Sports / Gaming Venues

Products

Sports / Gaming Venues

Racetrack

Overview

Sports and gaming facilities can be chaotic acoustical environments where, understandably, intelligibility is paramount. Symetrix provides special processing tools for handling public address, ambient noise compensation, audio distribution and loudspeaker management within difficult venues. Our SPL computers, priority selectors, FIR filters and loud speaker managers ensure the message is always heard and the excitement of the game is never missed.

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Jupiter App Note: Sports / Gaming Venues

Spotlight Installation

Mega Bowling Alley, Sports Bar - Elk Grove, CA, USA

Products: SymNet Express 12x4 Cobra, Symetrix Zone Mix 760, ARC-SWK, ARC-SW4

Sometimes names are deceiving. When Sacramento residents heard that a facility named “Strikes” would be opening up in nearby Elk Grove, California, they might have expected to do some bowling and perhaps grab a beer and some fries. Of course, they would be right, but Strikes offers so much more. It’s really a complete entertainment facility, built to specs that authoritatively lead the way into the second decade of the twenty-first century. Within its 65,000 square-foot interior is a full restaurant, a lounge/bar with live music, three multipurpose “stadium” rooms for rent, a full arcade, and, of course, fifty lanes of bowling. An intricate sound system knits the entire facility together with sophisticated SymNet open-architecture and Symetrix fixed-architecture DSP solutions.

Strikes hired Creative Media Solutions, Inc. of nearby Rocklin, California to design and install an A/V system that would define the facility’s atmosphere to a greater extent than even the architecture or interior design. It’s an atmosphere that’s connected and energized, but abundantly comfortable, like hanging out in the world’s coolest recreation room. Delivering an A/V system of such complexity that still seemed transparent and “easy” was no small task.

Mark Mowry, president of Creative Media Solutions, processed and organized all of Strikes’ audio through a SymNet Express 12x4 Cobra. “What they wanted was very complex,” he explained. “But at the same time, everything had to be operable by staff members with no A/V training. SymNet open-architecture DSP combined with the simplicity of SymNet’s ARC wall panel controllers gave us the power and flexibility to meet their needs. Nothing we did at Strikes was ‘off the shelf.’ For example, the power to make one button simultaneously mute every input and turn-on an auto-gained wireless mic is something that can only be customized.”

In addition to the open-architecture SymNet unit, Mowry used two Symetrix Zone Mix 760 fixed-architecture DSP units. One provided general processing for the stadium rooms, while the second provided general processing for the bar/restaurant complex. In using both types of units, Mowry struck an efficient and cost-effective balance between functions that required customization and those that did not. The SymNet Express 12x4 Cobra and the Symetrix Zone Mix 760 work together seamlessly via Ethernet connections.

In each of the flexible and combinable stadium rooms, Mowry used QSC flush-mount speakers with QSC amplifiers and a Symetrix ARC-SWK wall panel. The SWK uses an intuitive combination of push buttons and a knob to allow easy selection of input source (local mic, local A/V/computer, TV, remote computer output) and volume. Ten lanes of additional, private bowling adjoin the stadium rooms with SoundTube flush-mounted speakers and an ARC-SWK. Four button ARC-SW4 wall panels combine or separate audio between the stadium rooms, as necessary, for large events.

The bar in the center of Strikes, affectionately named “Coach’s,” is a destination in itself, with a lounge, a dining room, a private dining room, a billiard room, and a live stage. Again, QSC amplification drives QSC and SoundTube flush-mounted speakers throughout. Additional inputs include a DJ system and a wireless mic for paging. SymNet ARC-SWK wall panels select sources and control volume in each area, with the ability to isolate the wireless mic to specific areas. On game day, ten Soundog SD8 personal receivers allow users to enjoy audio for their favorite team without disturbing anyone else in the bar.

The live PA system that Mowry designed for the Coach’s stage has quickly earned a reputation among Sacramento musicians and fans. “A lot of the reps that I interact with regularly also moonlight in bands,” explained Mowry. “I’ve had a ton of unsolicited complements on the system, and many people are claiming that Strikes is now the best venue in greater Sacramento!” QSC powerlite amps drive a QSC GP218 sub and QSC WL2080 line array speakers. A single ProCo “fire hose” interconnects the stage with an existing console for easy setup and teardown.

The concourse area, the open bowling, the league bowling, and the arcade all benefit from distributed SoundTube ceiling speakers, with the same easy source selection and volume control that typify the rest of the facility. Viewing the whole system from a schematic viewpoint is dizzying – various inputs are global (e.g. TV) whereas others are local (e.g. wireless mic) and a myriad of zones combine with one another to suit different situations. Yet from the user’s perspective, it’s all easy thanks to SymNet and Symetrix processing and interfaces. Just use the intuitive keypad to combine zones as needed from push buttons and select inputs and volume. The rest takes care of itself so that the revelry can go on unencumbered!