AV Technology - March 2008 - (Page 48)

casestudy education AFC SPEAKERS AFC MICROPHONES UPPER LEVEL AFC PLAN SCALE: 1/8” = 1” Four microphones and 32 loudspeakers are suspended from their auditorium ceiling at the locations shown in this layout. a pianist and a string quartet in a room equipped with loudspeakers in the ceiling. If he closed his eyes, he could have sworn he was standing in a 600-seat auditorium, rather than a 30-foot by 20-foot room. “You could stand directly under the loudspeakers and not know they’re there,” he says. “You feel like you’re in a much larger room, and you would feel that the room couldn’t possibly do what you were listening to.” He got the same feeling when he installed the AFC system at both Victor High School and Vestal High School, another New York state public school some 150 miles to the south of Victor, which was the first AFC installation in the United States. Victor staff members visited with music instructors at Vestal, and after being impressed with the variable acoustics of their auditorium, they decided to follow in the school’s footsteps. At Victor High School, four AudioTechnica microphones are ceiling mounted and connected to the AFC processors, which then distributes signals to 32 independent speakers that go all the way to the back of the room. The sound system and amplifiers for the AFC system are totally independent from the auditorium’s main sound reinforcement system. Although the loudspeakers are installed in the ceiling, the effect of the system creates the 48 | AVTECHNOLOGY | march 2008 illusion that the sound is coming from the side walls. This gives the listener a sense of the room’s size and creates the excitement of “live” music. Waltz compares the acoustical trick to surround sound in a living room. “When you’re listening to a band, you want the energy to come in from the side walls,” he says. “With this system, you can program the energy to come in from places where the loudspeakers aren’t actually located, and people can tune it based on the room parameters.” Due to the system, there is not a bad seat in the house. “Before, there was very little acoustic enhancement, and what you heard was cominglive from the stage,” Rubenstein says. “One of the unique features of this system is that it doesn’t matter where you sit or how far you are from the stage because you’ll hear everything the same way.” CHANGING SETTINGS To get the system up and running, Yamaha flew in experts from Japan to the high school in Victor as a customary practice when installing the system. Yamaha engineers calibrated the room, measured decibel levels, and designed the system with four presets — orchestra, ensemble, chorus, and normal. Once the presets had been set up, users can change the auditorium’s acoustics by simply pressing a few buttons on one of the two touchscreens located in the back of the house or backstage. To make it even more user-friendly, Yamaha set up the system with a manual and automated setting. For example, a group can select the automated setting if they’re going to have a short meeting in the auditorium. Or, for a musical performance, a trained staff member can manually select the most appropriate preset for the event. Over the last few years, the technology has also become more affordable. Five or six years ago, similar technologies cost about half a million dollars, and a high school typically could not afford this type of system, Waltz says. Today, however, the system is a viable option. At Victor High School, the AFC system and theater lighting came in below budget. “You can provide a high school with professional level capability without breaking the bank,” Waltz says. Amy Fischbach is an Overland Park, KS-based freelance writer and editor. She has nine years of professional experience as a journalist and serves as the national vice president of the American Society of Business Publication Editors. She can be reached at amyfischbach@gmail.com. www.avtechnologyonline.com INFO YAMAHA: www.yamaha-afc.com AUDIO-TECHNICA: www.atus.com http://www.yamaha-afc.com http://www.atus.com http://www.avtechnologyonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AV Technology - March 2008

AV Technology - March 2008 Contents Precedent Corporate: Whose Job Is It Anyway? Education: There’s No Business Like Show Business Government: Technology and the New World Order Buying a Videoconference System They Will Actually Use AV After Hours The Sound of HD Conferencing Assembling the Design Team Concert Hall Acoustics on a High School Budget Audio Architecture Keeping a Watchful Eye Product Spotlight Tech Horizons Product Review New Products AV MO

AV Technology - March 2008

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