Super Bowl LVI, held recently at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, once again saw ATK Audiotek, a Clair Global company and the long-time sound provider for the event, deploying an all-digital signal path incorporating an extensive Dante networking infrastructure utilizing components from the Focusrite RedNet range of audio converters and interfaces.
“For the past seven Super Bowls, we’ve employed RedNet with our Dante Audio-over IP network,” states Kirk Powell, engineer-in-charge for ATK/Clair at Super Bowl LVI. “We started using RedNet years ago on a small scale, and then it’s just grown and grown year after year. This year was just over the top, because we have to feed signal to so many different entities throughout the stadium, not to mention that we were being fed signal as well, so we’ve got to have connectivity back and forth.
“It’s all about having strategically placed nodes so you can jump into and out of the RedNet system,” he continues. “We have a huge fiber backbone. We used mostly the SoFi Stadium’s fiber, which is very nice because that’s one of the big advantages of this venue. This new facility has tons and tons of dark fiber, so we’re able to utilize the building infrastructure as opposed to running all of our own fiber. And RedNet is the key component that gives us that interconnectivity and flexibility.”
The system included 16 RedNet D16R 16-channel AES3 I/O’s; 25 RedNet A16R 16-channel analog I/O interfaces, 17 RedNet D64R 64-channel MADI bridges, eight RedNet MP8R remote-controlled mic preamps, and six RedNet AM2 stereo audio monitoring units. The system also utilizing four DiGiCo SD5 digital consoles (two at front of house and two at monitor mix positions), 14 ATK PA carts that each held six JBL VTX A12 line array elements, four JBL VTX S28 subwoofers and four M-Force subwoofers.
“The flexibility we have with RedNet is a game-changer,” says Powell. “We’re able to send any signal anywhere in the building; so, for example, if we need a microphone at a particular location, we just plug it into the network, and through RedNet it’s there.”
RedNet A16R and RedNet D16R interfaces were used to connect digital and analog sources and feeds to and from the network. RedNet D64R MADI bridges were deployed for connecting signals to and from the various digital audio consoles in the system, and for connections between production groups. The RedNet MP8R’s remote-controlled mic preamps were employed for audience reaction microphones, while the RedNet AM2s were used throughout the venue by various engineers to monitor their audio signals.
Clock management during the Super Bowl is also key to the audio production. The RedNet D64R blends a high channel count with the ability to convert sample rates between disparate audio systems on a multitrack scale, providing inter-system audio transfer and sharing without a common master reference clock. While FOH and stage monitors could share a clock, Powell explains, “The production tracks are on a different clock, because they’re not used all day long. The D64R allows me to break the clock between my system and the production tracks because they’re done after halftime. They start to pack up, and I don’t want to be on their clock and have them shut down.”
Focusrite
ATK Audiotek
