A major part of the project was the PA system. Aena called upon Lexon SA, one of the largest professional audio, lighting distribution and systems engineering companies in Spain, to design, supply and install the entire public address and digital audio control system throughout the new building. The installation is similar to the one Lexon completed in T4 of Madrid's Barajas Airport.
The system installed in Barcelona Airport's T1 is based on a MediaMatrix system and a total of 314 Crest CKi power amplifiers, each equipped with a CobraNet module that enables interconnectivity between each amplifier and the nucleus of the PA system network, the MediaMatrix MM-980 Mainframe.
The MediaMatrix MM-900nt Series is a software-based, integrated sound system design, control and management system that requires only microphones and their preamps, power amplifiers and speakers to provide a complete and working system. It is based on an open architecture that utilises a modular computer mainframe which, fully loaded, can provide all the necessary signal processing for up to 256 audio inputs and 256 audio outputs.
The MediaMatrix MWare software provides the user/designer with the ability to design, wire, operate, control and troubleshoot a complete digital audio system in the software domain as well as create custom user interfaces for each task, with different levels of access to the system.
The MediaMatrix system installed into T1 Barcelona comprises: eight Mainframe MM980nt with dual, removable, mirrored redundant hard drives; 39 x CAB-8i 8-in, digitally controlled mic/line preamp, analogue-to-Digital CobraNet audio bridge (CAB); eight CAB-8o 8-out, digital-to-analogue CobraNet audio bridge(CAB); 26 x MM-DSP-CNII Digital Processing Units for processing audio ported to or from a CobraNet network (via the CAB Cobranet audio bridges).
Besides the audio distribution system, Lexon's engineering department also handled the acoustic design of the building. For this they used the acoustic modelling software tool, EASE, to determine the number, model and positioning of the loudspeakers. Based on their findings, Lexon provided the engineering firm Sampol with the necessary speaker enclosures and microphones along with the 314 Crest Audio Cki amplifiers (equipped with NX CobraNet modules) to complete the installation.
Already an area with one of the highest rates of air traffic growth in Europe, the commissioning of T1 has elevated Barcelona airport from its status as a regional airport to become the main hub serving the Mediterranean and southern Europe. The new T1 building represents a logistical and technical complexity which employs more than 15,000 people and is destined to handle over 100,000 passengers daily.
(Jim Evans)
