Convergent Technologies Design Group has completed the design of an outdoor sound system in the open quad area of the new East Carolina University Student Union campus with loudspeakers from Community Professional.
Founded in 1907 in Greenville, North Carolina, East Carolina University is a public doctoral/research university. With over 5,500 academic and administrative staff and around 30,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in North Carolina.
The new 214,000 square-foot Student Union is the largest construction project on the main campus since the Science and Technology Building opened in 2001. It will house the Dowdy Student Store, five dining options, student government and trustee office spaces, meeting rooms, a theater and a large ballroom. The facility also features a five level, 724 space parking deck and a new 6,500 square foot regional energy plant.
At the center of the new campus is a large outdoor quadrangle with a 42-foot wide all-weather video screen. Bill Holaday, principal of Convergent Technologies Design Group, explains, “We were part of the architectural team that designed the entire building, including all of the interior and exterior audiovisual systems. The exterior video wall presented an audio challenge, requiring a solution capable of covering a large area while being mounted at a single, fixed location. After modeling and analyzing several different approaches, our evaluation concluded that Community’s R SERIES and I SERIES would deliver the optimum solution, providing the best combination of uniform audio coverage, all-weather reliability, and trusted support from the manufacturer.”
The system designed by Convergent Technologies Design Group comprised three R2-66MAX dual 12-inch three-way loudspeakers and two IS8-218WR dual 18-inch subwoofers, installed above the video screen. In addition, two MX10 stage 10-inch compact coaxial two-way monitors and four V2-1264 12-inch full-range two-way loudspeakers were included as portable equipment for flexible setups.
Brian Whitlock, lead designer and project manager, comments, “The system is planned to be used for multiple applications and events, including movie night, overflow from the blackbox theater, campus gatherings and presentations, and viewing of game-day away sporting events, so both high intelligibility speech and powerful, full-range, music quality were essential. The R2 loudspeakers have a well-defined dispersion pattern that allowed us to direct the sound to the audience and avoid reflections from surrounding buildings.”
DSP is provided by QSC’s Q-SYS I/O Frame, with QSC CXD amplifiers driving the Community loudspeakers. The system is controlled by a Yamaha CL-5 digital mixing console, with Shure microphones maintaining the quality designed into the system.
Holaday concludes, “It’s an impressive screen with impressive sound to match. The coverage, sound levels and audio quality of the Community loudspeakers is outstanding.”
