Symetrix announces the release of SymNet Composer DSP configuration software. SymNet Composer is a major leap forward for installed sound DSP configuration software.

When performing basic Edge hardware configuration, Composer automatically identifies the type of audio I/O module installed in each of the Edge frames’ four I/O card slots (up to 16 channels of local audio). When connecting multiple Edge frames via Dante gigabit network audio (up to 128 channels total), quick and easy network management is accomplished entirely within the SymNet Composer programming environment. A fully open architecture application, Composer’s fast and fluid navigation accelerates the audio path design process. System designers exercise complete creative control selecting from a library of over 600 proven DSP processing, routing, mixing, and special purpose modules. A designer’s proprietary Super-modules (complex blocks of multiple DSP modules and routings) can be exported from or imported into Composer and repurposed in future projects.

SymNet Composer’s Event Scheduler automatically changes presets at pre-determined dates and times using a familiar Outlook-style calendar. If desired, hardware clocks can be set to sync to network time protocol (NTP). It doesn’t get any easier or more accurate than that. Composer also configures the Symetrix ARC series of wall panel remotes along with the zero-cost embedded ARC-WEB for wireless control of Edge hardware using Apple and Android mobile devices. With Composer, any chosen set of controls (i.e. faders, mutes, selectors) can be consolidated and exported to create custom technician or end user virtual control panels from a program we call SymVue. There’s no scripting language to learn, no time-consuming graphic design. Just point, click, and create an executable file. That’s it. Composer supports third-party RS-232 or Ethernet control devices with Symetrix’ human-readable external control protocol. Simple. Easy.

“DSP is deep in Symetrix’ DNA. Edge hardware, paired with Composer software, is our most exciting commercial audio product yet,” said Paul Roberts, Symetrix vice president of sales and marketing. “Announcements regarding additional audio input/output modules for Edge, as well as on-line training and certification for SymNet Composer, are slated for the very near future.”

Storch Entertainment Systems was recently contacted by Phil Kean Designs, the builder of a luxury home, in Winter Park, Florida. The homeowner, a passionate music lover, was eager to possess a world-class media room with sound reproduction so faithful it would rival even the great control rooms of the world. Michael Storch, owner of Storch Entertainment Systems and kindred media-phile, oversaw the room’s design, calling in experts such as Michael Chafee to help make the room absolutely perfect. In addition to superlative acoustical design and top-of-the-line components, the room benefitted, in Storch’s words, “by an order of magnitude” from Chafee’s careful system calibration using a Symetrix Jupiter 8 digital signal processor that resides between the Denon surround-sound processor and the self-powered Genelec loudspeakers.

“The idea was to recreate the listening environment that the mix engineer of the source material might have experienced,” explained Storch. “Luckily, we were contacted early enough in the process that we could still alter the room’s basic construction.” Storch sent the blueprints to acoustical designer Richard Bird at Rives Audio. Bird tweaked the room’s dimensions and specified the ideal locations for loudspeakers, acoustical absorbers, acoustical diffusers, bass traps, and even the human listeners. When the builders were ready, Storch and his crew swooped in to install the equipment and acoustical treatments. “Two of the notable features of the room itself are its diffusive ceiling, which also has a cool twinkly star lighting system, and the acoustical fabric the interior designer selected,” said Storch. “The fabric is made by Knoll and is called ‘Heavy Metal’.”

Chafee helped with the equipment selection. Based on the room’s modest size and the goal of reproducing a neutral control room environment, he selected Genelec loudspeakers. Three AIW26s serve as the left-center-right, and two AIW25s serve as surrounds. A pair of Triad subwoofers powered by a Crown Xti 2000 amplifier provides the listener with thunderous low-end when needed. A Denon AVR-3312 integrated network A/V surround receiver provides the front-end user interface that selects input sources, adjusts the volume, and alters the surround sound configuration.

