EZPro and Powersoft install the audio system of the Xi'an Olympic Center

In this great hall of China, EZPro has deployed speakers from Eastern Acoustic Works (Eaw), digital mixers Allen & Heath, processors Symetrix, powered by amplifiers Powersoft.

He Xi'an Olympic Center Stadium, the largest and most versatile sports venue in the Chinese province of Shaanxi, in September will host the opening ceremony and athletics competitions of the 14th Chinese National Games.

With a size of 866.667 m2, This sports complex has three main areas: the stadium, with capacity for 60.000 seating; the gym, con 18.000, and the natatorium, con 4.000. With these dimensions, The stadium required an audio system along these lines to respond to the needs of all the competitions in these areas., that you have designed EZPro, chinese distributor Powersoft.

“The brief we were given was to create a world-class audio system., advanced, stable, profitable and flexible -explains Yongjun Jiang, EZPro technical manager-. Since the audio system works for entertainment, messages and emergency, It was vital that we used technology that was as reliable and impactful as possible., with top brands”.

for the project, EZPro has deployed a total of 236 altavoces de Eastern Acoustic Works (Eaw), nine digital mixers Allen & Heath, four digital processors Symetrix, fed by 43 Powersoft amplifiers Quattrocanali 4804 DSP+D and controlled by ArmoniaPlus.

Flexible configuration

After investigating the size and acoustic conditions of each venue, and testing the intelligibility of messages as fundamental aspects of the audio installation, The EZPro team decided that the three sports center locations should have different system configurations.

“Speech understanding was the most important aspect of the audio requirements, since the next matches and competitions held at the venue depend largely on the comments - underlines Jiang -. The stadium and natatorium adopt a distributed layout to ensure coverage of all seats, while we opted for a more centralized layout for the gym, since it is a smaller venue”.

Each EAW speaker has its own independent channel, which simplifies the control of audio coverage and reduces interference in each zone.

As this person explains, “stadium walkway has a weight limit for speaker installations, in addition to taking into account the durability of the products we installed and ensuring that the speakers were weather resistant, light, precise and with great power”.

In combination with these speakers are 34 Quattrocanali amplifiers 4804 Powersoft DSP+D enabled Dante. “With reliability as the most vital requirement, Choosing amplifiers that were up to the immense task of driving this system was crucial.”, afirma Jiang.

Powersoft amplifiers “They have an incredible reputation, "We knew they were highly efficient and extremely reliable," he adds., not to mention its great power output, and made them the perfect choice”.

EZPro wanted to avoid possible failures in the entire signal path of the audio system, which is where Powersoft's powerful Quattrocanali DSP processing becomes vital.

“The built-in DSP modules that Powersoft offers are incredibly useful, like advanced equalizer. With long cable runs like the ones we used for this installation, the active damping control function was also essential”, points out.

for the gym, designed in diamond shape, sound reverberation posed another challenge, along with the need for the space to be transformed into a basketball court or ice hockey rink when necessary.

For this area, EZPro opted for a total of seventy EAW speakers, a combination of RSX212L, RSX18F, RSX129 y VFM129is, which are accompanied by three Allen digital mixers & Heath and two Symetrix digital processors, with just one Powersoft Quattrocanali 4804 DSP+D.

“The way they are arranged provides sharp direction of sound and reduces any diffusion into the stands next to the stage, which improves the understanding of speech in the room”, this expert clarifies.

Finally, The natatorium has thirty EAW speakers powered by eight Powersoft Quattrocanali 4804 DSP+D, along with two Allen digital mixers & Heath and two Symetrix processors.

“Powersoft amplifiers play an important role throughout the venue -continued-. Main signals go directly to amplifiers with Dante cards before feeding the speaker systems, which guarantees the best signal quality. Amplifiers are capable of automatically detecting and switching channels as needed, while managing all digital and analog signals seamlessly”.

System management

This entire great audio system is managed with ArmoniaPlus, Powersoft system design software, which has allowed EZPro to accelerate the initial phase of commissioning thanks to its pre-configured speaker models, and which is an essential part of system control.

Con ArmoniaPlus, Operators can quickly check if amplifiers are online, their signal and temperature ranges, as well as control the impedance of the speakers, when and where necessary.

“The ArmoniaPlus user interface is a crucial asset of the facility for the daily operation of the system, says Jiang.. Offline editing functions, group control and quick configuration are extremely practical for installation”.

Specifically, This software allowed EZPro to visually represent the amplifiers in their locations, thanks to its customization functions. “The amplifiers, located in four different rooms, are played in the corresponding areas with the software, arranged in the actual order of installation, which makes the control of this complex system very intuitive”, concludes.

Para Zhou Jun, stadium chief technical engineer, “the schedule was pressing, but the sound system installation and commissioning was completed on time thanks to the efforts of EZPro. We invited experts to approve the installation, and everyone agreed in praise, as it lives up to the highest Chinese standard in terms of technical performance, uniformity of the sound field and fullness of sound”.