A major audio upgrade at the Brussels HQ of Belgium’s largest telecommunications provider has seen an ageing in-house mixing system in the auditorium replaced with a 64-channel, 42-bus Allen & Heath Avantis mixing system with a 96kHz FPGA core, and a comprehensive range of I/O options by Brussels-based pro-audio distributor XLR.

Able to accommodate high-end presentations, press conferences and live streams, Proximus had been ambitions in specifying a powerful and reliable system capable of handling multiple types of audio sources (both on-site and from OB trucks). With a pair of 128-channel digital I/O ports available on the mixer, a Dante I/O card was chosen by XLR for the first port to enable integration into the building’s Dante network. This also allowed XLR and Proximus to tap into Allen & Heath’s Everything I/O ecosystem of remote audio expanders, which includes Dante options.

Two DT168 Dante audio expanders, connected via pair of Cisco Catalyst switches, were installed in the main rack for interfacing with wireless microphones, lectern mics, and analogue audio sources. Additionally, a DT164-W Dante audio expander was installed in an onstage floor pocket to accommodate floor inputs/outputs, plus a further DT164-W at the rear of the room for press I/O. All video sources have their audio streams fed into the system via Dante, using the Analog Way Aquilon display management system.

For the second I/O port, a 128-channel SuperMadi card was chosen to support connection to OB trucks, with both BNC and SFP connectivity on offer for maximum flexibility.

Despite not having used Avantis before, the Proximus’ team were able to quickly set up a comprehensive routing scheme, using the 42 configurable mix busses on offer to meet their complex routing requirements. Things went sufficiently well that the system was programmed and ready for showtime in under three days from unpacking.

‘The Allen & Heath Avantis and its paired expanders are the ideal choice for our upgrade of the mixing facilities and auditoria,’ says Proximus Senior Engineer and Audio-Visual Project Manager, Marc Bauwens. ‘It produces great audio quality, has an easy-to-use interface with easy recall of all parameters, great expansion capabilities, custom console layouts, and provides all this in a fast workflow. Allen & Heath and XLR, our local distributor, provided us with great assistance throughout the whole build and integration process.’