RENKUS-HEINZ WHY YOUR NEXT STADIUM INSTALL SHOULD USE BEAM-STEERING ARRAYS

Beam steering has always been a great, if unconventional, solution for stadiums, but Renkus-Heinz’s OmniBeam is a game changer...

Images: Renkus-Heinz

When “beam steering” enters a conversation about audio systems, “houses of worship” immediately comes to mind for many integrators. Not stadiums, arenas or other large venues. And while beam-steering arrays are, in fact, an excellent solution for houses of worship, they’re also great for any application where a traditional line array is commonly deployed. Like stadiums, for instance. While traditional line arrays typically use horns with controlled dispersion patterns, they still often distribute a lot of acoustic energy to places where there’s no audience. Or worse, they don’t distribute sound to where people are sitting. And there’s nothing more off-putting at a sporting event (aside from your team losing) than not being able to hear announcements clearly. Beam-steering arrays solve all these problems.

A Little About How Beam Steering Works

Technically speaking, beam steering increases the direct energy (as opposed to reverberant energy) in a space by directing sound at the audience, improving speech intelligibility and music reproduction.

The goal is consistent front-to-back audience coverage, meaning the people closer to the loudspeakers hear sound at approximately the same volume and intelligibility as those far away, even over distances exceeding 35 meters. Achieving consistent coverage involves pointing different beams at separate sections of the audience. Think of an acoustic beam like the beam of a flashlight. Flashlights have a defined cone of light brightest at the center that weakens or spreads at the edges. If you overlap flashlights correctly, you can maintain consistent light coverage over a larger area. You may have to dim the flashlights used at the front of the audience or use brighter flashlights for the very back to get a consistent light level regardless of where a person’s sitting. Acoustic beams work similarly. Beams are created by a group of drivers acting cohesively, so beam-steered arrays typically have eight to 32 drivers or more. Each driver requires separate amplification and digital signal processing to enable this cohesive steering. One reason is that frequencies behave differently over distance and decay at different rates. Another reason is that drivers need to be acoustically aligned when spaced close together to prevent adverse sonic effects from occurring, meaning each driver must have different acoustic settings applied to maintain coverage consistency.

All of that probably sounds much more complicated (and expensive) than traditional line arrays, but it’s not. It’s just math, and computers are great at solving mathematical equations for you. Renkus-Heinz’s recently announced OmniBeam algorithm reduces the time and know-how required to get excellent acoustic results from your beam-steering array. No longer is alleged “rocket science” involved in simulating and commissioning steerable arrays. Now they’re as simple to deploy as point-and-shoot loudspeakers.

What Makes OmniBeam Different?

With OmniBeam, Renkus-Heinz is changing the perception that beam steering is knowledge and time intensive — for niche applications only. Their new algorithm is the culmination of decades of expertise in steerable technology, replacing their previous “best-fit” algorithm to now deliver unmatched sound and coverage for 100% of venues with less time and knowledge required than ever before.

Renkus-Heinz has continued to innovate its beam-steering technology, seeking to ensure the best results for 100% of spaces while making beam-steering even easier to use. The all-new OmniBeam workflow is the fulfillment of the company’s mission to ensure exceptional, accessible, hassle-free sound for every venue.

The new OmniBeam algorithm is based on beam shaping rather than beam steering. The ideal beam shape is automatically created from parameters defined by the user within the new BeamWare interface. With the press of a button, OmniBeam generates ideal FIR coefficients for every unique venue, delivering faster, better and more consistent results than ever before with less time and knowledge needed. The result is custom-tailored coverage precisely dialed into the exact geometry of each space, providing the most consistent front-to-back audio experience possible. Equally important, OmniBeam allows integrators, regardless of their level of expertise, to achieve great results with minimal effort, every time.

Practical Benefits of OmniBeam for Stadiums Stadium sound is all about creating a great experience for every guest, so consistent coverage is essential. Beam-steering arrays are known for delivering precise coverage, but getting that great coverage could take a while in times past. If a single array needed to cover multiple audience areas, system commissioners may have needed to configure multiple beams with lots of iterations. Even a single audience area may have required two or three beams. And using multiple beams often required trial and error adjustments until landing on a satisfactory configuration.

OmniBeam simplifies the process and gives you better, more consistent coverage from the first press of a button. Once you open the interface, select the appropriate loudspeaker and enter the audience area. Then, press the aptly-named “Snap to Audience Area” button. And voila — all the beam-steering calculations, frequency adjustments and FIR filter calculations are completed for you. Repeat the process for each audience area, and you’re done with configuration — you no longer need multiple beams to cover a single audience area.

In a large venue like a stadium, this means less moving around during commissioning from seat to seat, level to level, to ensure the acoustics are satisfactory. Fewer microphone placements are required, saving commissioning time because you do not have to reposition or walk around as much to check the coverage repeatedly.

Many adjustments can be made simply by moving the on-screen aiming handles (because who doesn’t like to tinker?). If you want more energy somewhere, move the handle where you want, and the coverage follows. And that’s it. For more granular control of the beams, Renkus-Heinz still provides access to advanced controls should you need them.

While OmniBeam is very powerful in its own right, it does not replace the need for acoustic simulation of the stadium with EASE or other tools. Instead, it augments your simulations by making the beam steering within your project simulation intuitive and easy to configure. Provided your simulation data is accurate, your beam-steering coverage will realistically match what was predicted. And even if the acoustics aren’t meeting expectations, OmniBeam makes it easy to make quick adjustments that will yield great results for all the seating areas in the stadium.

Ballpark of the Palm Beaches Use Case

The 160-acre Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is the spring training home of the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals baseball clubs. A true state-of-the-art facility, it includes a 6,500-seat main field, six wellappointed premium suites for up to 15 guests, and two party decks with food service and a full bar. The main stadium utilizes two dozen Renkus-Heinz IC Live beam-steering arrays to keep the audience engaged and informed.

The IC Live loudspeakers easily deliver the power and throw needed for the stadium, delivering a 105 dB SPL peak at 100 feet. However, mounting the loudspeakers was particularly challenging in this stadium due to its layout. Underneath the main stadium are several slender columns supporting the press box, which were used to mount some of the IC Live arrays. Additionally, ten custom speaker poles were installed, five on each side, in areas of the stadium without supporting columns. With no overhang or canopy on the speaker poles, installing a loudspeaker on an overhang and aiming it down was impossible. Instead, 24 IC Live arrays were effective because each unit is steerable with an adjustable aiming angle from -30° to +30° — enough to reach every section of the stands with even coverage.

Final Thoughts

Beam-steering arrays have been pigeonholed in the AV industry as only applicable for houses of worship, but nothing could be further from the truth. Any application that uses column loudspeakers, surface mount loudspeakers, point-source loudspeakers or even line arrays is likely a good fit for beamsteering arrays. To make the simulation and commissioning of the projects smoother, OmniBeam does all the heavy lifting for you, giving you better, more consistent coverage with the press of a button.