Symetrix calls the tunes at the Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne – the southern hemisphere’s largest shopping centre. With over 500 stores, the Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne, Australia is the largest shopping center in the southern hemisphere. Chadstone’s owners hired Corporate Initiatives of Nunawading, Victoria to install a massive video wall and sound system. The video wall would run advertisements for select stores in the shopping center, and the owners wanted audio support to make the advertisements as compelling as possible. However, the sound had to be focused. It had to be vibrant and punchy right in front of the video wall but it couldn’t interfere with the ambience of the nearby stores. Corporate Initiatives designed and installed a sound reinforcement system centred on a Symetrix SymNet Radius 12×8 Dante network audio DSP. The video wall is an NEC 6mm Pixel Pitch LED array. Videro Digital Signage provides content via a redundant pair of MAC Video Playback devices, each with Dante Virtual Soundcards. Because the Symetrix SymNet Radius 12×8 has two Gigabit Switch ports, both playback devices are connected to the system via the Dante network, and the backup is always on standby. Additional analogue inputs include two Shure wireless microphones and a flexible XLR input plate for use at events in the large public space in front of the video wall. Robust automatic gain control is a critical component in the success of the installation. The volume of foot traffic – and hence the volume of background noise – varies tremendously depending on the day and time. An appropriate volume on a Wednesday morning would be completely drowned out on a Saturday afternoon, and an appropriate volume on a Saturday afternoon would be overwhelming on a Wednesday morning. Two ambient noise-sensing microphones complete the input count, to provide information to the Radius 12x8s automatic gain control algorithm. Two dual-channel Powersoft K2 DSP+AESOP amplifiers provide power to a pair of EAW QX full-range loudspeakers. Because the system runs ten hours a day, seven days a week on average, the K2’s power factor correction maximizes the system’s efficiency by drawing only as much power as is needed. The QXs provide precise directivity so as to keep energy focused on potential viewers and away from the nearby shops. An AMX Netlinx Processor and user interface allows intuitive source selection and volume control. www.symetrix.co
