Yamaha Is The Key To Forum Niederberg’s New Flexibility
When a venue with multiple spaces needs to update its audio system, nowadays a networked solution considerably enhances the usefulness and flexibility of the entire building. This is exactly what has happened in the German city of Velbert, where a Dante-based Yamaha/Nexo system has recently been installed.
Renowned for its long history of lock manufacturing, Velbert is located at the centre of Germany’s industrial heartland, surrounded by the cities of Bochum, Dortmund, Duisberg, Dusseldorf, Essen and Wuppertal. Built in 1979, Forum Niederberg is the city’s main venue for entertainment and business gatherings. With a theatre and congress hall adjacent to each other, the venue hosts live music, drama, comedy, dance, conferences, exhibitions, other corporate events and private parties.
By last year, Forum Niederberg’s old, mainly analogue audio system was in serious need of updating.
The venue’s technical manager, Sebastian Groneweg, and his sound engineer Thomas Graedtke approached several companies for a affordable solution to achieve this. Besides having to cope with many changes of stage position in a short amount of time, the solution also needed to be easy to use by non-professionals.
After some unsatisfactory presentations and ideas Matthias Scheffe, owner of audio systems consultant and integrator Ton & Technik Scheffe GmbH, introduced Sebastian and his team to a solution designed by his network expert Markus Gorges. Markus suggested that an IP-based Dante audio network with Yamaha digital mixing consoles and Nexo loudspeakers would be the ideal solution.
The initial system design featured a CL3 digital console, which was shortly followed by the venue’s theatre adding a CL1, MTX5-D matrix mixer, Ri8-D and Ro8-D i/o units. An LS9 console with MY16-AUD interface card, plus two Rio1608-D and a Rio3224-D i/o units were also included as a mobile system, which can be used wherever analogue i/o is necessary.
The congress hall features a comprehensive Nexo loudspeaker system, comprising six S805 and one S830 line array modules per side, plus six PS10R2 for other stage positions and delays, amplified by a NXAMP4x4, which interconnects the whole system. A wireless touch panel provides the ability to change all necessary parameters within seconds. A second NXAMP4x4 with NXDT104 Dante Interface in mobile configuration can be used for the four RS15 subs or any other mobile need.
Matthias installed several RJ45 wall and floor sockets, linked to gigabit Ethernet switches, throughout Forum Niederberg, allowing users to connect the consoles or stage boxes anywhere in the building without reconfiguring the network.
These allow any of the consoles to be located either in the control room or at a conventional FOH position on the ground floor of either space, while the stage boxes and delay lines - including the amping - can be connected at several positions in the congress hall depending on the seating configuration. In addition, should no performance be scheduled in the theatre, its CL1 console and stage boxes can be used to support a bigger live music event or a split room configuration in the congress hall.
“Yamaha’s Dante-based equipment, in combination with Nexo PA speakers driven by Dante equipped NXamps, is a perfect solution for customers looking for the most flexible, cost efficient and easy to use technical setup,” says Matthias.
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