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Symetrix brings Dante DSP to US Pavilion at Expo Milano

The US Pavilion at Expo Milano includes a complex multi-zone audio design using four SymNet Radius Dante-scalable DSPs selected by consultants SH Acoustics and exhibition design firm Thinc Design.

Expo Milano started on 1 May and runs until 31 October 2015, with this year’s fair centred around the theme of ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’. The purpose of the event is to stimulate discussion about sustainable developments among the 140-plus participating nations. The US is contributing a two-floor presentation, spread over 26,000sqft, that explores its role in global food production and the evolution of its own contemporary food culture.

“Not only did we have to eliminate unwanted noise from building systems like HVAC and address any other acoustic anomalies, there was a need to accommodate the changing plans for audio content, be it narration, ambient sound or background music, as the Pavilion took shape,” explained Steve Haas, president and principal consultant of SH Acoustics.

Haas worked with installation teams from Habegger and Simmetrico, and the audio processing solution specified needed to be capable of managing changes quickly as well as a total channel count that ran into the hundreds. The DSP also needed to be compatible with SH Acoustics’ plan for a comprehensive, site-wide Dante media network operating from ‘source to amplifier’.

The firm chose four SymNet Radius AEC open architecture Dante-scalable DSPs. “We know how to get what we want from the SymNet Composer programming software, and are well aware of the reliability of the Symetrix hardware,” said Haas. “And for this project, the SymNet Radius DSPs afforded us a remarkable level of routing capability for example, we needed to be able to use ceiling speakers for multiple programmes as well as ambient sound at different times, and this was easily achieved.”

Also on the equipment list were customised ceiling speakers from Innovox Audio alongside JBL Control and Tannoy VX speakers, and amplifiers from Stewart Audio and Yamaha.

Haas added: “Milan isn’t exactly in our backyard, so we knew we needed an installation that would minimise the requirement for external support once it was up-and-running. As the core of the audio set-up, we knew that Symetrix’ SymNet Radius DSP could give us the reliability we needed, and that has proven to be the case.”

Symetrix audio routing

SH Acoustics

Thinc Design