The system’s intuitive operation was equally important in training technical personnel.
“We wanted to design a system that would be as unique as they needed it to be, but at the same time be intuitive, familiar to operate, and industry standard,” Shulman continues.
“The commonality between the VENUE systems, the ICON, and Pro Tools means that once someone has been trained on any of the systems, it’s easy for them to adapt to any other system in the building—especially as many of the users were coming from Avid live and recording systems in the previous facility.”
“And by using preconfigured snapshots or sessions, the staff can quickly adapt to one of several typical scenarios on each individual system, rather than having to continually reinvent the wheel.”
The system is tied together using 80 channels of Jensen transformer-isolated, four-way splitters; over 30 TT, fiber optic, Ethernet, and coaxial patchbays in a centralized Technical Operations Center; and more than 32 field panels.
“This enables each channel to be routed discretely,” Shulman explains, “to the VENUE consoles at front of house or monitor positions, the main Pro Tools|HD system, or a spare split reserved for remote recording trucks and future expansion.”
Analog, AES/EBU, fiber optic, coaxial, and Cat 6 cabling connects to a series of custom-made Whirlwind field panels throughout the building.
“We’ve essentially created three systems that can operate discretely or be tied together using the centralized patchbay system” says Shulman. “This way the Pro Tools system in the media room is unaffected by any changes made at the front-of-house console and vice-versa.”
The main house PA system comprises three arrays of Outline Butterfly loudspeakers (42 total), with six delay arrays of six Outline Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. loudspeakers each, and 11 MICRA II SP loudspeakers for the front fill.
Low-frequency reinforcement is provided by 10 Outline SUBTECH 218 SP subwoofers under the specially-built cantilevered stage lip, and 12 Outline 1815 cardioid subs are suspended with the delay system—two subwoofers per array through a custom-designed rigging bar.
The stage is equipped with Shure UR4D wireless microphone systems and Sennheiser EW 800 in-ear monitoring systems.
In its first few weeks of operation, the new facility has already met with high praise from staff and congregants alike.
“The ability to quickly reconfigure the system to meet their different needs on any given day has already streamlined their operations and made life easier for everyone,” says Shulman.