Tag: vienna

Technomad Celebrates 10 Years at DevonWood

This article initially appeared on the Lighting & Sound International website.

Technomad reports that DevonWood Equestrian Centre, among the premier horse show facilities in the United States, has reached 10-years of trouble-free, continuous outdoor event audio with Technomad loudspeakers.

With one indoor and three outdoor competition rings, four warm-up rings, a boarding stable and several commons areas, the specialised, international-level equestrian sports facility continues to expand its zoned audio system with Technomad at the core. The privately-owned, 42-acre facility recently added multiple Technomad Vernal and Vienna loudspeakers in the VIP seating and other outdoor areas including a beer garden, picnic area and several lengthy walkways; and converted its zoned audio distribution system to an all-digital infrastructure.

DevonWood Equestrian Centre has used Technomad Paris loudspeakers since first opening its gates, installing four in each competition ring, three more in each warm-up ring, and eight in the 250-capacity horseshow stables. Although the Paris provides clear speech and high-quality musical reproduction over very long distances, DevonWood added two dozen Viennas and Vernals to provide unquestionably good sound to localized audiences and enable a more efficient zoned audio system.

Announcers can target specific announcements or background music to each loudspeaker zone, sub-groups or every loudspeaker in the facility. Digital audio is transmitted wirelessly to each zone where local mixers and amplifiers directly drive the loudspeakers.

According to Justin Rattner, principal at DevonWood Equestrian Centre, intense studies of outdoor loudspeakers were completed before standardising on Technomad. Rattner brought in Glenn Micallef, a well-known professional sound consultant and motion picture/television sound engineer, who recommended Technomad after considerable research.

“Most horse competition facilities use traditional metal horns, which are adequate for voice but a terrible choice for music, and top-quality music is absolutely critical for our musical freestyle events,” said Rattner. “The initial tests with Technomad were very reassuring and we were blown away by how well they covered and how crisp and clear they sounded over very large open areas. I didn’t have any expectations about service life, but ten years on everybody still raves about the sound – including the professional announcers, who rarely use systems of this quality. The outdoor Technomads are in the elements 365 days a year and are hit with blistering heat in the summer, year-round rain and occasional snow and sleet in the winter.”

Technomad Celebrates Decade at DevonWood Equestrian Centre

 Technomad LLC, a leader in weatherproof loudspeakers and audio systems since 1995, announces that DevonWood Equestrian Centre, among the premier horse show facilities in the United States, has surpassed the ten-year mark of trouble-free, continuous outdoor event audio with Technomad loudspeakers.

 

Technomad Paris in the trees delivers clear audio overl ong distances to the Devonwood Equestrian Centre horse arena

 

 

 

With one indoor and three outdoor competition rings, four warm-up rings, a boarding stable and several commons areas, the specialized, international-level equestrian sports facility continues to expand its zoned audio system with Technomad at the core.  The privately-owned, 42-acre facility recently added multiple Technomad Vernal and Vienna loudspeakers in the VIP seating and other outdoor areas including a beer garden, picnic area and several lengthy walkways; and converted its zoned audio distribution system to an all-digital infrastructure.

 DevonWood Equestrian Centre has used Technomad Paris loudspeakers since first opening its gates, installing four in each competition ring, three more in each warm-up ring, and eight in the 250-capacity horseshow stables.  Although the Paris provides clear speech and high-quality musical reproduction over very long distances, DevonWood added two dozen Viennas and Vernals to provide unquestionably good sound to localized audiences and enable a more efficient zoned audio system.

Announcers can target specific announcements or background music to each loudspeaker zone, sub-groups or every loudspeaker in the facility.  Digital audio is transmitted wirelessly to each zone where local mixers and amplifiers directly drive the Technomad loudspeakers.

 According to Justin Rattner, principal at DevonWood Equestrian Centre, intense studies of outdoor loudspeakers were completed before standardizing on Technomad.  Rattner brought in Glenn Micallef, a well-known professional sound consultant and motion picture/television sound engineer, who recommended Technomad after considerable research.

“Most horse competition facilities use traditional metal horns, which are adequate for voice but a terrible choice for music, and top-quality music is absolutely critical for our musical freestyle events,” said Rattner.  “The initial tests with Technomad were very reassuring and we were blown away by how well they covered and how crisp and clear they sounded over very large open areas.  I didn’t have any expectations about service life, but ten years on everybody still raves about the sound — including the professional announcers, who rarely use systems of this quality.  The outdoor Technomads are in the elements 365 days a year and are hit with blistering heat in the summer, year-round rain and occasional snow and sleet in the winter.”

Rattner added that one competition arena is completely surrounded by 100-foot fir trees on two sides and faces Mount Hood to the east, an 11,000-foot mountain that dominates the Portland, OR skyline.  The Technomads in this arena are located in the fir trees, mounted at a height of 50 feet using cherry pickers.

“People often ask me where the sound comes from, because it seems like the audio is coming from everywhere,” said Rattner.  “It is very impressive.”

