RTS ODIN matrix with 64 ports easily coordinates stadium video board production elements and accommodates OB trucks when needed
ROAMEO wireless intercoms enable coordination across entirety of 19,000-seat stadium
Production engineer Cole Mayer and team rely on RTS intercoms for both in-game and digital/social media content creation and coordination
Burnsville, MN, Oct 2022 – When Major League Soccer’s Minnesota United FC franchise opened Allianz Field in 2019, the team’s vision was to create the best-possible fan experience within the 19,400-seat venue. The responsibility for coordinating the technical side of that lies largely with production engineer Cole Mayer. He relies on RTS intercoms to ensure that all game day events – from team introductions to halftime events and, most importantly, the stadium’s massive video display throughout the game – go off smoothly and as scheduled.
According to the Mayer, the in-stadium show on the video display is the centerpiece of their in-game content. “We produce our own show in real time, so it’s essentially the same as a telecast, but with the audience being inside the stadium,” he explains. “Our production control room is right next to the press box, and includes a switcher, two replay machines, plus clips, graphics, and audio – including a DJ.”
An RTS ODIN (OMNEO digital intercom) matrix is a critical tool for coordinating the in-game presentation. Minnesota United runs a 64-port ODIN frame with about 15 KP-4016 keypanels spread around the control room, along with three DKP-4016 desktop units. ODIN’s OMNEO capability allows the intercom to be part of the stadium’s Dante audio network.
Stage managers stationed throughout the stadium utilize RTS ROAMEO wireless beltpacks to coordinate the timing of various production elements during games. “The ROAMEO packs are a really key tool for us. It’s like having a keypanel on your hip,” notes Mayer. “We have wireless access points set up all around the stadium to keep us in direct communication, so everything happens smoothly and on cue, whether it’s directing the on-field camera, the team walk-out from the tunnel, halftime entertainment, etc.”
Mayer also points out that ROAMEO’s plug-and-play connectivity gives him the ability to expand his productions as needed. In fact, he has a spare AP-1800 access point on hand for just that purpose. “That’s the luxury of ROAMEO,” he states. “Wherever there’s a network connection, I can create wireless communication. I just configure a port on the Dante network, and the access point will service all of the beltpacks entering that space. So if we have a private event in a luxury suite, or even out in the parking lot, we can provide the same production quality as our in-game presentation.”
Since Allianz Field opened in 2019, RTS flexibility has made life easier when producing outside events, including live broadcasts, from the stadium. “We’ve done a number of bigger events here, and I’ve come to really appreciate how easily our network ties into broadcast trucks, most of which also use RTS,” notes Mayer. “Our regular game-day productions are pretty stable, but whenever I have a new challenge, I just call RTS and they will walk me through whatever’s needed.”
As a huge soccer fan who went to school in the Twin Cities, Cole Mayer feels fortunate to be working in his field for the team he loves. “Everything we do is produced in-house, from the in-game fan experience to podcasts and all kinds of video content,” he notes. “Having tools like RTS intercoms is critical to creating the kind of compelling content that Minnesota United fans deserve.”
Photo: Olivia BastonePhoto: Olivia BastonePhoto: Olivia Bastone(L-R) Josh Osmond, FOH Engineer; Ryan Cornelius, Systems Engineer/Crew Chief. Photo: Olivia BastonePhoto: Olivia BastonePhoto: Olivia Bastone(L-R) Ryan Cornelius, Systems Engineer/Crew Chief; Josh Osmond, FOH Engineer; Tyler Harris, PA Tech; Kevin Hu, Monitor Tech; Tucker Arbuthnot, PA Tech; Francois Pare, Monitor Engineer. Photo: Olivia BastonePhoto: Olivia BastonePhoto: Olivia BastonePhoto: Olivia Bastone
Cementing their status as one of this year’s premier concert draws, The Lumineers zigzagged across the continent this summer on the North American leg of their “Brightside World Tour.” Playing a mixture of sheds and arenas along with the occasional baseball stadium, the band delivered their trademark blend of alt-folk and Americana through a Meyer Sound LEO Family reinforcement system supplied by Escondido, California-based Sound Image.
