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.”
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.”
Invested by Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou Olympic Sports Center is a
multifunctional sports center that includes a 45,000-seats stadium, a
13,000-seats gymnasium, a 3,000-seats natatorium and a commercial plaza
with a hotel tower. Its design and planning was inspired by classical
garden architectural art. Suzhou Olympic Sports Center is built as a
dynamic, fully opened sports park that delivers the atmosphere of
ancient garden in a modern approach. All venues were designed by the
German company GMP, which used to be responsible for the Berlin Olympic
Sports Center project, strictly following the standards of the
individual intercontinental event. The sound reinforcement system
includes the following EV products: 104 EVH weather-resistant
loudspeakers, 70 X2 line array loudspeakers, nearly 100 TG7 amplifiers
integrated RCM28 modules and EV UW30 underwater loudspeakers. In
addition, DYNACORD Cobra series loudspeakers provide an excellent audio
performance for portable use in three venues of the Olympic Sports
Center, while DYNACORD VL series loudspeakers deliver exciting music to
all the players in the skating rink.
The single-layer cable membrane structure
Each
stadium has its own features, Suzhou Olympic Sports Center stadium is
the first stadium with saddle-shaped, single-layer cable membrane
structure roof in China. This also brought the challenges to the entire
sound reinforcement system design. The leader of the Project Design
Department of Suzhou Olympic Sports Center mentioned, “Generally
speaking, most stadiums adopt the steel framed structure. The special
structure used in this project means that we have to use 40 cable heads
across the stadium to fasten the membrane.” Due to this unique design,
the catwalk is above the membrane and there are no fixed mounting points
for loudspeaker installation, thus making the installation and
maintenance very difficult. Furthermore, the swing range of up and down
exceeds 1.5 meters. Those increased the difficulty of whole sound system
design. “After elaborate consideration, Bosch team introduced the
installation method of London Bowl. Bosch guys worked with specialized
designers to make a mounting point on each tapered end and install a
pulley. Then we can use a winding engine to lift the loudspeakers, or
take down for inspection and maintenance. By this way, the challenge of
installation was finally conquered.” He also added, “in addition to
tackling the hanging technical difficulty, another reason why we choose
the single-layer cable membrane structured roof is that we hope to make a
breakthrough in the aesthetic appearance of the stadium. EV’s
white-coloured EVH weather-resistant loudspeakers perfectly match the
cable membrane structure not only on colour but also on overall
environment. What’s more, EVH’s audio quality makes sure that every
audience at any position can hear clear sound and dynamic performance.”
Gymnasium integrating sports and cultural recreation
As
a comprehensive venue, this 13,000-seats gymnasium has been designed to
serve multiple purposes since very beginning. The central funnel screen
is designed according to the standards of large international events
such as NBA. It can offer superb viewing experience for variety shows
and exhibitions. In order to provide both visual and audio enjoyment, 70
pcs EV X2 new-generation line array loudspeakers achieve 360º sound
coverage for floor and audience area. This allows the audiences to enjoy
clear, real and exciting sounds on live. During daily use, the
audiences on site are shocked by the audio quality delivered by X2.
Natatorium integrating sports and fitness
In
addition to standard competition pools and training pools, the
natatorium also provides various spa facilities, stores selling water
sports supplies, children’s amusement and leisure equipment for local
citizens. The owner also chose the white EVH loudspeakers below the roof
of the natatorium, which blended in decoration of the venue in terms of
appearance and sound clarity. “Considering the needs of diving as well
as training and performance of synchronized swimming, we have also
selected EV’s UW30 underwater loudspeakers in the swimming pools, so
that people under the water could hear the music, as well as the
messages through microphone sent by people on shore clearly without
additional receivers.” added the leader of the Project Design
Department.
Commercial plaza with comprehensive functions
The
commercial plaza, which is designed with affiliated functions including
shopping, office and hospitality, supports the three sports buildings
and adds the leisure entertainment atmosphere to the entire park. The
ice rink in the commercial centre is installed with DYNACORD VL series
two-way full range loudspeakers to cover every corner in a balanced
manner and add more fun to the skaters with beautiful music.
All
audio and control signals within the sports venue including stadium,
gymnasium, natatorium and ice rink are transmitted on the basis of OMNEO
protocol. The main digital signal and redundancy digital signal can be
the backup to each other. This ensures smooth, stable signal
transmission throughout the sports centre. EV and DYNACORDs’ total
solution on sound reinforcement not only addresses the design and
application requirement of the sports centre, but also helps boost the
robust development of China’s cultural and sports.
The EV system felt much more rich and present at any volume. It just felt right in our sanctuary.
Located in the heart of Acadiana in Lafayette, Louisiana, The Bayou
Church is a contemporary Christian house of worship. Regional production
company and system integrator Gulf Coast Sound was among the companies
the church consulted when exploring options for upgrading the sound
system in their 600-seat sanctuary.
Larry Habetz, owner and CEO of Gulf Coast Sound
and a lifelong resident of the area, was excited to be bidding on the
job. “I knew some of the audio and IT guys at The Bayou Church, so it
was really more of a consultation and mutual learning experience for all
of us,” he says. “I was impressed with their sincere desire to make
good decisions, and we developed a great relationship over our time
working together. They were asking all the right questions, so I was
happy to arrange a demo of the product we felt was the best fit.”
For precise coverage of the sanctuary’s
rectangular shape, Habetz designed a demo system based on Electro-Voice
XLD line arrays supported by Xsub subwoofers, all straight from Gulf
Coast Sound’s rental stock. The system made a big impression on worship
pastor Ed Gore and his team.