Once everything was installed, Chafee arrived with his sophisticated RTA gear and his ears. “Mike’s ears are the best piece of equipment he has,” Storch laughed. Chafee measured the room and found that everyone had done their jobs well. It is a remarkably flat room, “one of the flattest he had ever measured,” said Storch. Next, Chafee pulled up the sound system and loaded the “Home Theater” app onto the Symetrix Jupiter 8, which gave him all of the signal processing tools that he needed, including multiple flavors of equalization, dynamics, and loudspeaker management.

“Before Mike [Chafee] came in, we had the opportunity to listen to the room with the Jupiter running flat,” said Storch. “Given the excellent acoustics and the excellent components, it’s not surprising that it sounded really great. In fact, if we had stopped there, we would have felt satisfied that the job was well done. But then Mike dialed things in on the Jupiter and it was obviously much, much better. It was an order of magnitude better. The cost of Mike’s time and the Jupiter was a small fraction of the total cost of the room, but you couldn’t have purchased that degree of improvement with hardware alone, even if you doubled the price of the room! It’s a truly phenomenal sounding room.”

Once Chafee was finished adjusting the system, the Symetrix Jupiter 8 became a black box for the end user. “There are no knobs or dials on the front of the Jupiter,” said Storch. “And that’s a very good thing. The client wanted a well-tuned system, and there’s no way he could improve on Mike’s settings. So giving him any measure of control would be opening the door for him to foul it up. The client is free to enjoy the system, which is perhaps the best I have ever heard.”

Symetrix announces SymNet Edge, a significant update to its long line of DSP solutions packed with incredible new features. DSP is deep in Symetrix’ DNA and Edge is their most exciting commercial audio product yet. Edge is scalable hardware configured with SymNet Composer open architecture software for total design synergy.

Symetrix designed Edge to meet the I/O capacity requirements of the bulk of commercial sound installations. Edge features four configurable I/O card slots, up to 16 channels total of local I/O plus 128 (64×64) channels of Dante network audio. Flexible I/O and plug-and-play networking enable multiple Edge units to scale to your projects’ demands.

Built for performance, Edge trumps the competition with DSP efficiency, consistently providing more processing per project. An internal gigabit switch provides the bandwidth that unleashes the power of Dante to deliver ultra-low latency networked audio. Multiple units may be connected without additional third-party network switches, or, with additional hardware configured for redundant operation with seamless failover.

SymNet Composer software manages all aspects of Edge hardware including audio, control and security with an intuitive drag and drop CAD-style interface. Composer’s fast, fluid navigation accelerates site file design with over 500 proven DSP modules.

End user control options for Edge include Symetrix’ ARC wall panels, ARC-WEB browser based remote, SymVue custom standalone user control application, logic I/O, and third party controllers, such as Crestron and AMX.

Noted Dane Butcher, president of Symetrix, “In creating SymNet Edge, we doubled the processing power of its predecessor while continuing Symetrix’ commitment to studio-grade fidelity. Combined with Dante, the world’s best next-generation of networked audio protocol, this product is uniquely flexible, powerful and reliable at a price point that is fiercely competitive.”

Consultants and contractors will find it an easy transition to Edge with advanced 24/7 training accessible online. In addition, the Symetrix technical support staff is available for in-person training and design assistance (Tel: +1.425.778.7728 |Email: support@symetrix.co). The Symetrix website (www.symetrix.co) provides instant access to product information, training, user forums, knowledge base, videos, and downloads.

Aura Restaurant & Lounge recently opened in Philadelphia and, without wasting a moment, placed itself at the vanguard of the city’s hip and happening night life. Claiming two floors in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood, Aura is, like its clientele, dressed to the nines. But instead of sharp suits and tight dresses, Aura teases with futuristic LED lighting, HD plasma screens, and hip, modern décor. Of course, hearts race when Aura kicks up the music from one or both of the elevated DJ booths, and compliant bodies move to the rhythms. Aura hired Pro Systems from nearby Cherry Hill, New Jersey to breathe fire into its sound reinforcement system, and they responded by providing Aura with an unfalteringly stable Symetrix Solus 8, a processor that’s heavy on fidelity and possessed of a deep musical soul.