Production Manager Sara Full, a pivotal player on The Lumineers’ team since 2013, emphasizes the key role of audio reinforcement in maintaining the band’s popularity. “The Lumineers’ music transitions between stripped-back moments and momentous builds, and capturing those dynamics in a way that translates uniformly — from the first fan in the pits to the last in the upper 300s — is essential to fulfilling expectations and making sure fans will come back for more. Our collective desire, band and crew, is to produce amplified sound in an arena that is comparable in quality and clarity to what the audience would hear acoustically. Simply put, the Meyer Sound system reproduces what the band is doing with purity but translates it to a large audience.”
Full also gave a tip of the hat to Sound Image for their role. “Jesse Adamson, our Sound Image representative, has been working with us since 2016 and has been diligent in making sure we have the best technicians with the proper training and skill. Sound Image also has done a great job of supporting us overseas, helping to ensure that we have access to the same Meyer Sound boxes worldwide.”
The Lumineers’ live mix benefits from the experience and practiced ears of veteran FOH Engineer Josh Osmond, who has also been with the band since 2013.
“The most important factor for me is consistency,” says Osmond. “The mix itself is subjective, and once the band and I are on the same page as to what the show should sound like, then it’s up to me to make that sound as consistent as possible, night in and night out. That’s where using the Meyer Sound systems has really paid off. With the linear phase response of the LEO Family and the flexibility available through Compass control software, Meyer has given me all the tools necessary to achieve this goal.”
Osmond is also a fan of Meyer Sound’s inherent self-powered architecture. “Self-powering has a number of benefits, including requiring less truck and floor space. It also eliminates long speaker cable runs from the amplifier on the ground to the speakers in the air. As a result, there is a transient response that other boxes don’t have.”
As configured for most shows, The Lumineers’ touring rig comprises left and right main hangs of, per side, 12 LEO line array loudspeakers over six LYON-M line array loudspeakers. Side arrays are 16 LYON each (eight LYON-M and eight LYON-W), the 270 hangs each deploy 14 LEOPARD compact line array loudspeakers, and six LEOPARD loudspeakers form the center array. Nine 1100‑LFC low-frequency control elements are flown per side as steerable cardioid arrays.
Locally sourced delays were added for most baseball stadium shows, though the final show at Chicago’s Wrigley Field posed a particular problem as venue management would not permit delay towers, only limited ground-stacked systems on roll-in carts.
“Those delay stacks had limited uptilt to reach the steep upper levels, so the main system had to do more work to cover those seats,” says Osmond. “I received several comments from band management and friends who listened from these areas, and they said it sounded as if they were down at front of house. The LEO Family is known for doing a fantastic job in long-throw situations, and it really proved itself on this show.”
For optimization and signal distribution, the system utilized eight Galileo GALAXY Network Platform processors, all linked on an AVB network running the Milan protocol. The fully redundant network, implemented on a quad-core fiber link, has a primary network with AVB only and a secondary network carrying AVB, RMS system monitoring, and Compass control. The quad-core link allows connection of both the stage right and stage left racks to the FOH master processor with no additional switch hops.
“The biggest advantage of AVB over analog or AES3 is having fewer connections,” says Ryan Cornelius, the tour’s systems engineer. “I can route our entire drive signal flow over two cables. It’s also more flexible, as I can reroute or add inputs to the GALAXY processors with a couple of mouse clicks, rather than digging through the back of the rack for tie lines.”
Other key members of the audio crew are Monitor Engineer Francois Pare, Monitor Tech Kevin Hu, and PA Techs Tyler Harris and Tucker Arbuthnot.
Though with early roots in New Jersey, founding band members Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites relocated to Denver before breaking through with their chart-topping single “Ho Hey” in 2012. The 2022 tour, supporting the band’s fourth studio album, Brightside, launched with a European leg in late winter. The North American leg, spanning a total of 52 shows in 49 cities, kicked off in Jacksonville on May 17 and wrapped at Wrigley Field in Chicago on September 3. “Brightside World Tour” placed consistently among Pollstar’s top 10 tours throughout the summer.
Harry Potter fans may recognize the Glenfinnan viaduct, as it was part of the scenery in the Harry Potter films showing the Hogwarts Express puffing through the beautiful landscape of the Scottish Highlands. But there is another famous connection, the Glenfinnan Highland Gathering, which features a traditional program including highland dancing, athletics, caber tossing, heavy weight events, bagpiping and more.
To provide optimal sound reinforcement with defined directivity for the large event area, Glasgow based rental partner The Stage Group opted for the high-output MTS point-source loudspeaker systems. As if by magic, only two MTS loudspeakers driven by one IPX20:4 power amplifier delivered crystal clear commentary, music, announcements and vocals across the large six-acre site.
