Sportsgoers have embraced the fan experience in a big way, and attendees are used to hearing music playbacks and play-by-play announcers with pristine clarity and intelligibility — all at rock ‘n’ roll levels, of course. Thankfully, the days of underpowered arena center clusters or stadiums ringed by paging horns mounted on 20-foot poles are long behind us.
Meanwhile, versatility is essential, as facilities of all types look to maximize a venue’s ROI by supporting the multi-use concept. Here, the sound system must be flexible enough to handle tasks that change on a day-to-day basis, whether a graduation ceremony, music concert, championship tournament or monster truck rally. With that in mind, we decided to look at a number of recent audio upgrade projects — each of which met success by applying the right gear in the right situation.
American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
One of the busiest arenas in North America, American Airlines Center is home to the NHL’s Dallas Stars and NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Opened in 2001, the AAC focuses on ensuring an industry-leading fan experience. In addition to the baseball games, the AAC hosts several concert tours each year and many private events.
For a superior sonic experience and with a view toward future-proofing its infrastructure, the Center recently invested in a Lawo mc²56 Mk III mixing console with redundant A_UHD Cores providing 512 DSPs for the front-of-house and monitor mixes. A Power Core for Dante conversion, Lawo A_madi6 and A_mic8 stageboxes, and a V_pro8 video processor for MADI embedding and LiveView™ video thumbnail generation were also included.
At one point, it became clear that the previous audio system needed to be replaced with a solution that would stand up to the test of time. “After researching new consoles, countless hands-on demos, and talking to touring engineers mixing the shows, we agreed we needed to look elsewhere. On a whim, we decided to reach out to Lawo to see if they had something that might work,” says the American Airlines Center’s facility engineer, Scott Davidson.
The Center required a console that could handle various styles and types of signals, and support new technology formats as they become relevant. The console needed enough physical knobs and buttons to get the job done, plus intuitive software navigation allowing operators to quickly adapt the desk to their specific workflow requirements.
Tony Staires at Lawo North America arranged for a demo console at the AAC. The team found that the mixing system’s capacity and flexibility let engineers configure the system without compromising on anything. Outstanding instant metering of all various mixes allows operators to visually verify that everything is working and signals are flowing as expected, by looking at just one screen. Waves integration was deemed vital, and the Lawo mc256 was one of the few consoles that could make it happen without shoe-horning additional screens around the desk.
“With its large number of AUX mixes, we can route signals in a variety of ways and mix sources in a more discrete fashion than before,” says Jeff McGinnis, the Center’s A1 engineer. “Not being limited by a fixed console setup is a major benefit of the Lawo system. Having video thumbnails next to the faders is a boon when checking things in advance. We also appreciate the features unique to the Lawo, including the various GPI/O options and remote VNC access to other machines so we can grab control of things directly from the console.”
McGinnis adds that he liked the console’s customizability with respect to its layout and screen views. “Our mc256 has 48 faders, dual faders in the left bay and two large touch screens, in a surprisingly compact footprint. So, ergonomically, I don’t have to reach too far to do what I need to do. Plus, there is a real knob for most functions. Finally, the Lawo design is sleek enough for your eyes to scan the console and get a reliable ‘live’ impression of what is happening. Once you start to wrap your mind around this console and realize the power at your fingertips, your mind instinctively begins thinking of things that no other console can do. You realize that you can implement different workflows and options that would not be possible elsewhere.”
Davidson notes other factors that helped sway the purchase decision. “Lawo is not just an audio company, but also has a very robust IP-based video routing solution that runs on the same backbone infrastructure as our audio console,” he explains. In addition, “Lawo’s solution has growth capabilities/possibilities built in. If we ever need to add a second console for a broadcast-type mix, or for a portable console to use around the building, we can do this with our Lawo system and share resources in a highly flexible way.”
American Airlines Center
- Capacity: 20,000
- Key Components: Lawo mc²56 Mk III console
- Integrators: Lawo North America and AAC in-house crew
UBS Arena, Elmont, NY
UBS Arena, the new 19,000-capacity home for the NHL’s New York Islanders hockey team, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the New York metro area suburbs of Long Island, NY. Along with hockey, UBS Arena hosts basketball games, concerts, corporate events and professional wrestling broadcasts. To provide world-class audio experiences for fans and attendees of a wide range of events, the newly constructed facility required a state-of-the-art arena audio solution.