“We’ve been installing Symetrix processors of various types for several years now, and we have yet to experience a single failure,” said Jim McCann, owner of Pro Systems. “That’s saying a lot, considering the large amount of Symetrix processors we have in the field. Symetrix builds robust gear.” Because he knew Aura would need custom-tailored processing, McCann was considering a SymNet Express unit. “But then my Symetrix rep stopped by and showed me the Solus 8,” he continued. “It had the powerful open-architecture processing that I needed, but because I knew we wouldn’t need I/O expandability, the fixed-I/O Solus 8 had a very attractive price.” Although the job wouldn’t be complete for several months (and for reasons far, far outside the control of Pro Systems), McCann had the Solus 8 programmed and ready to integrate just hours after receiving it.

Aura’s downstairs section provides elegant seating for Chef Lamont Moses’ culinary creations and, with tables removed, a secondary dance floor. The upstairs section is a purpose-built lounge and dance floor, with VIP seating and bottle service. Two DJ booths, one on each floor, provide the most charismatic inputs to the system. A Tascam DVD player and an iPod jack fill out the Solus 8’s eight inputs. Four of its eight outputs feed the two-way stereo JBL AM7212 and ASB6128 system that energizes the upstairs dance floor. The remaining four outputs feed JBL AC28s in mono zones in the upstairs VIP lounge, the downstairs restaurant, the downstairs VIP area, and the bathrooms. QSC PL2 and CX series amplifiers power all the loudspeakers and subwoofers.

User control is simple. Pro Systems installed two Symetrix ARC-2e wall panel remotes, one on each floor. Using the menu selection button and up & down value buttons, Aura managers can select the input to the upstairs and downstairs separately. Additional menus allow them to change the volume within each zone. They also included PC control using the built in SymVue control screens. Like all Symetrix processors, the Solus 8 readily integrates with the ARC family of wall panel remotes, as well as third-party solutions both simple and complex.

After his success at Aura, McCann and Pro Systems have installed several other Symetrix Solus units, selecting the Solus 4, Solus 8, or Solus 16 depending on the fixed I/O needs of each particular venue.

First United Methodist Church of San Diego is the largest Methodist church in southern California and occupies one of the most architecturally-splendid church campuses in the area. Over many decades, First United has struggled with sound reinforcement systems for its multiple venues that somehow always failed to live up to expectations. Recently, Paul Svenson of Sound Casework Inc. (PS Audio Video) reversed the inertia of that sorry history, unifying all five sound systems under a common, easy-to-use, foolproof paradigm centered on the Symetrix Jupiter 8 signal processor and the Symetrix ARC-2e wall panel remote. Now volunteers can get a quick explanation of how to work on any system and transfer their knowledge transparently to any of the other systems, relying on Svenson’s intuitive design to deliver perfect audio with confidence.

“I’ve been trying to get First United’s business for twenty-seven years,” admitted Svenson, who has designed and installed A/V systems in hundreds of houses of worship in a career that spans four decades. “But they always went one of two routes: either they cobbled a fix together with spit wads and glue or else they separately hired a system designer and a system installer. When things went sour after the installation, as they always did, the designer pointed the finger at the installer and the installer pointed the finger at the designer. Unfortunately, the church was always left holding the bag.”

When a new church staffer approached Svenson (without knowing his history with First United) and asked if he was better positioned to design or install for the next iteration, Svenson fired off a missive to the church trustees. “I explained the problem and even invoked the name of beloved long-time senior minister Dr. Mark Trotter who, twenty-seven years ago, stood in the sanctuary next to me, shaking his head over the terrible sound system two other companies had designed and installed,” said Svenson. “Rather than repeat the same mistake, I suggested they hire my company to both design and install the system. That way, the buck stops with me. To their ever-living credit, they agreed.”

