Inside Times Union Center’s Rugged Audio System

This New York venue recently marked its 25th anniversary, completing an AV upgrade that included Dante networking, Symetrix DSP, Yamaha equipment and Cisco switching technology.

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When a venue as large as Times Union Center in Albany, NY., is due for an AV upgrade, it’s requires all hands on deck to create a robust system to stand the test of time.

Times Union Center is a 15,500-seat entertainment hub with events ranging from hockey and college basketball games to concerts and ice shows. The completion of this project required a team of experts, like video production company Myriad Productions, consulting firm Com-Tech, Inc., and manufacturers’ representatives Cardone, Solomon & Associates.

The project had three essential goals: to provide high-quality audio and video to multiple spaces around the venue, to finish in a tight turnaround time and to include Audinate’s Dante media network to support the audio infrastructure.

Because Dante was involved, the digital signal processor (DSP) selected for the project had to be fully supportive of the Dante system. Cardone, Solomon & Associates recommended to Com-Tech that two Symetrix SymNet Radius 12×8 open-architecture DSPs be deployed in conjunction with SymNet xIn 12 expanders, in order to provide fast and flexible processing of audio throughout the venue.

Photos: Go Inside Times Union Center

Software was also an important consideration. Symetrix SymNet Composer software allowed the “creation of multiple audio scenes, which are recalled with two button-pushes at the Yamaha QL-1 console. The result is that operators can set set-up audio very quickly for any of the multiple event types held at Times Union Center,” says Com Tech’s Chuck Zarriello.

The idea was to program various audio states onto the system, so a quick button press can reboot the system to cater to the next application—be it a NY Liberty game or an orchestral concert—and brings the different inputs online accordingly. It also allows technicians at Times Union Center to control the system from a touch panel.

Alongside the Yamaha QL-1 desk, other Yamaha equipment selected for the project includes Rio3224-D stageboxes and Ro8-D output boxes. Attero Tech interfaces and Cisco switching technology were also installed during the upgrade.

“The expectations of the audio processing system were obviously very substantial, and I am delighted to say that the venue staff are very happy with the Symetrix system,” says Zarriello.

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