The Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Washington, was designed as a multi-purpose facility – in addition to serving as the home to the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League and having recently become home to the Spokane Empire of the Indoor Football League, it has hosted numerous top-tier concerts with seating is expanded to more than 12,000.
But the necessity of covering so many bases was proving difficult with the aging audio networking system it had in place, so the audio system has been transformed with the installation of RedNet components from Focusrite. The arena’s audio tech team, including Tech Specialists Monte Koch and Mike Sackville-West, were early adopters of networked audio, and the move to a Dante-enabled system, including Focusrite components, was a natural fit.
A/V systems integrator Second Wind Productions sold and integrated five RedNet 1 eight channel AD/DA interfaces, one RedNet 2 16-channel AD/DA interface, seven RedNet MP8R eight-channel remote-controlled mic preamps, and one RedNet D64R Madi Bridge into a digital audio networking ecosystem. The RedNet 1 and RedNet 2 units act as I/Os for all rackmounted audio systems in the arena, including audio from the instant replay and video-clip playback systems in the A/V control room. These feed the large video displays in the venue. The RedNet MP8R is the gateway to the facility’s Dante audio-over-IP network; the RedNet D64R provides the link between a Dante Ethernet-based audio system and any Madi/AES10 setup, such as the Meyer Sound Galileo DSP used for the PA system.
Second Wind Productions owner of Robert Duven believes that the RedNet components were the best choice for a facility that pursues technical excellence: ‘They met several key criteria,’ he explains. ‘First, they offered Dante-enabled endpoints with exceptional audio quality. Next was the availability of excellent engineering and tech support, both in the design phase and long-term for the client. And finally, it was equipment that would adapt easily as direct replacements for existing input/output devices.
‘Spokane Arena’s audio team of Monte and Mike have always embraced the philosophy of updating and upgrading the facility,’ he adds. ‘By employing proven new technologies, and as early users of networked audio systems, they realised the advantages of migrating to the Dante standard.’
The Arena had used networked audio before, but in some respects it had fallen short of expectations: ‘The previous audio networking system worked, but to get customer service for problem resolution we had to call France,’ explains Koch, who contrasts that with the RedNet experience, noting that the system was assembled and up and running in less than a day, with customer service that is always just a quick phone call away, regardless of time zones.
‘RedNet was our path to a Dante network,’ says Sackville-West. ‘It was time to make that jump to Dante, and now we can put a standard network switch anywhere and we’re ready to go.’
Sackville-West also likes the fact that he and Koch (both grounded in audio) were able to move onto a network easily, and get audio from anywhere they needed via the arena’s audio VLAN: ‘We have RedNet to thank for that,’ he says. And for a new level of reliability, with Ethernet and power supply redundancy through RedNet. ‘This was really a leap into the future,’ he says. ‘And that’s where RedNet is going to keep taking us.’
More: www.focusrite.com
