Included in the recent renovation of the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment center near Los Angeles is a Powersoft DEVA audio system that provides wireless sound and two-way messaging for the civic space.
[related]Located in Southern California, the public location sits adjacent to the city of Long Beach’s downtown business and shopping districts near the Pacific Ocean.
Once the renovations had begun on the area’s Pacific Ballroom to turn it into a 40,000-square foot floored event space the Los Angeles-based design firm TheatreDNA Creative got involved in the design and installation processes. TheatreDNA Creative was given the task to design an audio system for the location’s Promenade Lobby & Plaza, and according to TheatreDNA Creative, the space required a solution that could reproduce a variety of content with power and clarity.
“Quality audio is really important for creating an atmosphere,” states Michael Ferguson, principle designer, TheatreDNA Creative.
“There are a lot of different types of performances that happen throughout the property, and they wanted to be able to reinforce a performance by starting the experience at the curb. For example, if it’s a Long Beach Symphony performance, they would like to play a little classical music for people on their way through the plaza.”
Powersoft DEVA Platform offers Wireless Capabilities to Support Retrofit Installations
In order to maintain the client’s goals, TheatreDNA Creative determined the DEVA system and its wireless audio options would support the distribution of audio throughout the space without having to install new infrastructure into the facility.
“We were looking for a new product that allowed us to transmit the audio via Wi-Fi or RF,” notes Ferguson.
“We discovered DEVA and saw how it would enable us to deploy audio throughout the property using only the existing power infrastructure and transmitting the audio signal through Wi-Fi from our existing control location. [We] became immediately interested.”
Using wireless solved the issue of trying to pull cables through a 50-year-old property that contains 14-inch thick concrete walls.
Damien Rosenthal, project manager at Four Walls Entertainment, and the company installing TheatreDNA Creative’s design, says the cost of pulling cable in walls that dense and thick would have resulted in an installation that would have been much more expensive.
“I’ve been told that there are airplane runways in California that aren’t that thick,” comments Rosenthal.
The cost of pulling cable in walls that dense and thick would have resulted in an installation that would have been much more expensive. “I’ve been told that there are airplane runways in California that aren’t that thick,” says Damien Rosenthal, project manager at Four Walls Entertainment, and the company installing TheatreDNA Creative’s design.
“The coring expense that would have been required to bring data cabling out to each of the individual install locations would have been prohibitive, so wireless connectivity was essential. having each of the speakers connected wirelessly also gives us the flexibility to reposition the units if the initial layout doesn’t match the user’s future needs or even if a temporary reorientation is desired for a specific event.”
Some of the other benefits of the DEVA-based system include its neighborhood friendliness that allow for high wide property coverage without have to use high levels of sound pressure levels.
In addition, system control is accomplished through Powersoft’s companion computer program.
“The controls provide by both the app and the computer-based controller allow a great deal of flexibility to customize the signal down to individual speakers, says Rosenthal.
“We can mute a speaker at a moment’s notice or bring in live reinforcement through push-to-talk capabilities. It’s just highly customizable for the end user. A different control system would require rewiring and a total reengineering to change from one purpose to another, but this is so easy.”
The next phase of the Powersoft DEVA installation starts in a few months.
During the summer of 2018 DEVA components will install across the property’s Rainbow Bridge walkway that connects to the neighboring road Seaside Way to the Terrace Plaza.
This portion of the multi-phase installation will utilize the DEVA’s camera and proximity-detection options for increased security.
Ferguson sums up the installation and the installation of the Powersoft DEVA products by pointing out, the platform’s flexibility enables an array of applications that meet a variety of customer needs.
“DEVA allows us to have audio that engages patrons from the moment they step on the property,” he emphasizes.
“In some cases that helps welcome them to the property in a way that wasn’t before possible, but it also helps make sure no one is on the property unsafely when it’s closed. None of that was possible before DEVA.”
