Powersoft Quattrocanali DSP+D Dante-compatible power amplifiers are central to a comprehensive sound system upgrade completed recently at American Family Field in Milwaukee, the 41,900-seat home of the Brewers franchise of Major League Baseball that originally opened in 2001.
The stadium, formerly known as Miller Park, is also a concert venue, having in recent years hosted shows by artists including Pink, Ed Sheeran, Billy Joel and Kenny Chesney.
The Powersoft amplifiers, comprising Quattrocanali 1204 DSP+D, 2404 DSP+D, 4804 DSP+D and 8804 DSP+D – which offer four channels of output at 1,200W, 2,400W, 4,800W and 9,600W of power, respectively – form work with a loudspeaker, amplifier and control-system upgrade overseen by integration firm Diversified, which has offices around the U.S. as well as in London, Tokyo, Bangalore and Australia.
Diversified’s brief for American Family Field, explains Jeff Dykhouse, senior design engineer, sports & live events, was to replace an “aging, voice-focused” system with a “modern, high-performance system offering high-resolution, full-range music and voice to every seat in the venue.”
Audio consultancy WJHW handled the design with Diversified suggesting “some substitutions and improvements” that led to the final layout, adds Dykhouse, who served as the engineer of record for the project. Specifically, the system incorporates 67 Quattrocanali amplifiers – 2 x 1204 DSP+D, 1 x 2404 DSP+D, 24 x 4804 DSP+D and 40 x 8804 DSP+D – to drive loudspeakers from Fulcrum Acoustic (FH, GX and CX series) and Community (R.15 and R.35), all managed by the Q-SYS platform
The Quattrocanali units are installed in three amplifier rooms located near the stadium’s first base, home plate and third base seating zones. They were set up using Powersoft ArmoníaPlus software and are controlled using the Powersoft plugin for Q-SYS. Diversified also employed ArmoníaPlus to configure and tune the entire seating bowl system.
According to Dykhouse, Diversified chose Quattrocanali DSP+D amplifiers for the high power and digital connectivity, with all Powersoft DSP+D models are able to receive audio-over-IP steams via Dante/AES67 – as well as their quick start-up in the event of power failure.
He also points to the support offered by the Powersoft U.S. team on the project, in particular that provided by senior sales engineer Rick Woida, who helped Diversified configure the new system. “Rick Woida from Powersoft USA engaged Powersoft’s software team to make changes to the Q-SYS plugin that were needed for the visual user interface deployed at the venue. We couldn’t be happier with how helpful they were,” he notes.
