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QFlex Brings Clarity to Caledonian University Event space
Tannoy's award-winning QFlex digitally steerable array system has been installed with great effect in one of Glasgow's most modern university conference facilities.
The Saltire Centre in Glasgow Caledonian University is home to the campus library and offers students access to the resources they need, in an open and airy environment. The £23m learning centre, situated in the heart of the university's campus, won several architecture and design awards after opening in January 2006 with the objective of integrating all learning and students services in one building. It contains 1800 study places, 400 computers and 250 laptops across four floors. The centre houses the university's library collection, a learning café, and the students' support services and provides users with a variety of different spaces, from noisy social interaction areas for group work, to places for silent study. The flexibility of the building will also give staff the opportunity to experiment further with student centred, active learning approaches.
The main atrium within the Saltire Centre has been used for events by the University, using hired in conventional loudspeaker systems, and had always resulted in complaints about the quality and intelligibility of the audio or the intrusiveness of the speaker positions.
In early November 2009, after an on-site demonstration of a Tannoy QFlex 32 in conjunction with local A/V Integrator Mediascape Ltd, The University specified three QFlex 32's as part of an investment to create a permanent professional/corporate presentation environment. The new system was used for the first time later that same month at the Chancellor's Dinner and instead of the usual complaints, there was only praise for the exceptional intelligibility of the audio. The system design, (comprising of just the 3 QFlex arrays) and software programming covers the entire open Atrium Area, as well as under the balcony areas.
Mediascape's sales engineer Grieg Ford explained how QFlex overcame the difficult acoustic problems: "The interior of the Saltire Centre atrium is mainly concrete and glass. Conventional loudspeakers struggled to achieve good intelligibility due to the reflected sound and it became a real problem for the venue."
"Being aware of the capabilities of Tannoy's QFlex system, I arranged a demonstration of a QFlex 32 within the space, and it was immediately obvious that this device would provide the clarity and intelligibility required, and then some!"
QFlex uses multiple channels of advanced amplification and DSP to produce beams of acoustic energy, which are directed on user defined target areas. With this ability to focus acoustical output in target areas where needed, comes better speech intelligibility in highly reverberant spaces such as those found here in the Saltire Centre's atrium space. The discrete profile of each array means that aesthetic impact is also minimised, particularly compared to the far less effective alternative of installing a distributed system with a large number of loudspeakers around a given space.
While QFlex is by no means the only loudspeaker system available that makes use of DSP beam-steering technology, it has many key advantages that led to it being specified for the university. While others provide beam control at lower frequencies, suitable for speech material, QFlex delivers effective beam control into the higher octaves as well, making it a perfectly viable system for delivering highly intelligible music as well as spoken word - critical for corporate events or awards ceremonies for example. Intuitive control software, digital audio input and full provision for easy integration with emergency evacuation systems are just some of the other critical performance advantages that made QFlex the obvious choice here.
The system is designed with versatility and redundancy in mind. Input A is derived from an Allen & Heath IDR8 controlled via an AMX system, whilst input B has a direct connection to a small analogue Yamaha mixer.
11th February 2010
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