“We’re the multifunction arena here on Long Island, hosting hockey, basketball, large concerts, corporate events and meetings, and we want to provide the top-level experience for all those — whether it’s thousands of fans for a concert or a small group having a meeting here in one of our great spaces,” says Brian Jones, the facility’s AV systems engineer in charge.
The solution — designed by consultant group Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams, Inc. (WJHW) and installed by integrators Diversified — consists of over 950 JBL loudspeakers, including eight main bowl arrays of JBL VTX A12 speakers (96 total) and 32 S28 subwoofers; and a variety of PD Series, AWC Series, VRX Series speakers in balcony, concourse, back-of-house and delay positions. The entire system is powered by Crown I-Tech Series and DCi Series amplifiers, with network control/DSP provided by BSS Soundweb London devices.
“The ownership group were going for a level as good as Madison Square Garden,” says WJHW consultant Scott Bray. “I felt we went above and beyond that. The main array system is in stereo and as we have eight clusters, we were able to do a left/right configuration all the way around the scoreboard. And the delays are individually powered, so concerts can come in and tie into those delays and have a completely time-aligned system all the way back to their main end stage arrays.”
Bray adds that WJHW “specified the A12s for a variety of reasons. It met a size mark because with scoreboards getting bigger, taller and wider all the time, we had a limited amount of space to fit into in the rigging grid. The A12s met the requirements of fitting into the grid, the budget and the requirements of SPL and performance.”
“When you’re at a big sporting event — or any event here — the sound is really drives a lot of the emotional connection you have to what’s going on,” Jones explains. “When good sound hits you, it’s a physical experience and the sound system we have here can really drive that sound to our fans and give them that experience. The JBL system delivers volume along with clarity — because you can hear it, you can feel it and you can still understand it.”
UBS Arena
- Capacity: 19,000
- Key Components: 96 JBL VTX A12; 32 VTX S28 subs
- Designer: Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams
- Integrator: Diversified
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Opened in 1990, the 20,500-capacity arena is home to the NBA’s Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx, but also regularly hosts other events, including concerts that in the past included Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, and, of course, ultimate hometown hero Prince.
Target Center is now also home to a DiGiCo S31 console at front of house, installed by Windy Shores Sound. Its arrival concludes an extended sound system upgrade that began five years ago with the installation of an L-Acoustics Kara P.A. system.
“They upgraded the P.A. system but much of the infrastructure around it was left in place,” recalls Matt Guzy of Windy Shores Sound. “Herbie Woodruff, who was their house technician, crew chief and sound engineer at the time, had to work with an almost-20-year-old console that, like most of the rest of the infrastructure and cabling, was still analog and increasingly unreliable. At one point, Herbie said, ‘It’s time.’ And it was. We recommended the DiGiCo S31. It has the I/O, the power, and the processing needed for a major venue like Target Center.”
The new 48-channel S31, which offers 31 physical faders and three 10-inch multitouch screens, plus state-of-the-art FPGA technology, is fitted with a DMI-DANTE interface card and accompanied by a DiGiCo D-Rack with 32 mic inputs, eight line outputs, and eight more optional modular outputs that can be selected as either analog or AES. The desk now serves as the hub of the venue’s audio, with Windy Shores Sound extending the already in place small Dante network to the broadcast dock and the venue’s stage box.
Chris Benson, head of audio for Target Center, says the addition of the S31 has made substantial differences in the venue’s audio workflow. For starters, it’s easier to handle the greater number and diversity of audio sources, from P.A. announcements to the arena’s game DJ to video coming from the control room with synced dialog, music and sound effects.
“Then there’s the halftime entertainment we have at some games, like the hip-hop group that performed during the Timberwolves game last night,” Benson says. “There’s a lot more intersection between sports and music these days, and having a console like the S31 greatly helps. One big advantage is having many more inputs, so it can handle in-ear monitors as well as the direct sources. It makes everything a lot easier.”
