VALENCIA, Spain – Sagarmanta Producciones provided audio support for the grandstand area at the Valencia Street Circuit, the site for the 2011 Formula One European Grand Prix, which was filled with close to 85,000 of the total 150,000 people drawn to the event. The gear included 115 Aero 12A systems from D.A.S. Audio.
Vicent Olucha from Sagarmanta Producciones led the crew of 30 who had been assembled to set up technical sound coverage for the 14 grandstands around the circuit through a fiber optic and CobraNet-based audio distribution system. The team also installed an individual automatic signal system for each of the grandstands.
The scale of the event was immense – the site spans more than three miles in length. Simply distributing and installing the acoustic cabinets throughout the grandstands was a considerable challenge, as were the tasks of setting up the electrical supply and distribution of the sound signal.
Additional challenges were posed by the differing grandstand configurations and their locations. Some of the stands were completely straight, others were curved, some had 20 rows of seats, others had more than 40; the central forum was covered, the rest of the area wasn't. It added up to a wide array of different configurations, but the D.A.S Aero 12A self-powered line arrays proved versatile enough to overcome those challenges.
An additional challenge was posed by the inability for the systems to be positioned above the protection wall that surrounds the track, since the existing security regulations in motor competitions prevent placing solid elements above that wall. To overcome this obstacle, especially in the higher stands, the crew adopted a work-around solution: to play with the angle of the systems according to their locations relative to the zone of influence of each.
The units were placed on truss-type structured podiums, whose angles could be adjusted through the arrangement of two vertical threaded shafts. This made it possible to place the systems with different angles of inclination according to the needs of each location, and this was the determining factor in giving coverage to the upper areas, especially in the highest stands which, as noted, had more than 40 rows of seats.
With the total number of units numbering 115, each was positioned about 8 to 10 meters from the next. Sagarmanta Producciones also had 15 extra units on hand as a backup; as it turned out, they were not used.
In terms of the electrical feed, because the D.A.S Aero 12A systems are self-powered, each one of the different stands had a single phase 16A / 20A connection, and from there, the feed was distributed to all the subsequent systems spread out through the various areas.
Another noteworthy technical aspect was an adjustment in the high frequency band of the systems. A -6 dB was preset on the 2.7 kHz band with the aim of achieving a flat response from each one of the elements starting from the mentioned range. Doing so allowed a more uniform sound delivery of the systems individually, since these are line array systems that were designed specifically to be used in linear formations usually of 6 or 8 units together.
Another key feature of the installation, due to its unique characteristics, was the method for sending and distributing the signal to each one of the systems spread throughout the circuit-a fiber optic line more than 2,000 meters was utilized. This network had its focal point in a control center located in the pit stop area, from which 16 different emissions were carried out through CobraNet towards the different grandstand and award presentation areas.
The entire audio signal needed to be independent for each area, and a fiber optic ring that linked a series of nodes, which, in turn, formed a star with different link points. Through the establishment of a local VLAN network, the different bundles were launched via CobraNet, which were located by the receptors in each one of the stands identified, reproducing the signal and emitting it to each of the systems located throughout them.
The result was a uniform signal management that minimized the delay effects between adjacent stands and also kept synchronization problems among the most remote areas to a minimum.
For more information, please visit www.dasaudio.com.