“We did multiple product demos, and the EV
system really stood out,” says Gore. “Of all the systems we tried, this
one just sounded best in the room. Other systems we heard could only
achieve the enveloping experience we wanted at higher volumes. The EV
system felt much more rich and present at any volume. It just felt right
in our sanctuary.”
Larry Habetz was unsurprised at the outcome.
“I knew the XLD system would be a great fit for the room, and the church
team was extremely impressed with it right out of the box,” he says.
“Once we got it tuned and time-aligned, it was incredible. What I really
loved was the fact that the EV system was clearly preferred over
another, much more expensive system that the church demoed.”
With an EV solution given the go ahead, Gulf
Coast Sound designed a networked system consisting of twin hangs of
eight XLD281 loudspeaker arrays, all with 120-degree dispersion. A pair
of EVC-1082 front fills on the stage lip cover the center-front seats.
Low frequency reinforcement was upgraded to EV’s acclaimed X-Line
Advance dual-18” subwoofers, with six X12-128 units deployed together in
front of the stage. Network control for the system is provided via the
Electro-Voice N8000 NetMax digital matrix controller.
Another upgrade from the original demo system
was via six C3600 amplifiers from EV’s sibling brand Dynacord, a new
model that was launched to market during the design process. The C
series offers high-end features not previously available on install amps
at their price point, including advanced FIR-Drive to optimize system
performance; sophisticated protection circuitry to ensure safe, reliable
operation under all conditions; and an efficient standby power mode
that can reduce running costs and power consumption by up to 90%,
leading to a very low total cost of ownership.
The system design at The Bayou Church
underwent some final fine-tuning to ensure sightlines to the stage and
screens were optimal from the outer seating areas. The EV applications
engineering team used EASE modeling to move the XLD arrays about two
feet upstage, while maintaining coverage; Gulf Coast Sound then created
custom trussing for their precision deployment.
“That’s one of the reasons we love working
with Electro-Voice,” notes Larry Habetz. “We have a great relationship.
They are always there to support us, whether it’s with design assistance
like this or product updates that give our existing systems new life,
adding value to the original investment. That commitment gives us
confidence in the systems we install, and we pass that along to our
customers.”
Ed Gore of The Bayou Church agrees. “I really
admire the way Gulf Coast Sound stayed committed to making the final
install the best it could be,” he says. “That was just very reassuring.
As for the system, the coverage is very even everywhere you go, and the
more I listen to it, the more positive I am that Electro-Voice was
really the right choice for us. We’re really pleased.”
Midsummer Night’s Dream 2018 enthralls 30,000-strong audience in Munich’s Olympic Park
Highlights included top acts such as Clueso and OMD as well as Germany’s largest fireworks show
TC Showtechnik was responsible for technical realization
Extensive sound reinforcement focused on Electro-Voice X2 line arrays as well as XLD, XLE and ETX loudspeakers
“The X12‑128 is absolutely stunning, a real winner!”
When the 13th edition of the “Midsummer Night’s Dream Munich” took place in Munich’s Olympic Park, it did so under literally heavenly conditions: cloudless skies, a mild 25 degrees temperature and an incomparable show. More than 30,000 spectators were treated to performances by 12 top-class live acts – including Clueso and OMD – as well as street art, food trucks and the largest and most spectacular fireworks show in Germany.
TC Showtechnik was responsible for the entire technical production, for which Managing Director Martin Schulze drew on the experience of many years in the live events sector, during which he has often used systems from Electro-Voice and Dynacord.
Three stages required sound reinforcement. The two smaller stages were served by XLD line array systems, with very compact XLE enclosures fielded as front-fills and ETX loudspeakers deployed as a sub arc array. All performed their tasks flawlessly. More challenging was the provision of a suitable sound reinforcement system for the main stage, on which headline acts Clueso and OMD performed.
“It was a very open stage under a magic sky, you had to be on the look-out for reflections,” explains Schulze. The TC Showtechnik team opted for X2 full-range and X12-128 subwoofer models from Electro-Voice’s X-Line Advance line array family, which enabled trouble-free operation. The double-18-inch X12-128 sub wins particular praise from Schulze: “I honestly have no idea what is so different about this double-18 direct-radiating cabinet, but I feel the difference. The X12-128 is absolutely stunning, a real winner!”
The biggest challenge was the floating sound system covering the expansive Olympic Lake. “We invested most of our time in developing this concept,” says Schulze, describing how TC Showtechnik conceived the solution at its Eglfing headquarters. It comprised a very effective combination of Dynacord V17 bass elements topped with Electro-Voice XLE elements. “Once we had measured the system on land, all we had to do on the water was ensure that the clusters were positioned in a complementary manner.” The compact design of the V17 and the relatively low weight of 17 kg XLE enclosures were key factors in the choice of loudspeakers.
The X2 line array was driven by Electro-Voice TG7 amplifiers equipped with RCM-28 modules for monitoring and remote control. In addition, a significant number of Dynacord L2800FD and L3600FD amplifiers were deployed, prompting more praise from Schulze: “The value for money is excellent and the ease of use leaves nothing to be desired. You can quickly access the parameters via USB and the rest is simple: load the presets, set the time alignment and you’re done”. Through the use of OMNEO IP technology, audio transport, remote control and monitoring was all achieved via Dante.
Midsummer Night’s Dream 2018 enthralls 30,000-strong audience in Munich’s Olympic Park