AV Case Study: Zinc at Fed Square

Text:/ Christopher Holder

ACOUSTIC CAMPAIGN

Prior to the refit, the Zinc space had fundamental acoustic issues. Audio intelligibility quickly became a no-win arms race once 500+ guests filled the space with chatter. The venue has now gone a long way towards making Zinc more conducive to better quality sound reinforcement with the addition of sound absorbing panels on the side walls and thick drapes on the side walls and behind the stage. The ceiling baffles/diffusers were part of the original fitout, but prior to the upgrade didn’t contribute much that was useful. The venue has since applied a ‘sound absorbing paint’ to the baffles – presumably making some kind of difference in tamping down higher-frequency zing, at least – while the baffles’ diffusion qualities can now be more appreciated. Finally, the venue purchased new carpet. It all helps.

The audio upgrade is centred around a new dBTechnologies-based loudspeaker system. It’s a fully distributed design, with 6 x VIO X206 full-range cabs ranged across the width of the room complemented by additional dBTechnologies IS5T fill speakers. Nick Ellul describes the rationale:

“We wanted a system that looks streamlined, could sit close to the ceiling, and still delivers enough power for corporate events and bands. We demoed the X206 and were impressed with its punch and compact design.”

NOT A PA IN SIGHT

Keeping sight lines clear may have initially pushed Austage Events in the direction of the slimline VIO X206 but the resulting distributed audio design has other advantages over a more traditional L/R line array hang. First up, coverage of the wide events space is more even thanks to the spaced X206, while flexibility is increased:

“Like most installations of this type, Q-SYS provides the back-end processing,” continues Austage Events Production Manager, Jeremy Kirk. “We did the programming and optimisation in-house at Austage and it’s a dream to use – one-button reconfiguring of the space. With the dBTechnologies X206 installed this way we can easily accommodate different room configurations, including giving the dancefloor more energy if required.”

Oh, and it sounds great. Combined with 4 x Sub 915s from dBTechnologies, there’s plenty of full-range energy to match the clarity, meaning the spoken-word lectern event is as catered for as the party-starter covers bands. As Jeremy Kirk puts it:

“It’s not the PA most events bands expect to see but they’re more than reassured when we run the PA up and they hear a virtual soundcheck in the space.”

RESET & FORGET

Prior to the refit there would almost always be a scissor lift on the floor between events.  Often, as one event’s guests are grabbing their coats, the scissor lift would be rolled in to help reconfigure the space for the next event. That’s no longer the case: “Perhaps every four weeks the scissor lift will come out so we can take care of routine maintenance tasks,” observes Jeremy Kirk.

Replacing the old par cans with a lighting inventory entirely comprised of moving heads from Martin and Clay Paky has certainly contributed – manually focussing lights between events is a thing of the past.

Having a PA capable of catering to almost every eventuality has also played a role in minimising time taken to reset the space.

Keeping casual contractor hours to a bare minimum keeps overheads lower and rates reasonable. As mentioned, the Q-SYS backbone makes life easier in this regard. Got a lectern event that doesn’t need the stage fill? Easy, that’s simply a press of a button in Q-SYS.

All the media transport is via AV-over-IP, again ensuring any resetting of the space is straightforward. Need to move the dBTechnologies subs around? Easy, pop an AVIO adapter into one of the ethernet ports, plug in the sub and you’re most of the way there.

The tech refit included all-new streaming, audio and lighting systems.

FROM A TO ZINC

The venue’s demands were clear: they didn’t want to see conventional loudspeaker stacks or hangs and they wanted great coverage and clarity. “We’ve now got that and the venue is delighted,” confirmed Nick Ellul. “They love that the PA is low profile and we don’t need to bring in additional loudspeakers for events. No more PA boxes on tripods. Now, the coverage is much more complete, which is especially important for conferences where clarity is crucial.

“As GM of Austage Events I’m happy we’re not bearing the cost of extra labour, moving equipment around between events – it saves a lot of time and money.

“Regular Zinc clients are loving it as well. You always know you’re doing something right when guests with no AV knowledge or audio vocabulary feel like they need to thank you for a great event. That’s a good feeling.”

Austage Events: austageevents.com.au
NAS (dBTechnologies): nas.solutions