AUSTIN,
Texas — It’s enough to set any motorsports enthusiast’s pulse racing – the
newly completed Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is the first purpose-built Grand
Prix racetrack in the U.S. The complex hosted the 2012 Formula One United
States Grand Prix, and upcoming races will include the MotoGP, FIA World
Endurance Championship and American Le Mans Series. The 300-acre Austin, Texas
facility is built around a state-of-the-art 3.4-mile circuit track with a
capacity for 120,000 fans. An integral part of COTA is its public address and
Emergency Communication System (ECS), featuring HARMAN’s BSS Audio networked
digital signal processors and Crown power amplifiers which also receive input
from the venue’s Soundcraft mixing console to serve a variety of sound
reinforcement needs throughout the venue.
“Although
the audio system is used for announcements and music during races and other
activities, a facility like Circuit of the Americas requires an emergency
notification system that meets public safety requirements as mandated by the
National Fire Protection Association,” explained Brian Elwell, senior
consultant and vice president of design firm Acoustic Dimensions (www.acousticdimensions.com).
“The system has to serve as both a PA and an Emergency Communication System.”
“For
51 weeks out of the year COTA is used for purposes other than auto racing, so
the audio system also needs to be suitable for concerts, events and activities
throughout the entire facility, both indoors and out”, emphasized Elwell. “The
Soundweb London network is an integral part of making everything work, acting
as a core system that runs all audio signals everywhere including emergency
notification to the 20,000-seat amphitheater and 40,000 people in the Grand
Plaza area. As an example, we can instantly switch from using the PA system as
a music source for a selected area in the complex to taking a single emergency
paging mic and feeding it everywhere in the facility in case of a facility-wide
emergency. We also have redundant signal paths to all audio components in the
system to make sure everything is online, all the time.”
The
project required that audio processing and amplification be installed in more
than 30 different rack locations around the track as well as the grandstand,
pit building, Grand Plaza indoor facilities and COTA’S Tower Amphitheater. A
Soundcraft Si Compact 16 digital mixing console with CobraNet™ option card is
used to mix various audio sources and integrate the console’s audio outputs
with other components in various parts of the installation. CobraNet-compatible
BSS Audio signal processing includes seven BLU-800 processors, two BLU-320 and
six BLU-120 input/output expanders, three BLU-80 processors and 13 BLU-32
input/output expanders. The system also includes six BLU-10 programmable
controllers. Matched to different loudspeaker zones and requirements, more than
70 Crown amplifiers are installed throughout Circuit of the Americas, including
CTs 1200 USP4CN, CTs 4200A, CTs 3000 LITE, CTs 2000 LITE, CTs 1200 LITE, CTs
600 LITE, MA5000i, and 1160A models.
“We
chose Crown power amps since their onboard DSP is extremely effective, and they
work hand in hand with BSS components via HARMAN HiQnet™, noted David
Battershell, project engineer for Ford Audio-Video Systems (www.fordav.com). “And in our
experience the BSS Audio Soundweb London system enables designers and
installers to provide an audio networking and processing solution for
large-scale facilities at a price no other system can match. HARMAN’s HiQnet
networking protocol links it all together and provides real-time monitoring
status for all of the Soundweb London processing, Crown amplifiers and
loudspeaker cable runs around the track. This ensures the system meets the
emergency communication system standards as specified by the design team.”
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