The root of the problem lies in an antiquated analog sound system that grew increasingly incapable of handling mounting audio demands. New World Resources Corp., a New Orleans-based AV systems integrator, was brought in to tackle the issue. "The system was really giving them a hard time," said company president David Humphreys. "They tried various short fixes, but they finally decided that it was simply a bad design. They agreed with us that a new solution was needed."
After a year of planning, Symetrix Audio's SymNet modular DSP audio processing and routing system proved to be the essence of the answer. "Since they were having problems with feedback and coverage, the idea was to redesign it to be a mix-minus type system with the advantages of limiting the potential for feedback and improving intelligibility," he said. "We needed a system that could handle a lot of inputs and outputs, and provide processing on both."
The application involved 11 microphone/speaker positions on the main dais, six mic positions on a conference table, and one for an audience podium, as well as inputs for several hand-held mics, laptop computers and a VCR playback system. Along with that there were outputs for cassette recorders, loudspeakers in 50 offices throughout the eight-story building, and a cable broadcast system.
New World installed four 8x8 SymNet units, daisy-chained via Cat 5 cable. "We essentially created a 32-in, 32-out mixer that has the capability of providing a lot of processing on each input and output," Humphreys said. The processor has a high pass filter, two-band parametric filter and a compressor limiter that helps us control what goes through the speakers. Had we pitched this project using a standard analog hardware-based system there wouldn't have been enough space to install it and the cost would have been prohibitive - probably five times more," he added.
(Mike Lethby)
