Four new conference areas have been built and the configuration now allows a large 250-seat theatre to be divisible into two separate spaces, with a smaller 60-seat space (which can equally be divided into two separate theatres).
Costain-Skanska Joint Venture, awarded the contract to supply audio to Impact Marcom, which chose to design the audio infrastructure around Symetrix SymNet DSP processing power. The Met Office recently hosted an international conference on how best to minimize the impacts of climate change at which over 200 delegates assembled in the main auditorium.
With high emphasis placed on routing and signal distribution, SymNet became the preferred DSP matrix solution, largely because of the cost-effectiveness of the system's Break-In and Break-Out boxes. It is also the favoured system of Impact Marcom's sub-contractor Tony Marder (Audiovisual Southwest), who was also appointed the commissioning engineer and fulfils any temporary auxiliary production requirements the Met Office may have.
The emphasis was on a simple operation; the ability of having the extra Break-In/Break-Out boxes for the relative cost gave SymNet the competitive edge. The sources were born out of a basic requirement in each room - with radio mics, lectern mics and floor sockets for table mics, as well as VCR, DVD and PC, with standard laptop inputs, operating Left/Right splits from the Kramer switching matrix.
All the rooms had to be multi-configurable. The Met Office requested two positions in each room for the lectern, which accounted for additional inputs on SymNet. The eight radio mics are divided between the two main rooms - and in addition to the mic mixes a status reference of which mics were situated where needed to be displayed. This became a further task for SymNet via RS232 integration with a Crestron touch screen.
Crestron provides a simplified set of operations both at the lectern end and in the master Control Room, dividing up the partitions and selecting the lectern and radio mic configurations. It also operates a start-up routine to check volume levels predetermined in SymNet, and ensure the return to preset levels afterwards.
The three SymNet devices output the various mic and line signals to a pair of programme speakers, either side of the stage in Rooms 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 - as well as distributed ceiling speakers in all environments. Each mic has individual processing in terms of predetermined gain (and user-operational gain via the Crestron), and each of the mic inputs has its own individual EQ curve.
In addition four zones of infra-red assistive listening and a translation booth set up in the control room draw further on SymNet's outputs as does the reference monitor, which sits next to the control room PC. This the Met Office can select using SymNet and it allows them to listen in and preview sources if they need to.
One major advantage SymNet offered to Impact Marcom has been the ability to gain more features by upgrading to the latest firmware - a process made simple by support from UK distributors, Fuzion plc. "That gave us the facility for feedback extermination, which was essential, given the highly reverberant nature of the room," stated Tony Marder. The overall room processing EQ, including delay times, can be altered by preset recall from the Crestron remotes, dependent on the room partitions.
"In the end, the choice of SymNet came down to an equation of the sheer number of Inputs and Outputs required in relationship to the amount of DSP power," he concluded. "Taming the room acoustics alone meant we needed a lot of processing power - and SymNet certainly has that. It is a product I love, and the fact that the network is now absolutely full means we
