NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: While noise, feedback, uneven coverage and even unintelligibility are acceptable, perhaps even preferable, on Bourbon Street, they are totally
unacceptable when the city's various governing bodies convene at New Orleans City Hall.
Specifically, the concern centered around the main council chambers, the site
of numerous meetings by panels handling the city's business, such as the city
council and the planning commission.
The root of the problem lies in an antiquated analog sound system that grew
increasingly incapable of handling mounting audio demands. Meetings were
difficult. Participants were challenged whether listening or speaking. It
was virtually impossible to process or route the audio. In short, it was
time for a change.
The task of finding a solution fell to New World Resources Corp., a New
Orleans-based AV systems integrator. "The system was really giving them
a
hard time," says company president, David Humphreys. "They tried various
short fixes, but they finally decided that it was simply a bad design. They
agreed with us that a new solution was needed."
Although it took the city a year of ruminating before settling on it,
Symetrix Audio's SymNet, a modular DSP audio processing and routing system,
proved to be the essence of the answer to solving the thorny audio problems
that had plagued the venue for years. Shortly after first learning about
SymNet at an AV industry trade show, Humphreys knew the council chambers
would provide an ideal application for a system that provided great
processing flexibility and expandability.
"Since they were having problems with feedback and coverage, the idea
was to
redesign it to be a mix-minus type system that has the advantage of limiting
the potential for feedback and improving intelligibility," he says. "In
order to do that we needed a system that could handle a lot of inputs and
outputs, and provide processing on both. We didn't think a standard audio
mixer fit this application."
The application demanded a robust processing and routing system. There were
eleven microphone/speaker positions on the main dais, six mic positions on a
conference table, and one for an audience podium, as well as inputs for
several hand-held mics, laptop computers and a VCR playback system. Along
with that there were outputs that include cassette recorders for archiving
purposes, speakers for not only the audience area but multiple zones
spanning some 50 offices throughout the eight-story building, and a cable
broadcast system.
New World's solution was four 8x8 SymNet units, all linked in a ring fashion
via Cat 5 cable in a daisy-chained configuration. "We essentially created
a
32-in, 32-out mixer that has the capability of providing a lot of processing
on each input and output," Humphreys says. "That processing power
comes in
handy when we're driving live audio through four-inch mono speakers on the
dais. It needs to be controlled so you don't get into a situation where you
can blow a speaker. The processor has a high pass filter, two-band
parametric filter and a compressor limiter that helps us control what goes
through the speakers."
The numerous processing functions, all of which are handled via a computer
software interface, make configuring and changing the system, as needed, a
comparative breeze, says Humphreys.
"Had we pitched this project using a standard analog hardware-based system
there wouldn't have been enough space to install it and the cost would have
been prohibitive - probably five times more," he says.
SymNet comes in particularly handy for monitoring and controlling audio
during live broadcasts of selected governing body meetings. "They can simply
dial into the system during the meeting and tweak the audio as needed,"
he
says.
With expanded audio capabilities a real possibility, SymNet also provides
the city with a ready means of handling more inputs, outputs and processing.
As needs grow, it's easy to simply patch another 8x8 unit into the
configuration, he says.
"SymNet is modular, so you're not locked into a DSP system that uses a
card-based mainframe, which can be outgrown," he says. "You can add
modules
as needed in whatever configuration you want, and they're very easy to
connect with drag and drop controls. I really like SymNet's expandability."
So far, though, the initial SymNet solution has met all of the city's needs.
A year into using it, SymNet is giving the city unprecedented control over
audio in a heavily-used facility. Its success has spawned other similar
installations in nearby cities. The city of Kenner, Louisiana, recently
became a client of New World, and Humphreys again recommended SymNet. "It
provides great value, it's very user friendly and its ease of programming is
unsurpassed," he says.
ABOUT SYMETRIX
For more information on professional audio signal processors from Symetrix,
Lucid and AirTools please call (425) 778-7728 or refer to websites,
www.symetrixaudio.com,
www.lucidaudio.com,
symnetaudio.com and
www.airtoolsaudio.com.