 

 

 

The College Of San Mateo Overhauls Its Athletic Facilities’ Audio Systems

Below is an excerpt from a feature story in the March issue of Systems Contractor News.

The San Mateo Community College District, College of San Mateo, Skyline College, and the Canada College recently updated the sound systems for several of their sports facilities. Some of the prior systems were around 30 years old or just non-existent, in the case of several outdoor fields.

For all the systems installed, Technomad Vienna and Noho loudspeakers were used. “We found out about Technomad from Lloyd McKinney Associates, and they brought us some to test out,” said Jim Petromilli (Director of Instructional Technology at San Mateo Community College District). “We were impressed with the sound quality and how rugged they were. We worked with them to design a first installation and had nothing but accolades about the sound quality, so we just moved forward and have been very pleased with them.”

REFERENCE LINK

http://systemscontractor.com/articles/publish/article_1961.shtml

Technomad Loudspeakers Installed in Multiple Sports Venues Across San Mateo Community College District

Three campuses standardize on Technomad loudspeakers for indoor gymnasiums and outdoor stadiums

BOSTON, April 29, 2008 – Technomad Associates, LLC today announced that San Mateo Community College District in California has standardized on Technomad weatherproof loudspeakers on its three Bay Area campuses. Skyline College in San Bruno; Canada College in Redwood City; and the College of San Mateo are home to multiple indoor and outdoor venues now using Technomad Vienna 16 and Noho C loudspeakers for live sports and event coverage, with additional venues to follow as the district moves closer to completing a multi-year, multi-venue upgrade project that covers everything from field surfaces to bleachers to PA systems.

This is an ongoing project with one facility upgrade after another, and we have found the Technomad loudspeakers to be highly versatile with excellent audio quality both indoors and outdoors, said Jim Petromilli, Director of Instructional Technology at the San Mateo Community College District. Outdoors, the weatherproof design is ideal for our three campuses, all of which have very distinct microclimates that can include high heat, heavy rains, and rust from bay moisture. We have also found that the Technomad Vienna loudspeakers perform exceptionally well in our gymnasium at Skyline College for basketball, graduations and other events, and we are planning a similar installation in a second gymnasium.

The outdoor Technomad installations as integrated by Petromilli and his team include: five Noho C loudspeakers for Bulldog Stadium, the football stadium at College of San Mateo, with a sixth Noho C assigned to a nearby track and field area; nine Noho C loudspeakers for three baseball diamonds; two soccer fields, each with two Noho C loudspeakers; and three Vienna 16 loudspeakers for a new softball field that opens this spring.

Lloyd F. McKinney Associates of Hayward, California, procured the loudspeakers from Technomad for all venues, citing the weatherproof design as ideal to handle the different weather elements of the three campuses. The company also led the systems integration project for the gymnasium at Skyline College, home of the Skyline College Trojans, due to the height and complexity of the loudspeaker installations and system wiring. Twelve Technomad Vienna 16 loudspeakers were mounted onto concrete beams or steel structures in the gymnasium, with quad amps to drive selected speaker banks depending on the event. Each side of the gym features five Vienna 16 loudspeakers, with every other one facing the opposite direction to maximize coverage. The final two Vienna 16 loudspeakers were installed on a steel structure above the main basketball hoop, aiming down toward the center of the auditorium.

According to Rick McKinney, Vice President of Lloyd F. McKinney Associates, Petromilli and his team requested an indoor demo after experiencing the high audio quality of the initial outdoor Technomad installation at Bulldog Stadium, adding that the wide horizontal coverage pattern of the Viennas and Nohos allows the colleges to cover wide bleacher areas without hot spots.

Indoor reverb is always challenging in a gymnasium since you’re dealing with hardwood floors, concrete in bleachers and other acoustical challenges, said McKinney. The Vienna 16 loudspeakers provide plenty of power and voice intelligibility for Skyline College events, with a smooth and even audio dispersion throughout the bleachers. In fact, the two Viennas above the main basketball hoop cover the entire gym quite well on their own, but the additional speaker banks give Skyline College plenty of flexibility to orient the sound system to meet different requirements depending on the event.

According to Petromilli, the Skyline College gymnasium is the crown jewel of the district-wide sports facilities upgrade a complete remodel of an existing facility that adds a video projection system and free Wi-Fi in addition to the new floors, bleachers, and PA system.

The Technomads replaced a poor audio system that produced a massive echo, he said. It was difficult to hear in certain areas and we received many complaints. The Technomads bring a huge improvement in voice intelligibility, and the audio quality has improved our attendance in a very competitive market. The PA system has become part of the events at Skyline College, with music and additional entertainment for attendees to create an enjoyable experience.

The Noho C loudspeakers at Bulldog Stadium replaced aging horn systems that produced highly distorted, unintelligible audio. Three Noho C loudspeakers are installed on a press box facade at the 50-yard line, with two more mounted on light poles at the opposite side of the field.