In fact, it’s also helping Benson experiment with the house sound, enhancing it by taking a feed, over Dante from the radio broadcast of games, of lavalier microphones placed on the hoops, which pick up the impact sound of the basketballs hitting the rims and backboard. “It’s easier to try new things with this console,” he says. “It also helps us make the transitions between events, such as between NBA games and the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament,” which the Target Center hosted in early March. “The DiGiCo S31 has finally completed the system upgrade that we started back in 2017, and it’s already made a huge difference here.”
Target Center
- Capacity: 20,500+
- Key Components: DiGiCo S31, L-Acoustics Kara
- Integrator: Windy Shores Sound
Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Massillon, OH
In northern Ohio, where the legendary Paul Brown began his football career and founded the NFL’s Cleveland Browns franchise, they take the sport seriously. This is especially true at Massillon Washington High School, where Brown played ball and later coached. In addition to hosting the school’s games, the 16,884-seat stadium is used for Ohio’s high school playoffs and other major events. So when it came time for the school to upgrade the facility’s sound system, the stakes were high.
The school invited multiple firms to participate in a loudspeaker shootout. Cleveland’s NPi Audio Visual Solutions won the job with its demo of the new Electro-Voice MTS point-source loudspeaker system. Driven by Dynacord IPX10:4 amplifiers, the very high output (up to 155 dB peak) and long throw of the MTS loudspeakers, combined with their tight and even dispersion, enabled NPi’s three-zone design to deliver both the control and the intelligibility the venue was seeking.
Dave Goff, the stadium’s press box and media manager, was project manager for the school. “This was a three-way challenge,” he notes. “The home stands feature an extended roofline that creates intelligibility issues, while the visitor stands require only direct sound. In addition, the team wants the sound on the field to be loud pre-game and halftime to pump them up, but we want levels in the stands to be conversational. NPi addressed all these issues effectively with the EV MTS system.”
Designed specifically for large-scale applications, the MTS series uses an innovative, true point-source experience that’s perfect for stadiums. By combining four 15” woofers with dual coaxial mid/high compression drivers via a single waveguide, MTS boasts cohesive output with strong bass response. The cardioid version used at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium adds two more woofers for low-frequency directional control, creating a tight 40 x 30-degree dispersion that reduces unwanted spill.
At Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, three MTS-6154-43 boxes are secured by custom-designed platforms atop the video scoreboard, with the outside units angled toward the grandstands. This creates separate, controlled audio zones for on-field sound as well as the home and visitor grandstands.
NPi director of sales Sam Avellone designed the system and Jason Brown managed the project, noting that Paul Brown Tiger Stadium was the first major installation of MTS in the U.S. “We worked with EASE models and our EV rep, Jason Jacquemain, to finalize the design. Jason was also instrumental in scheduling the MTS demo at the stadium,” Avellone says. “What I love about MTS is getting both an effective point-source system and the ability to direct and control the sound. When we did the demo, using just one MTS speaker, it was stunning. We walked the whole stadium, top to bottom, and were blown away by the coverage and clarity. And of course, the final installation is even better. We’re proud of it.”
The MTS speakers at the stadium are fully weatherized (partially weatherized versions are also available), and all MTS models are IP55-certified for protection against dust and water ingress. Each of the three boxes is powered by one Dynacord IPX10:4 amplifier. Equipped with OMNEO IP networking architecture enabling Dante and OCA/AES70, IPX models feature 96 kHz DSP with ultra-low latency. Located in a converted ticket booth, the amps work with the Q-SYS front-end in the press box as part of the stadium’s Dante network.
To ensure proper operation of the system, NPi provided a simple tablet interface that allows the stadium’s AV team to deliver clear, full-range audio at the appropriate volume level to all three audio zones. “It’s a night-and-day difference from our old system,” says David Wagner, scoreboard operations manager. “What amazed me was the system’s ability to control levels while actually improving clarity in our home stands, especially under the roof. This new system really makes the fan experience more enjoyable, which was really the whole point.”
Paul Brown Tiger Stadium
- Capacity: 16,884
- Key Components: Electro-Voice MTS speakers; Dynacord IPX amps
- Integrator: NPi Audio Visual Solutions
