Olympisch Stadion | Antwerp, Belgium

OLYMPISCH STADION

Antwerp, Belgium

Images: FACE – Robbe Boone

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ntwerp’s Olympisch Stadion was originally built as the main location of 1920’s Summer Olympics, however, it remains one the city’s landmarks today, as it is now home to Jupiler Pro League team, K.Beerschot V.A. Despite its rich heritage, the Olympisch Stadion needed a revamp of its audio system, which had become outdated. The club called on audio experts PFL and FACE PROJECTS to help with upgrading the technology. Steven Kemland, Manager at FACE PROJECTS, spoke to MONDO | STADIA about how the project first began for his team: “We were actually contacted by a dealer about this project around 10 years ago, but, as often happens, it didn’t come to anything for many reasons. Then, ten years later, we had the same request for a new audio system at the venue, so I had the information and images from my initial visit, which allowed us to make an offer.

“PFL – one of our preferred dealers - came to us for advice on their design and budget in reference to renewing the stadium’s existing sound system, which was about 25 years old at the time. Beerschot wanted to have an installation to improve quality of speech and to be able to play a good ambient sound; the latter of which was not really possible with the old system. From the first design, we were able to answer all their questions within the budget they had in mind, so we were not forced to make any back-up plans.” “I spoke to the stadium owners about the plans – I think there were one or two other offers on the table, too – and they came back after a few weeks and wanted to go ahead with us.” The new audio system needed to transmit both speech and energising music, with volume and fidelity key aspects in setting the right ambiance, allowing both the spectators and team to perform at their best. FACE PROJECTS chose three Powersoft’s Quattrocanali 8804 DSP + Dante to drive the 25 Martin Audio CDD15-WR and 17 CDD10-WR - which are used as delay - loudspeakers. This is controlled via a Dynacord Matrix made up of an MXE5 mix engine and a pair of TPC-1 touch panel controllers, as well as Van Damme LSZH loudspeaker cables. “We love Powersoft and the people involved,” explained Steven. “We know that this great range of products can serve all projects in a very professional way. Between the Quattrocanali, Ottocanali, Mezzo, and T Series, we have solutions for everything, from very simple projects to more complex installs. With the Quattrocanali 8804, you have a lot of power, on-board DSP, and Dante, all in compact format; not only regarding size of the unit, but the necessary current and cooling too. To have all of this – for a price you can defend to a client – is invaluable to a company like ours. “Regarding the loudspeakers. I’m a big believer in the CDD

technology from Martin Audio. When you use that range, you need a lot less loudspeakers for a much better dispersion. I’ve been doing the job for 25 years now and, since we started to use them five or six years ago, they have been the best loudspeakers for us – they make a big, big difference.” The new system is also useful for security support in crowd control and public address applications, thanks to its easyto-use zoning capabilities via the pre-programmed TPC-1 touchscreens that communicate with the Dynacord MXE5 Matrix processor. The team made good use of Powersoft’s proprietary ArmoníaPlus software, too, which they used to tune the entire system. “In ArmoníaPlus, you have all the parameters you need to adjust and secure the system as much as is necessary. In this project, it was strange to be able to replace a complete 42unit rack filled with 20-year-old amplifiers with just three units and still have the 12 zones in the stadium with a total power of 20,000W,” said Steven. To ensure the team was prepared for special events, an external connection port with a Radial Engineering interface has been installed near the field to be able to plug analogue signals into the Dante network and use the main sound system without any hassle.

Although the technical design was completed by FACE PROJECTS on behalf of PFL, both teams worked together on installing the new setup, and support and maintenance will be followed up solely by PFL. With the new audio system in place, Beerschot are ready for the new season and, eventually, a stadium packed out with fans. “The stadium won’t be at full capacity until September, but everyone at the smaller capacity games so far has been really happy with the new system,” Steven added. “The club are delighted with the finished result and how it is working – we made it very easy to operate. Overall, this has been a great project and all of us are very proud with what we’ve achieved.”