181 in-fills and front-fills and X12-128 subwoofers. Five Dynacord TGX-20 amps per-side were housed in the rack.

“When you’re preparing for a tour you need to think about the biggest venue and the smallest venue and select a system that will cater for both,” he says. “Truck space is always at a premium, so you need flexibility in the speaker rig and the amplifiers. That’s what we get with X-Line Advance and TGX.”

Mark Clements adds: “The X2 sound is crisp and precise. It also throws for days and the detail is top notch. With the TGX amplifiers, the headroom is a massive improvement and they sound great. They’re also very easy to use, with the software everything is accessible in a second.”

For the band, meanwhile, achieving what they call “the perfect sound” in the auditorium means they can focus on their performance. “We couldn’t do what we do without our technical team and without the equipment they use,” reasons Lachie Chapman. “On our tour, every night we have people up on their feet from the second song, literally every night. I think that’s testament to the amazing sound that we have.”