Immersive Sound Upgrade for Neushoorn
Newshoorn’s kept up to date with modern performance technology in this exciting new evolutionary upgrade…
Opened in 2015 in a former 1960s building that was once part of the local motor industry and latterly a nightclub, Neushoorn was designed with the local Leeuwarden people in mind. The multi-faceted music venue has a suite of rehearsal rooms and studios, multiple live spaces including a bar, a cafe and two performance halls. The venue has close ties with local vocational college, Firda, which offers courses in both creative and technical areas of the arts – music, drama and theatre.
Ten years on, and audio technology has evolved. With the rising popularity of object-oriented surround sound systems, and the methods to implement it becoming ever more powerful, the forward-thinking technical staff at Neushoorn embarked on a mission to similarly advance the capabilities of the venue. They approached MoreAV, who installed the original system, to facilitate the substantial upgrade.
Previously, the 750-capacity concert hall at the venue had been home to a Funktion One speaker system, complete with FFA Amplification and NST processing (in the FFA G3 amps).
The brief was to keep this system and upgrade its potential to a full immersive system, using additional Funktion One speakers, and of course, a spatial processor. Twelve new PSM15 loudspeakers have been added to the existing system – five flown above the stage for the dancefloor, three above those for the balcony, and two down each side of the room.
Some of the new PSM15s flown above the main stage.*
MoreAV’s Ted Beets takes up the story for us:
“I helped design the system. Many discussions were had about the best loudspeaker deployment and when that was finalised I had to make it work. It was one of the most complicated systems I’ve ever done. Many processing channels, many amp channels, all NST and FFA.”
The spatial processing is undertaken in the immense Holophonix Ultra processor, capable of up to 128 IO channels (in its standard form) and works exclusively with Dante.
Impressive, immersive processing via the Holophonix Ultra engine.
With multiple extra channels of analogue outputs now required, MoreAV used a VMO16 to add these easily to the Holophonix system with a DM88 as the system management front end.
The NST Audio DM88 System Processor
Ted Continues: “[With a requirement for] redundant Dante networks, analogue backup, I insisted on using a DM88 as the universal translator for the system.”
A major upgrade to the audio capabilities of the main hall with the new racks show left and right.**
The system has to be able to cater for ‘normal’ stereo, as well as multichannel immersive sound, and using a DM88 as the system manager and processor for the “main” system, as well as handling a variety of input sources makes it perfect for this complex application.
Ted has found multiple uses for the DM88s conversion capabilities as well as it being able to concurrently handle the speaker processing and protection for the original main system.
“In ‘normal mode’ a desk sends AES3 to the DM88 over one of the inputs. I love the DM88 because maybe the opener is AES and the main act can have a separate AES line, or analogue, whatever they feel like, and the big original system is fed Dante from the DM88. Some extra analogue outputs are handled by the DM88 and we are also working on making analogue desks able to feed the Holophonix processor over Dante via the DM88’s analogue inputs.”
Tower of power 1: DM88 System Processor in the rack with the Holophonix and new surround drive.**
When switching into ‘immersive’ mode, this is handled seamlessly via the DM88, and this is also where the additional VMO16 comes into play.
Tower of power 2: speaker management (VMO16) and amplification (courtesy of FFA) for the new system additions.**
“If they go immersive all channels are fed from the Holophonix processor. I believe the Holophonix is at a 36 channel output count, that is just speaker positions so that will be split 2 or 3 way depending on the speaker in question. I maxxed out the Dante inputs on the G3 amps and VMO in the Holophonix design. They can have for example the opener on the normal rig via AES on the DM88 and then seamlessly go immersive for the main act. It’s pretty cool.”
Left to right: Will Wright from Funktion-One,
Remco van der Werff from More AV, Neushoorn’s Head
of Technical Michiel Cornelisse, Ted Beets from More AV,
and Francesco Papaleo of HOLOPHONIX.*
Remco van der Werff, founder of More AV, is very aware of the significance of this high performance upgrade, having been there at the start of the venue’s journey back in 2015.
Longer shot of the stage in Neushoorn’s main performance hall.*
“This is a special project, both for Neushoorn and for us. We were proud when we installed the system in the hall 11 years ago when it first opened, and it is inspiring to now take that experience to the next level. Neushoorn’s passion to offer its audience something extraordinary makes this collaboration a real pleasure.”
Main stage in the 750 capacity main concert hall at Neushoorn.*
*photo credit to Mondo DR
*photo credit to Remco van der Werff