The Grand Hyatt Barcelona renews its sound with Electro-Voice and Dynacord

Speakers and subwoofers Electro-Voice EVC, EVU and EVID-S cover various areas of this five-star hotel, while matrix mixture engines Dynacord MXE5-64 manage signal processing for Dante network solution.

The old Sofia hotel, now Grand Hyatt Barcelona, has renovated some of its most emblematic spaces, from the pool and terrace to the restaurant on the rooftop of the plant 19. Sound quality and ease of use have been fundamental in the transformation, con Electro-Voice speakers y Dynacord electronic systems as key elements of the process.

The sound transformation began outside the hotel. “We started with the design of the pool and its bar, creating a perimeter of exterior speakers”, explains Mauricio Lombardi Gómez of Koala Projects, the company responsible for the installation. “The idea was to have outdoor speakers that would integrate well into the outdoor space, but also that they offered good bass. “We chose Electro-Voice equipment and Dynacord amplifiers for the quality and reliability of the brands”.

He sistema EVID-S5.2, IP65 rated, was chosen to cover the pool area due to its compact size and high performance, and combined with subwoofers to deliver a surround sound experience. This same combination was repeated on the outdoor terrace of the Sofia Bar & Tapas, on the ground floor, where control of the sound field has become a key element.

“We have a huge terrace where we organize many events and it was important to have presets and control to manage them”, comments João Vivo about the Grand Hyatt Barcelona. “We can't play the music too loud because there is a hospital nearby. It is important that the volume is not so loud as to disturb patients”.

In the bar and restaurant, the situation is different, since the hotel was looking for a more powerful sound system to organize events. Here, los EVU speakers combine with subwoofers to deliver a full-range system that provides consistent, high-quality sound coverage throughout the space, that sports a modern and completely redesigned aesthetic.

“We had to distribute the audio and try to create a homogeneous sound throughout the restaurant, making sure that no table sounded much louder or softer than the others.”, Lombardi remembers.

Once these areas are covered, the project focused on an even more complex space: the restaurant Where, located on the roof terrace of the apartment 19 from the hotel.

“Maymanta offers spectacular views of the city”, comments Lombardi. “The problem was that the entire perimeter is made of glass.”. The sound they were looking for had to be clear, since they also organize events and need more than just background music. They required a high quality system, since sometimes they have DJs who work there at night, and they needed speakers up to this type of work, not the typical ceiling ones”.

Sound infrastructure

Although the speakers are the most prominent element of the solution, The infrastructure that supports them is also notable..

Los Dynacord L-series amplifiers power the speakers of each zone, while the brain of the system is made up of two Matrix MXE5-64 mixing engines.

These are networked using Dante with the existing sound system in other areas of the hotel to form part of a unified solution.

“The power stages in the pool area are located near the entrance and have four Dynacor amplifiers”, explains Lombardi. “And on the terrace of the Sofia Bar & There are three power stages from the same manufacturer. We manage them all through Dante, thus creating a sound network throughout the hotel”.

Simple control of individual staff spaces is established by WPN1 wall panel controllers networked, while mobile control with greater functionality has been achieved through custom interfaces for iPad, developed by Koala with the software Sonicue Sound System.

“We recommend wall panel controllers for waiters or department heads, since they only have to increase or decrease the volume”, explains Jordi Raluy of Commercial Acson, local partner of Electro-Voice and Dynacord. «For managers, Koala Projects created a graphical user interface that runs on an iPad, and from which they can control the signaling in all areas».