Open Air Gampel in the middle of the alps is one of the biggest live music events in Switzerland. The four-day festival near Bern presented a popular lineup of top acts such as Sido, Mark Forster and Robin Schulz, attracting up to 30,000 attendees at the end of August. Since its foundation in 1986, local rental company FreepowerEventtechnik is in charge of the sound reinforcement for all stages of the festival. The team once again relied on a powerful combination of Electro-Voice X2 line-array loudspeakers powered by Dynacord TGX series amplifiers.
The main sound system for the White Stage saw a total of 30 X2 line-array elements plus 24 X12-128 subwoofers driven by four SR20-TGX system racks from Dynacord. The 10U TGX system rack is preconfigured with three TGX20 DSP amplifiers plus two independent network switches for glitch-free operation and offers a variety of professional features such as integrated sliding rack doors, customizable I/O options, and a reversible mounting for the power distribution. SONICUE Sound System Software handled quick and comprehensive configuration and control of the entire PA.
ApexPro is proud to announce its partnership with leading professional audio technology manufacturer, HH Electronics.
A Legacy Partnership
ApexPro, a leading distributor of professional audiovisual equipment for the sub-Saharan African region, has recently cemented a partnership with UK-based HH Electronics, a leading manufacturer of professional audio from within the Headstock Group, UK.
“We are extremely excited about our partnership with HH Electronics,” says ApexPro Director, Justin Acres. “The entertainment, tourism, and live events sectors in Southern Africa are poised for a much-needed comeback following the restrictions on business imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. As new venues open, and those that survived the lockdowns look to attract new patrons, the demand for high-quality, low-cost, expandable professional audio systems is on the rise. We can’t think of a better manufacturer to fill this gap than UK-based HH Electronics.”
Technical Director at ApexPro, Mark Malherbe concurs, stating that: “The iconic 1984 Concert in the Park was powered by HH Electronic power amps, a gig I remember well. HH Electronics has a much-deserved reputation, established over more than half a century, for innovation, excellence, and affordability across its product range. The systems designed and engineered by the HH Electronics team are ideal for our market, and I am confident that our clients will agree.”
More About HH Electronics
HH Electronics was established in 1968, by Mike Harrison, an electronic engineer who identified a gap in the market for solid-state amplifiers for the then rapidly expanding TV broadcast network market. Under Harrison’s leadership, HH Electronics sold its iconic TPA amplifier to nearly every TV studio across the UK as well as to many recording studios in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1970, the BBC published stringent requirements for a new amplifier, and HH Electronics responded with the AM 812 Amplifier, which became a global standard for broadcast corporations for decades to come.
At the same time, the live music industry was exploding across the world, providing greater opportunities for innovation in live sound for mega concerts. HH Electronics broadened its scope by creating solid-state guitar and bass amplifiers, and PA systems. The company was soon recognized by artists, including the incomparable Pink Floyd, for creating lightweight, low-cost, expandable systems that were every bit as good as a tailor-made rig but at a fraction of the cost.
In 1989, HH Electronics became a part of the Headstock Group, a leading manufacturer and distributor of musical equipment and professional audio products in the UK and Ireland. HH Electronics is currently focused on two key areas, according to James Laney, CEO of the Headstock group. “Our emphasis today and into the future is line array and portable PA for live sound, and professional audio solutions of the installation market.”
HH Electronics Cements Its Footprint in the African Market with ApexPro
Ian Wright, International Sales Director for the Headstock Group stated: “We are extremely happy to be announcing this new relationship with ApexPro and we look forward to working closely with them as they develop the HH brand within the African market. Apex Pro has a long history in the African Pro Audio industry with an understanding of all vertical markets. They are truly a wonderful company that provides great service, support, and training, and their knowledgeable staff is equipped to handle the most challenging of projects thrown at them. We are proud to be working with them and alongside the other quality brands they represent, and we are excited about the future and all that we can achieve together. A long-term solid relationship has begun and we wish them all the very best.”
“HH Electronics, under the Headstock Group, offers high-quality, low-cost professional audio solutions that are ideally suited for installations in the sub-Saharan region. We have every confidence that bringing HH Electronics’ products to venues across the region will provide just the right balance of quality, durability, and affordability that our customer base deserves.” Justin concludes.
