The 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships recently presented Swedish production company DAT AB and Ljudteknik AB one of their most challenging tasks

The sound system requirements had grown considerably in the 22 years since the event was last held at the site in Falun, with 320,000 people attending – around 35,000 per day –placing heavy demands on the sound company. Various companies were involved, but DAT AB, working with Ljudteknik AB’s Bengt Norling, faced the greatest challenge with the arena itself, including the Big Jump and Cross Country events, and competitors’ relaxation and training areas.

Powersoft K3 and K20 AES DSP amplifiers were extensivelt used by DAT AB, while Ljudteknik fielded their own K3s. According to Powersoft regional account manager, Karl Kahlau, the K-Series are ‘a true work-horse in amplification: ‘They are extremely powerful yet compact and lightweight, and because they come in three different hardware platforms they can be adjusted between six power sizes using a simple step-up procedure. They are the ultimate flexible tool for any event-company looking to optimise its amplifier inventory along with the investment of it. No other amplifier manufacturer offers this kind of flexibility. We thank the team at DAT AB for their great work at this fantastic event using our amplifiers.

DAT Project Manager Robert Nilsson believes that other amplifiers he had considered using in advance of the event failed to pass the test: ‘So we decided to go for Powersoft AES DSP.’

Although the loudspeakers couldn’t be mounted until 8pm the night before first race, the system was up and running three hours before the start with the presets in all the Powersoft amplifiers loaded into the proprietary Armonía software. ‘We then decided on a small adjustment, creating a new preset which we were able to run via computer to all the Powersoft amps. This resulted in an excellent sound and we were able to make further adjustments throughout the event. Armonía helped us tremendously in saving time and optimising the system.’

Nilsson has been working with Powersoft products since 2011 when he handled the sound installation at Stockholm Stadium (the former Olympia Stadium) with 22 K3s and a K6 AES DSP amlifierp. For the event in Falun he says he received great support from Matte Matsson at Benum, Powersoft’s newly appointed Swedish distributor.

‘It would have been easy to build a giant line array tower and shoot all over the area but instead we chose a distributed system to work more closely with the broadcasters (SVT) and create better sightlines for the cameras and closer sound control in each zone,’ he says. ‘We managed to cover around 75 per cent of the track, mainly designing and manufacturing around 50 custom made loudspeakers – all equipped with 18 Sound components – along with column speakers for the stand to avoid obstructing the sight lines and  low-profile subs concealed below the stands.’

Renkus-Heinz CT and PN series speakers were located around the track, while a Nexo line array was used at the end of the Big Jump area, and for five positions at the track. Clio was used for impedance measurement and Easera Pro for time and frequency analysis. ‘Since we used a distributed system, all the amplifiers were placed along the track,’ Nilsson continues. ‘There were two control rooms – one for the cross country raced, placed near the finish line and a control room for Big Jump at the end of the breaking area.’

In addition, 20 wireless systems served the speakers at the racing track and in total around 22-28 channels in each control room from where six channels of clean feed were sent to SVT – the music in stereo and voice announcements summed to mono.

All of which was a far cry since the finals in 1993: ‘Back then we provided the first full-range system ever for a ski event in Europe. Now Big Jump and Cross Country have their own internal OB teams, broadcasting on big screens around the stadium and they are also linked together so we can transmit sound and video between each other from either location.’

This was partially due to the Powersoft ‘engine room’, which reached around 105dB at the public stage. ‘These amplifiers are trustworthy and reliable – the weight and rack space are impressive and they have tremendous power. It is also a flexible amplifier, unlike those dedicated to specific speakers.’

The result, Nilsson says, was an extremely satisfied customer – and equally satisfied audience: ‘SVT were also more than happy. We have now shown for sure that we can manage events of this size in a trustworthy fashion.’