Powersoft Dynamic Music Distribution (DMD) plays the key role in versatile, user-friendly audio system providing the soundtrack at Matches Sports Bar, Grill & Social, a new sports and entertainment destination in Ashford, England, about 60 miles south of London.
With Dynamic Music Distribution, system integrators have the ability to scale inputs and zones efficiently with dynamic routing capabilities embedded on its amplifier platforms. The technology is designed to make it more simple to dynamically route music and other signal sources along with control signals between different zones and across multiple amplifiers – all independently of source location and without the need for a centralized DSP.
Two Mezzo 604 AD four-channel, 600-watt compact amplifiers are providing the audio power to zones throughout the entirety of the 250-capacity venue. Tucked behind a counter, a single 4.3-inch wall-mounted Powersoft WM Touch screen delivers control of the DMD system, including Mezzo’s embedded dynamic routing capabilities.
“By using Powersoft’s Dynamic Music Distribution solution, we were able to keep our design simple all the way through, from designing the project to handing it over to the client,” explains Ashley Bond, managing director of system designer and installer MADE Worldwide. “The client is then left with a powerful start-to-finish solution from a single industry leading manufacturer, providing them with a safe and secure audio system that’s really going to push through.”
Matches owner Jon Shephard says the concept for the venue is to combine “all the best bits of the bars I’ve been to throughout my life, all into one place.” With a single four-channel Mezzo amplifier now able to drive up to four independent zones of audio due to the new ArmoníaPlus 2.2 software release, DMD is well suited to bring to life Shephard’s vision for the venue, with a “tailored sound experience in each individual area,” he explains. “For example, we have three semi-private self-pour beer areas. In those areas, whilst customers want to be able to hear the experience, the volume still allows them to have a conversation with others across the table. We also have other semi-private areas, such as the snug area and in the private room, where customers are all-encapsulated in high-quality, 3D surround sound.
“In the main bar area, we wanted a system where customers could really feel like they’re in the stadium watching the match live. However, once that match is finished and we turn the [TV] sound off, we want to get the music pumping – to turn it up loud and have no loss in quality with regards to the audio. And believe me, if you come here on a Friday and Saturday night, you’ll definitely experience that.”
The two Mezzo amplifiers are responsible for managing the audio throughout Matches, including in the corridor and washrooms. Powersoft’s UK distributor, CUK Audio, supplied MADE with the Mezzo units and WM Touch, as well as the AUDAC loudspeakers (ATEO wall-mounted speakers, CIRA ceiling speakers, and BASO10 and NOBA8 subwoofers) the amplifiers power. Its installed AV channel manager, Steve Barton, says multiple output options like those on the Mezzo 604 AD were essential for a venue like Matches, where a single amplifier is able to power both Lo- and Hi-Z loudspeakers.
“DMD was key here,” comments Barton, “because it provides a really cost-effective and stylish way of routing audio around venues like this. Here, we need small amounts of power going to smaller zones, like the toilets or corridors, and a large amount of power to provide high-quality, pumping audio to get the atmosphere going in the bar area. This is where the Mezzo amplifier running the Dynamic Music Distribution system really shines.
“The Powersoft amps have up to four channels running 600 watts, with full Power Sharing across all the channels. And the key here is that they can do low impedance and a 100-volt line on the same amplifier, all using the integral DSP – in a half RU space, so you can fit a heck of a lot of processing power in a really, really tiny space.”
Despite its high spec, the Powersoft system is competitively priced, so recommending it to MADE for the Matches project was very straightforward, continues Barton. “Dynamic Music Distribution is very easy to justify to integration partners and end users because it offers supreme flexibility while being really cost effective,” he explains. “When you look, in terms of money and size, how much power, processing capabilities and content you’re getting out of it, it’s a no-brainer.”
Shephard says he is “delighted with the AV system we have in Matches”, which made its public debut ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020 football championship earlier this summer. “The WM Touch system is super user-friendly – we have a control panel behind the bar, which any of our staff can log on to and be able to change the audio in a couple of clicks. Plus, the training [from MADE] only took a minimal amount of time – no more than half an hour – because it’s so simple to use.”
“The system is basically automated as far as it can be, and that’s based on the fact that we used the Dynamic Music Distribution system by Powersoft. It’s made our lives easier because we know that the customer benefits from a user-friendly system.”
The MADE team is already speccing an almost identical system for several upcoming projects. “That’s off the back of how strongly it’s performed at Matches,” Bond continues. “It’s definitely become our go-to solution for hospitality projects – so much so that we even hold stock of it just to have it when we need it.”