The overhaul would not be minor. First United maintains sound reinforcement systems in the Trotter Chapel (seats 125), the Trotter Lounge (seats 150 for meetings and miscellaneous events), The Cove (seats 150 for miscellaneous events), the Linder Social Hall (seats 400 in a flexible, modular space), and the sanctuary (seats 1,000). “Church sound at First United is run exclusively by volunteers,” explained Svenson. “With disparate systems in each of the five spaces, those volunteers were understandably frustrated and events often suffered bad sound as a result.” His new tack would be to design effectively the same system for all five spaces so that the volunteers would be comfortable and competent in every venue.

Into each space, Svenson placed a Symetrix Jupiter 8 signal processor running the Sound Reinforcement 10 app, which includes input equalization, dynamics, feedback fighters, gain-sharing auto-mixing, a full matrix mixer, output equalization, speaker managers, and output limiters. Paired with a Presonus StudioLive console in the three venues that require heavy mixing, the Jupiter 8’s eight inputs and eight outputs are more than sufficient for each venue. An intuitive Symetrix ARC-2e wall panel remote allows the volunteers to select presets for various functions and, where appropriate, individual levels.

“As in all my other recent projects, I went with the Symetrix Jupiter 8 because it is easy to use, flexible, and sonically transparent,” said Svenson. “But perhaps even more important than that is the company and the people who comprise it. They are wonderful to work with: accommodating to the harsh realities of AV integration and always ready to lend a hand in whatever way is needed. Moreover, they build solid gear. In all my years installing Symetrix equipment, I’ve only had one failure… and the company had a replacement to me that very next day.” The church officials and the volunteers at First United are in love with the new systems. It’s been a long time coming.

Cardone, Solomon & Associates (CS&A) is now representing Symetrix in the New York Metro region of the United States. Founded in 1997, the CS&A team brings a wealth of industry experience and strong connections to the region’s corporate, educational, theatrical, sporting, church, amusement, and medical commercial audio markets. CS&A is representing all of Symetrix’ product lines, including the powerful SymNet line of open architecture DSP, Jupiter line of app based turn-key DSP, and Integrator Series line of application specific installed system DSP.

Noted Dane Butcher, president of Symetrix, “We’re very excited about working with John Cardone, Mike Solomon and their entire crew. These folks have an exceptional track record of service to integrators and consultants. As we looked at their line card it became apparent that, without distraction, they’re hyper-focused on systems integration. We couldn’t ask for better alignment with a rep firm.”

“Symetrix adds an important discipline to our product portfolio, that of superior audio DSP,” explained John Cardone. “They build high-quality audio products that meet the serious and educated demands of our customers, who understand that it’s not just about the box – it’s about the people behind the box. Symetrix has had a long history of introducing innovative products. Their current and upcoming lines will continue that tradition and provide a fresh alternative to the existing market.”

When compared to its peers in other states, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce is an especially active and involved institution. Nearly 8,000 businesses statewide hold membership and provide fully half of Utah’s 1,000,000 jobs. Its Salt Lake City headquarters is a bustling hive of activity, with multiple events, such as meetings, trainings, and seminars, scheduled every day. To accommodate a happily burgeoning request for event space, the Salt Lake Chamber worked with member business General Communications of Draper, Utah to expand and update the A/V systems in its executive conference and training rooms. With an eye toward future expansion, General Communications centered the new sound reinforcement equipment on a pair of Symetrix Solus 16 open-architecture, fixed-I/O signal processors.

“Of course, a chamber of commerce is all about helping member businesses make money, but, like every other chamber of commerce, the Salt Lake Chamber needs to use their financial resources judiciously,” said Ingolf de Jong, president of General Communications. “As a result, the budget was exceptionally tight.” The Salt Lake Chamber asked de Jong and General Communications system engineer Brandon Gramse to update the A/V system in the executive conference room, which subdivides into two separate rooms, and to add infrastructure to a larger training room that would allow it to subdivide into four smaller rooms.

