Beside the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, the Parc Optimiste offers expansive grounds for recreational activities and outdoor sports and also supports the local community in providing a range of events that are now supported by a distributed audio approach utilizing Powersoft components deployed by integrator XYZ Technologies (also in Montreal).
The city’s head of events, Nicolas G. Bouchard, wanted to introduce a permanent approach with the park’s audio that could provide support for all events taking place on the grounds. This was partly inspired by the positive response from local residents to the park’s Halloween 2020 theme, in which lighting and decorations were placed along the park’s walkway. However, the city was unable to provide music to go with the theme, highlighting the need for audio equipment.
(Photo Credit: Mario Leroux)
For the application, Bouchard chose Deva, a multimedia public address and entertainment unit, from Powersoft. Deva works wirelessly, fittted with a class D amplifier amd 8-inch loudspeaker. With IP65-rated weatherproofing and also flame-resistant and salt-water resilient (compliant with the UL 94 standard), it’s specifically designed to protect the internal circuitry from exposure to the elements, with a stated working temperature of -20 to +70 degrees Celsius.
“We needed a reliable product that had the durability to withstand the environment, with the park being next to the river,” says Bouchard. “Powersoft’s Deva, its Audio model more specifically, met all requirements: a robust product with a user-friendly software and the capacity to be both an entertainment system and a public safety one. It’s perfect for any event on the grounds, in appearance, flexibility and in its simplistic control of the system.”
XYZ Technologies used seven Deva units spaced throughout the park, mounted on lamp posts, to maximize coverage. While Deva can be solar powered, XYZ instead uses the power from the streetlamps to drive them. “Digging up the ground around the park to run wires in conduit was just not possible,” Bouchard notes. “It would have been too disruptive. DEVA Audio offered an answer that allowed for minimally invasive installation.”
“It only took us a day to set up all the units,” adds Anaïs Leyral, sales representative at XYZ Technologies. “It was just then a question of setting up the Deva software, which was done in a matter of hours.”
Implemented in January, Deva has proven to be an asset, most recently at the park’s most winter Lueurs Boréale theme. The units were tasked with playing classical music from Quebec musicians while illuminated displays presented poems from four Quebec poets, which accompanied a northern light-inspired visual spectacle that took place along the winter trail around the Parc Optimiste’s grounds.
“We’ve had very positive feedback from the customer,” Leyral concludes. “The software has been praised for being extremely simple to use. Overall, we’re really pleased with the installation. The Deva units were easy to configure and install and offer exactly what was required.”
Photo Credit: Mario Leroux
