In seeking to develop a fully featured system with complete redundancy, the company approached Beyerdynamic, whose technical director, Jon Stanley came up with a design concept. This was duly adapted so that it could be delivered as a compliant system that would both integrate with the club's existing infrastructure and extend the scope into the corporate areas and ground control.
Working in conjunction with Stanley, Marquee Audio's Scott Wakelin project managed the installation of an IP-addressable, fully-monitored, A + B redundant system - both inside the grandstand of the 30,000-seat bowl as well as the general concourse, season ticket holder/executive boxes and five function suites - all with independent source and volume controls.
The architecture is based around CobraNet audio distribution over CAT5 cabling to each of 44 active Renkus-Heinz ST4 speakers in the main bowl - making Derby the first stadium to use weatherized self-powered cabinets in an outside environment. In addition, Renkus-Heinz provided EASE acoustic analysis, which assisted Marquee in meeting the project's demanding technical specifications and standards.
Biamp's CobraNet Audia Flex processing and matrixing platform distributes the prioritised audio feeds to each zone in the system and contains all the processing, matrixing, routing and priority control. Using touch screen technology the CUE control system manages and monitors all aspects of the system 24 hours a day. Five independent rack locations each have a TouchCUE-S /R rack mount touch panel to display and relay system fault messages in the event of an incident.
Two MonitorCUE-V master touch screens have been positioned in the stadium for zonal and maintenance paging on match day, in the Match Control Room and Security Room linked to the Beyerdynamic MTS67 microphones ensuring that the correct messages are heard in all zones. In the event of a fire or emergency the Prodytel output box will automatically distribute voice evacuation messages around the stadium.
Marquee Audio has integrated part of the existing 100v line system, powered by ten Bittner eight-channel amplifiers, also distributed by Beyerdynamic. The Klein and Hummel DLC impedance line controller monitor every speaker. Should any speaker fail, grounds and security staff are immediately notified through sounded alarms and the CUE touch screens throughout the stadium.
Inputs have been provided for Derby County's existing DJ and background CD system, while in the Assa and Toyota Suites, as well as the Business Club, custom facility panels inputs ensure that each room can operate independently for corporate events and conferences. In using TCP/IP to interconnect and monitor all major aspects of the system infrastructure the opportunity to remotely diagnose and healthcheck the system offsite is now possible. This will enable the club to carry out system diagnostics, print fault record logs and gain information on how the system is coping at any given moment, while Marquee Audio will have access via its own ISDN line, enabling them to monitor performance from wherever they wish.
The installation complies with the standards set out in BS5839; BS7827, BS EN 60849, BS 7671 - mandatory for voice evacuation and public evacuation. It also exceeds the desired RASTI (Rapid Speech Transmission Index), STI scores and SPL requirements for systems of this type. The PA system also conforms to the Green Guide to Safety at SportsAlthough Pride Park was only built in 1997, the club's safety facilities manager, Chris Parsons, believes they now have a stadium set for the future. "We have become the biggest commercial operation in the whole of Derby, with the capability of staging din