“Like other clients that have existing equipment, they hoped we would be able to keep costs down by reusing the existing equipment,” explained de Jong. “However, using the existing equipment we ran into incompatibility issues. To make the Salt Lake Chamber future-proof and still stay within budget, Gramse based the design on Symetrix’ new Solus 16 processor. The Solus 16 offers powerful open-architecture DSP design within a fixed sixteen-input, eight-output frame. The fixed I/O makes the Solus 16 very affordable.

The setup itself is not unlike a small conference center, with the requisite flexibility to accommodate events of widely ranging nature and size. The systems for the executive conference room and the training rooms are entirely separate, and each gets its own Symetrix Solus 16. Two large Crestron touch panels and four smaller Crestron touch panels located in each subdivided space (six total) communicate with the Solus 16 audio processors and the Kramer VP-4x4k video matrix switchers to control audio and video source routing out to ceiling-mounted projectors and LCD displays. The executive conference room can be divided into two conference rooms, and in addition to VGA inputs each contain one owner-furnished Blu-ray player, whereas the training rooms each contain four owner-furnished Blu-ray players, one for each subdivided room. New Listen Technologies ListenPoint ceiling speakers powered by QSC amplifiers deliver clear, intelligible audio. The executive conference room takes four microphone inputs and two stereo line-level inputs, using only half of the Solus 16’s inputs. The training rooms require one stereo input per subdivision, plus two microphone inputs, for a total of ten.

“The Salt Lake Chamber wanted the new system to accommodate future conversion of adjacent office space into meeting space,” said Gramse. “The two Solus 16s have plenty of available inputs and outputs for those expansions. Although it would be simple to collapse the stereo inputs into mono inputs if they need it. In addition, the Solus 16’s open-architecture will allow us to program the requisite functionality for future systems without limitation. “Working with the people at Symetrix was a real pleasure. The sales support and the technical support are both excellent.” Chamber COO Heidi Walker stated that the chamber is extremely pleased with the system. General Communications provided excellent design, installation, and support for our facility. This system allows us to host people from around the world, effectively communicating the chamber message.

Zion School recently completed construction of a brand new building in Makassar, South Sulawesi in Indonesia. The school serves over seven-hundred students from kindergarten through high school and uses state-of-the-art technology to connect with students and to prepare them for an increasingly technological world. An excellent case in point is the school’s 750-seat multipurpose auditorium. The auditorium will be used for seminars, meetings, graduation ceremonies, and performances. Symetrix distributor PT Gracia Auvindo supplied an adept, but cost-effective Symetrix Jupiter 8 to handle all of the audio processing in the auditorium. Local dealer JK Sound in turn furnished the unit to the school, and both companies helped install it

“The processing power of the Symetrix Jupiter is substantial, yet it’s easy to set up and very affordable,” said Hendra Halim, technical manager with PT Gracia Auvindo. “At the Zion School auditorium, just one Jupiter 8 handles everything.” Coda Audio full-range loudspeakers and subwoofers powered by beefy Camco amplifiers give the students at Zion School performance-inspiring fidelity and impact. Full stereo separation heightens the excitement.

The school uses one of the Jupiter’s many apps, which creates a sound processing and mixing tool that is specific to the needs of the auditorium. “The app gives us feedback fighters, parametric equalization, and full loudspeaker management processing, among other modules,” said Halim. “Everything – from the output of the mixer to the monitors to the mains – is handled by the Jupiter 8. The speaker manager provides the crossover between the full-range boxes and the subwoofer. Moreover, the Jupiter 8 sounds fantastic, and the school doesn’t have to worry about feedback or unintelligible audio.”

In addition to the Jupiter 8, a Symetrix Zone Mix 760 handles school-wide paging and background music. Six zones comprise the school, and three strategically-located paging stations provide input. At each station, a wall-mounted Symetrix ARC-XLR push-button XLR input with an attached microphone allows for easy paging. The ARC-XLR’s four selector buttons combine with an ARC-SW4’s four selector buttons to direct pages to any or all of the building’s zones. Setting up the Zone Mix 760 to automatically duck background music for pages proved straightforward. QSC ceiling speakers and amplifiers complete the school-wide paging system.

