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RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN - APRIL 2009: The University of Wisconsin - River Falls is a 6,300-student arm of the celebrated Wisconsin system located in the northwest corner of the state.
It is well-respected academically and
athletically, and boasts modest, but well-appointed, facilities for teaching, research, sports, and recreation. The Knowles Physical Education
Center plays a prominent role in campus life and serves, among many other
things, as the site for indoor graduation ceremonies. However, a recent
failure during an important graduation speech spurred the school to update
its sound system. The solution, designed and installed by Burnsville,
Minnesota-based Intermedia Systems Group (ISG), centered on Ashly Audio's
groundbreaking NE-series of network and DSP-enabled amplifiers.
In addition to graduation ceremonies, which seat 3,000, the Knowles Center
hosts indoor track events and physical education classes. When not used for
those purposes, the university opens it up to the community, consistent with
the "Wisconsin idea" of public service. Thus, the sound system is used for
background music throughout most of the day. During track events, it
provides a mix of background music and announcements.
Joel Evermann, systems consultant at ISG, provided the new system with Shure
wireless microphones, an iPod dock, and radio and CD inputs. A Biamp Nexia
CS provides a "front end" for the system, including input selection and
processing. From there, a single, two-rack space, eight-channel Ashly NE8250
provides power for eight Community R.5 full-range loudspeakers. A
two-channel Ashly NE1600 provides the low-end power for a pair of Community
CPL55 subwoofers.
The Ashly NE-series amplifiers provide speaker processing using two SHARC
32-bit/96 kHz chips each. Ashly's features allow for musical equalization,
filtering, delay and dynamics algorithms to perfectly tune the speakers to
the room. "In addition to the usual budgetary constraints, we were also
quite limited in terms of space," said Evermann. "Being able to cram so many
channels of high power amplification into just four rack spaces was
critical."
The Ashly NE-series amplifiers ship network ready and are designed to work
with "plug and play" reliability. Indeed, that fits nicely with ISG's
emphasis on "the IT side of things, in addition to traditional audio/visual
work," in Evermann's words. He continued, "Networking audio systems cuts
down tremendously on travel costs. Service is easier from the installer's
standpoint and less costly for the client. Network ready devices, such as
the NE-series amps, have definitely expanded horizons for contractors and
users alike."
With the new system up and running, UW River Falls technicians no longer
worry about dropped audio, whether it's during an important graduation
speech, a track event, or open gym time. "We really hit the performance they
wanted under the budget they required," concluded Evermann. "The whole thing
is transparent, compact, and user-friendly. It's the kind of sound system
that just does what it's supposed to do."
ABOUT ASHLY AUDIO INC.
With over a thirty-five year history, Ashly Audio Inc. is recognized as a
world leader in designing and manufacturing quality signal processing
equipment and power amplification for use in the commercial sound
contracting and professional audio markets.
