ZAGREB, Croatia – JSN Comon provided a sound reinforcement system that uses SymNet open-architecture digital signal processing for the 161,000-square-foot Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), an Igor Franic-designed building.
The MCA is drawing international attention with the LED display that covers its western facade, its open and airy exhibition spaces, and amenities including a library, a multimedia hall, a bookstore, a cafe and a restaurant.
Maroje Sardelich, sound engineer with JSN Comon, oversaw the design and installation of the system, which provides sound reinforcement to the entire building. Exhibition spaces, public and service areas, and even the outside commons are covered and zoned for appropriate audio content.
The exhibition spaces – about one-third of the total floor space – were a priority, accounting for 10 of the 17 total zones. Each exhibition zone has a Crestron TPS-4 touchscreen controller for selecting input sources and volume.
The remaining seven zones cover outside terraces, service areas, a reception area, and two bars. There is also a zoned paging microphone for announcements of the "lost child" or "poorly parked car" variety.
The main input content comes from three Crestron AAS4 media servers equaling 12 stereo sources, a CD changer, an FM tuner and a computer. There is also an Alcorn McBride audio player for prerecorded announcements (such as "the museum is closing in 30 minutes").
The audio player triggers priority inputs on all the amplifiers. A rack of class D 250W 100V transformerless amplifiers by JDM provides power to the loudspeakers – a total of 260 in-ceiling speakers were installed, and 70 of them were custom-painted to match the custom lighting fixtures – and to 50 other speakers.
A second rack holds the processing and control equipment. It's centered on a SymNet 8×8 DSP, supplemented with additional SymNet BreakIn12 and BreakOut12, raising the total input by output count to 20 on each side. The SymNet processor works with a Crestron PRO2, providing user control throughout the museum.
Initially, Sardelich thought that the SymNet system would be needed for dynamics and equalization, but the museum's acoustics were such that very little conditioning was required. So instead, the main role of the SymNet 8×8 DSP is to route signals from the sources to the outputs, to provide volume control and to provide automatic gain control where needed.
In addition, it integrates with the 24/7 video surveillance room to allow PRE and POST listening to all the sources and outputs using the Crestron TPS-15 touchscreen control. A paging microphone in the surveillance room allows for museum-wide announcements.
"The build quality and support of SymNet products is superb," said Sardelich. "The folks at Crestron in Belgium recommended SymNet initially. I did some research and found the 8×8 DSP to be the perfect match for the project.
"Because this was my first time programming a SymNet unit, I called on SymNet's support team to overcome a few issues," Sardelich continued. "They were great, and after they helped me over those few hurdles, the rest was easy…Integrating the DSP with the Crestron control system was also straightforward. In addition, the SymNet system is very robust. It went in working and has continued without interruption for a year now."
The museum operators have multiple access points to control the system. Together with the 10 Crestron TPS-4 panels that are zone-dedicated, there is a single Crestron TPS-15 for full control over all aspects of the system. From the TPS-15, a user can control all of the zones (even those without their own touchscreens) and all sources and media servers. They can save presets and also listen to the SymNet inputs and outputs to be sure about what is playing.
There is also a rack-mounted PC that connects directly to the SymNet DSP via RS232 and runs SymVue with all the controls already made available on the Crestron TPS-15. This PC also serves as a remote diagnostic point over Internet, Sardelich noted, "and that saved me a lot of driving to the museum just to see that somebody pressed a wrong button.
"Despite a total of 11 touch screens, three media servers, and a lot of other programming, I must say both Crestron and SymNet have almost no latency," Sardelich concluded. "That is amazing, and a real compliment to the design integrity of the devices and their integration."
For more information, please visit www.symetrix.co.