“We’re very excited about Symetrix’ Jupiter, Integrator, and Solus families of processors,” said Halim. “They provide a comprehensive and well thought out collection of solutions to every audio installation challenge. The products are functional, reliable, and great sounding. The installation at Zion School went smoothly for us. It took just over a day to get everything in place and tuned to perfection. After a brief training, the staff at the school is totally comfortable operating it.”

Symetrix announces that it is now offering technical support and training services in Spanish. This new addition to the company’s dedication to customer service is being handled by Technical Support Specialist, Michael Perry, who recently joined the Symetrix support team. Perry is fluent in both English and Spanish will be handling this service. Perry’s phone number is +1 (425) 778-7728 x234, and Spanish technical support emails can be directed to espanol@symetrix.co

Known as one of Central Florida’s most venerable entertainment complexes, The Lakeland Center challenges the notion that a facility can’t be all things to all people. The sprawling complex includes venues for sports, entertainment, events, meetings and hospitality and despite the breadth of offerings The Lakeland Center consistently exceeds the expectations of its clients, attendees and guests. Creating such a professional atmosphere requires tremendous flexibility on the part of The Lakeland Center’s facilities and staff, a fact underscored by its recent upgrade to a Symetrix Room Combine 788 processor in one of its three modular meeting/event spaces. The Symetrix Room Combine 788 allows The Lakeland Center’s technical staff to merge or split any combination of rooms using an intuitive interface, with comprehensive, high-fidelity signal processing as a bonus!

Using air walls, the 25,000 square-foot facility divides into as many as eight separate spaces of varying size. The old room combiner was installed in the mid-1990s and operated on outdated mechanical relays. “It worked okay,” said Joseph Havens, the technical director at The Lakeland Center. “We installed it and used its limited flexibility to create a few common configurations. It had no DSP and no analog processing of any kind. Recently, the unit gave up the ghost.” Havens removed its carcass and committed to finding a modern replacement.

Based on its flexibility and power, he chose the purpose-built Symetrix Room Combine 788, which takes up to twelve inputs and matrix mixes them into eight outputs. “As many of the technicians on my staff do not have expertise in the arena of installed sound, I had to have a combiner that was intuitive to operate,” said Havens. “The user interface on the 788 is second to none. The new system is very friendly and not at all intimidating.” Indeed, Symetrix’ simple-to-use software allowed Havens to draw a schematic of the event space on the user interface with each of the eight smaller sections outlined. To combine or un-combine sections, his technicians simply highlight the relevant sections on the schematic.

To allow clients a measure of control, Havens positioned a Symetrix ARC-K1 rotary encoder in each of the eight sections to control volume. Because each ARC-K1 receives its power and communicates with the Room Combine 788 via a single Cat5 cable, the installation was painless. “At each position, we used the cable from the old system to pull a fresh Cat5 into place,” said Havens.” That allowed us to keep the power supply in the main rack with the 788. The ARC-K1s communicate with the processor and, ultimately, each other (their controls become redundant when sections are combined) via a star topology. It couldn’t have been easier.”

Although The Lakeland Center was, first and foremost, installing a new room combiner, it received a hi-fi bump as a bonus. “The existing loudspeakers and amps were in good shape, so we left them alone,” said Havens. “Nevertheless, just hooking up the Symetrix Room Combine 788, without turning any processing on, significantly improved the system’s fidelity. Before, it had always had that ‘ceiling speaker’ sound, with an emphasis on the midrange. Now it was fuller and richer.” Havens didn’t stop there however, he used the Room Combine 788’s collection of filters, equalizers, and dynamics processors to dial in an even finer sound.

Havens’ experience installing the Symetrix Room Combine 788 was so pleasant, and the functionality it affords The Lakeland Center is so substantial, he now plans to preempt failures in the center’s two other large, combinable event/meeting spaces by installing 788s there as well. “In those spaces, we’ll definitely take advantage of the unit’s ability to combine non-adjacent rooms,” he said.