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Power of EV's IRIS-Net and NetMax Simplify Life and Extend Potential of Conference Facility
The Bedfordshire countryside, next to a well-used A road, is the unlikely setting for a ground-breaking audio installation, the first in the UK to maximise the powerful networking features of Electro-Voice's new NetMax N8000 audio processing and matrix system, used with the IRIS-Net software platform.
The Amalfi Suite, the adjacent Vesuvio Restaurant, and the overarching Sharnbrook Hotel are, in theory, three separate entities, but, under the ownership of the Ciampi family, they become the answer to many a company prayer – an easily accessible conference facility, with separate bar and restaurant, and extensive accommodation on site.
Built from scratch in the latter part of 2006, the venue really hit its stride during the holiday season, fully booked by 600 diners for New Year's Eve. Already the 2007 diary is packed with reservations from local companies for the endlessly flexible combination of meeting facilities.
The cleverly planned Amalfi Suite uses a moveable wall system. The same space that can host a wedding breakfast for 300 guests can be divided into 3 small conference rooms for 40 people each, or a
conference room with private dining room, or a theatre-style lecture hall for 80, 120 or 250.
Flexibility is further increased by the potential of the Vesuvio restaurant next door, which has 120 covers, and can be used in conjunction with any or all of the function room spaces in the Amalfi
Suite. Both venues have their own bars.
Venue operators the Ciampi family called in local installation company A.I.S (Audio Installation Services) of Bedford to devise an audio system that would not only match this flexibility, but also enhance the environments. Luke Magliaro of A.I.S. in turn called in the services of David Howe of Shuttlesound, the projects support specialist for Electro-Voice in the UK.
"Initially, the design brief from the client was pretty straightforward," explains David, "they simply wanted to send any audio signal from any area into any other area of the hotel. Not an unreasonable request but managing all the local inputs from the function suite, conference rooms, bars, restaurant and the multiple satellite TV and CD/DVD sources in some form of logical, and most importantly non-technical manner, using conventional analogue mixers and patch panels would have been quite a tall order."
The Electro-Voice NetMax N8000 audio processing and matrix system was the obvious choice for both David Howe and Luke Magliaro, who was already specifying EV speakers throughout the venue. The N8000 is a fully programmable DSP (digital signal processor) engine with an extensive array of audio processing devices available. There are a wide variety of mixer and matrix routing devices plus a complete armoury of all the usual toolbox items like multiple parametric and graphic EQ filter options, crossovers, delays, and compressors.
Facility panels are installed around the function suite, conference rooms and restaurant, and any one of them can be used to connect up anything from a radio microphone to a whole band. A network of
computers in the bars, restaurant, function suite, reception and the main office runs EV's control software IRIS-Net but staff only see a simple-to-use control screen for the designated area, specially
designed by David Howe. They click on a button to select the audio source they want and adjust the volume of the local speakers to the level they want. Nothing could be simpler, and they remain oblivious
to the fact that, in the background, IRIS-Net is reconfiguring everything for them, setting the routing, the EQ, the delay, the level or whatever is appropriate.
Throughout the venue, A.I.S has installed Electro-Voice's EViD C8.2 ceiling speakers, 36 in total. For the Vesuvio restaurant, Luke Magliaro has supplemented the C8.2s with 4x wall-mounted Zx1i
full-range cabinets in white to match the décor. In the function suite, the ceiling speakers are complemented by a 'dancefloor' system, comprising 4x EV Sx100+ speakers, also in white, paired with two Eliminator subwoofers, installed below the stage. Monitoring is provided by four flown EViD 6.2s, and all amplification is by EV's Q66 and Q44 models.
A.I.S. has handled the entire AV installation, including fitting plasma screens and projectors in the restaurant and function suite. The facilities allow a live video feed from the function suite to be
broadcast throughout the entire complex for larger events, while at other times, the screens are used to show a selection of cleverly commissioned black-and-white Italian films, bringing some subtle
movement to the venue's contemporary interior design.
David Howe attributes the success of this extensively networked system to IRIS-Net and the N8000. "They've allowed us to fulfil the design brief entirely. Iris-NET enables us to configure, control and supervise an entire audio system with one single software, which means huge benefits for system integration, not to mention the enormous increase in design flexibility. At Sharnbrook, any input can be sent to any output but it’s all been done with very non-technical user screens: what goes on behind the scenes is a bit more complex but the user doesn’t need to know about that."
In picture: Ciro Ciampi (part-owner) and Luke Magliaro of A.I.S. stand outside The Amalfi Suite, Bedford. The function room space at the Amalfi Suite, all moving walls retracted.
25th January 2007
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