Warehouse takes QSC outdoors
Published: MEA
UAE: The outdoor area of Warehouse at Dubai’s Le Meridien Airport Village has undergone an audio upgrade thanks to the installation of a weatherproof QSC system. The solution was supplied by Sonic Wave and installed by Em-Tec AV.
‘This has totally changed, it started with a small area and it has gradually got bigger and bigger. It used to be covered by a single speaker on a wall which definitely didn’t do the job,’ said Em-Tec CEO, Alex Bracken. ‘Our brief was to give total surround sound but also without disturbing the rooms around the space.’
‘It’s outdoor so obviously we needed weatherproof speakers,’ furthered Em-Tec general manager, Andy Williams. ‘We’ve gone for QSC 6-inch, 8-inch and 10-inch depending on the spaces. I put the 10-inch speakers in to cover the bigger areas where they also want the DJ. I used 6-inch for the smaller areas and 8-inch for the other parts. There’s also some small double 8-inch bass dotted around.
‘We tried to do the usual split for a stereo pair in every section,’ he continued. ‘It’s a funny shape, but it works.’
A total of 26 speakers cover the outdoor venue, comprising 12 AD-S8T, eight AD-S6T, two AD-S10T and four AD-S28Tw. Power for the system is via five QSC RMX1450a alongside a pair of RMX2450a amplifiers while a Biamp Nexia SP handles the processing.
While improving the sound quality was the main goal of the project, the look of the venue was also important. ‘We tried to keep the aesthetics nice and created a few special brackets of our own and mounted the speakers on the trees,’ explained Mr Bracken. ‘We wanted to use what was already here rather than adding new poles in.’
The main challenge for the project came from it being open and trading through the installation. ‘It wasn’t an easy install. When you do an install at a venue that’s already open it’s always a challenge. It means that things like the cable runs are not what you want,’ recalled Mr Williams.
Despite this challenge, the installer and the venue are happy with the results. ‘The sound is considerably better, they’re really happy with it,’ concluded Mr Williams. ‘They have 200 to 300 people out here and they used to leave due to the sound. Now they are choosing to stay so it is working for them as a venue much better.’