Symetrix is in the Zone at Bull & Bear Restaurant Dubai Managing a Premium Sound Experience

Housed within the iconic art-deco setting of Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, Bull & Bear by Marc Hardiman is a restaurant that aims to bring a fresh perspective to the UAE’s culinary scene. The restaurant celebrates the philosophy of storied dining, presenting dishes that reflect personal stories and taking diners on a journey of discovery.

One of the key aspects in achieving this kind of culinary experience is the atmosphere created inside the venue. To help with this, Bull & Bear turned to system integrator Em-Tec AV, a firm with a long history and expertise in creating sound systems for a variety of hospitality settings in Dubai and across the region.

When confronted with the opportunity to work in this environment, the Em-Tec team knew that quality would be the key element for every aspect of the project. “Bull & Bear is a beautiful restaurant,” says Em-Tec General Manager, Armand Bulder. “In five-star spaces like this, you need a high-quality signal chain to produce the kind of performance it deserves.”

To meet this aim, Em-Tec designed a solution based around premium quality components. The multi-zone sound system, covering indoor and outdoor spaces, comprises a variety of Funktion-One loudspeakers, powered by Full Fat Audio amplifiers. These are processed by a Symetrix Prism 12×12 programmable IP Digital Signal Processor with simple, front-end control via a Symetrix ARC-3 wall mounted controller.

“The restaurant is split into four zones; an entrance bar, two zones for the L-shaped dining room and an outdoor area,” explains Bulder. “They have live music, DJs and performers who move throughout the restaurant and they wanted to be able to control the space. DIFC can be quite strict for sound regulations and playing live music, so they wanted to be able to turn down different sections if the venue was quieter and have full control of the outdoor space.”

This level of control was achieved with the combination of a Symetrix ARC-3 controller for the front of house staff and an iPad for management. Featuring a contemporary capacitive touch interface, the ARC-3 wall controller provides an intuitive interface for the restaurant’s staff. The crisp OLED display enhances readability and the capacitive fader provides responsive control for fine tuning the sound.

“We’ve used Symetrix on several projects now and they have never let us down,” states Bulder. “We have always had good experiences using them, so it was a great choice to provide the simple control that they wanted.”

Away from the end-user control, the Prism DSP also plays a critical role as the brains of the system. With its full-featured, IP protocol-based DSP engine, 12 mic/line inputs and 12 line outputs, the Prism 12×12 provides a perfect solution for multi-zoned hospitality venues. However, one major advantage that worked particularly well for Bull & Bear was its Dante connectivity.

“The processing was very straightforward and easy, it is essentially a distributed audio design” recalls Henning Boshoff, Account Manager at Em-Tec AV. “One of the challenges that we faced with the project was the desire to move the DJ booth after they had opened. Because we were running the system over Dante, we were able to use the network rather than have to pull a lot of speaker cables to a different position. This made the job a lot quicker and easier. Having the networking and control combined is vital for big installations.”

The end result is a smooth and even sound field that supports the restaurant as it takes its diners on a journey. “We’ve paired the speakers and the zones well so it just flows from the time people walk into the venue all the way through to the back,” explains Boshoff. “The whole venue has equal and even coverage. The combination of Funktion-One, Full Fat Audio and Symetrix ensures that the whole audio chain is perfect.”

While the audio quality has met the highest standards, one of the other key aspects has been the reliability of the audio signal chain. “The restaurant has been very impressed with the installation and the sound that they get,” says Boshoff. “But the reliability has been critical. They have never had an issue with the Symetrix control, and it has been rock-solid for them.”

This view is backed up by the experiences Em-Tec has had using Symetrix control across a variety of installations. “We’ve just found Symetrix equipment so easy to use,” states Bulder. “Alongside that, it’s user friendly and sounds great. Ultimately, that is the main component that you need.”