“We opted for multiple loudspeakers that produce high quality audio at a lower level so we could achieve even distribution through the crowd,” said Petromilli. “This is also very important during track events; with so many events on the field, the participants can clearly hear their events being called. This includes the separate area where shot-put, javelin, and other events are held. And during football season, music is a more integral part of the experience, especially during warm-ups. The Technomads provide a pleasant musical output in addition to clear voice reproduction. We literally have people from visiting teams all over southern California knocking on our press box door complimenting us on our sound system, music, and overall presentation.”

Technomad Installed at the College of New Jersey Football Stadium

Ewing, New Jersey – The College of New Jersey recently installed a new, fully weather-resistant sound system in 9,000 seats New Jersey Lions Football Stadium. The system consists of eight 350 watt Technomad Noho/C loudspeakers powered by two QSC PLX amplifiers. The system is used for game announcements and pre-recorded music playback.

The College of New Jersey Lions Football Stadium is an all-purpose field used year-round for Soccer, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, and Football. The field also hosts Division 1 and 3 Conference teams. The field also plays host 13-15,000 guests and students for the College’s annual Graduation Ceremony.

The College of New Jersey’s Jon Bannan, oversaw the installation of the system. Jon is in charge of overseeing all upgrades to, as well as installations of, all of the school’s Sound Systems. Having never heard the Technomad loudspeakers before, Jon made the decision to purchase the Noho/C loudspeakers based upon the company’s reputation of producing mil-spec loudspeakers that can withstand all forms of in climate weather and abuse. Another important decision was the low-profile appearance of the Technomad Noho/C loudspeakers. Jon states, “I had looked into other weather-resistant loudspeakers, but they were big and unsightly and could not be mounted where they had to be positioned. Even if I could install the other loudspeakers where they had to go, they would have obstructed the sight-lines of too many seats.”

Jon notes, “It had to be a clean-looking, low profile system installation yet have the output I needed to cover 9,000 people. I didn’t want oversized, unsightly white or beige air raid horns or bulbous cannon-looking things hanging from all the light poles.” Jon ponders, “Air raid horns? The Cold War is over, and the latter option would look like the wind blew all the plastic garbage cans up onto the lampposts.” Jon continues, “The Technomads were also hundreds of dollars less per speaker.”

Jon states, “When the loudspeakers finally arrived, they appeared even smaller in real-life then what I had expected. I was starting to get worried that they were going to be too small in comparison to the overall size of the stadium.” Jon continues, “But, as soon as I powered up the amplifier rack and pumped some music through the system, I was very impressed. The Noho/Cs absolutely amazed me.”

The Stadium’s light poles were perfectly positioned for the installation of the eight Technomad Noho/Cs. “It’s as if someone had this speaker installation in mind when they installed the light poles,” Jon says. The poles are located halfway up the stadium seating, providing the perfect place where the Noho/C loudspeakers could provide complete sound coverage for all the seating, and not obstruct sight-lines. Jon states, “Installing two Noho/Cs per pole allowed me to provide the tightest, most accurate and even sound distribution.”

Jon adds, “The Nohos respond extremely well to my changes on EQ and I was able to dial-in the exact setting that made everyone on staff very happy. The Noho/Cs is extremely EQ compliant and offers me unrivaled control over every type of program material, regardless if it’s recorded music, spoken word or sound effects.” Jon notes, “A soundman can add lower end punch to the music program during half-time events with just a simple low-frequency EQ boost, and the crowd can actually hear and feel it!”

The two QSC PLX 1602 power amps, running in parallel, drive the Technomad loudspeakers. A Furman ASD 120 Power Sequencer, a DBX 266XL, a Rane dual31 band EQ, and Alesis 12R mixer make-up the signal processing equipment. To keep the processing gear free and clear of prying hands, the processing rack is located in a separate room. A Sony Tape Deck and CD player is located in the Press Box. Twelve wall-mounted mic jacks are also strategically installed in the Press Box. Jon notes, “All a tech has to do is plug in a mic and cue the commentator.” Jon points out, “The system is not constantly staffed by a tech, so I designed the system to be as turnkey as possible. All a tech or an announcer has to do is turn the key and they have power.”

“My boss, the Athletic department, the teams and the cheerleaders are very happy with the dramatic improvement in the sound quality and clarity the Noho’s produce,” Jon states proudly. “The wide dispersion and quick cut-off of the Noho’s 12″ coaxial driver is as equally impressive as the high-fidelity sound it produces.”

With the previous sound system, Jon continually experienced problems with ‘sound bleeding’ off the field into the surrounding neighborhood. “I don’t believe a lot of effort was put into the properly installing the previous speaker system,” Jon notes. “You could hear sound everywhere except on the field. Pedestrians and neighbors of the school could hear the announcer and music far off campus, unintelligibly and loudly I might add, which resulted in many complaints.” Jon quips, “I don’t think we would have received so many sound bleed complaints if the previous sound system just sounded halfway decent.”

Jon concludes, “As soon as the system was up-and-running, I walked the field and the seating and I could not find a single hot spot or dead spot. It’s complete, even distribution. Then I stepped outside of the complex for the most important test. The sound cut-off to more than acceptable levels as soon as I got out of the seating area. The best part, no complaints opening day and since then! Just compliments.”