Lectrosonics Equipment Chosen for FDIC Boardroom
Oct 12, 2006 8:00 AM
DM series digital audio processor central to boardroom’s audio operation
Lectronsonics equipment was recently used for an extensive refurbishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation boardroom’s audio system. Signal routing tasks for the boardroom are now handled by a new automated mixing system from the Rio Rancho, N.M.-based company.
Initiated in March 2006 and completed in April, Silver Spring, M.D.-based Cardinal Sound & Communications was the firm charged with handling the design and installation of the facility, which is used for meetings with the board and various department heads, as well as for teleconferences. The audio system consists of amplification for the various people seated at the board table to others located in two ‘galleries’ at the back of the room, along with provisions to support teleconferencing, multichannel recording of the proceedings, plus audio feeds for two overflow rooms and press outputs.
The FDIC’s new system consists of two ceiling-mounted microphones above the gallery that capture questions for both the archival recordings and to allow individuals seated in those areas to interact with a remote location via teleconference. Two Sound Advance CT73S SpeakerTile loudspeakers are located above the board table, with three more above the gallery. A Lanier Advocate V recorder is fed four groups of signals from board members, participants seated opposite the board, the gallery, and remote callers. There is also a single composite record feed to a Marantz PMD670 solid-state recorder. All signal routing necessary to support the recordings is performed by the Lectrosonics DM1612 digital audio processor, which also provides separate mixes for the two loudspeaker zones, the overflow rooms, and the press feeds. Additionally, a Lectrosonics DMTH4 digital telephone hybrid is used to tie the system to external phone lines.
The DM1612’s matrixed outputs provide separate feeds to the loudspeakers over the board table, the loudspeakers in the gallery, the overflow rooms, three sets of press feeds, and each of the four logging recorder channels, as well as a composite record feed for the backup recorder. The unit’s DSP facilitates the equalization for each of the loudspeaker zones, while providing individual feedback suppression on each of the microphone inputs. Further, the DM1612’s logic inputs provide an easy means to establish chairman override and mute functions for the remote audio feeds when the board holds closed sessions.
“Compared to the previous boardroom system, the Lectrosonics DM1612 series mixer and hybrid offered vast improvements in both the audio quality and system configuration,” says Scott Reidinger, president of Cardinal Sound & Communications and designer of the FDIC’s new system. “Of equal significance, the new DMTH4 digital telephone hybrid dramatically reduced acoustic echo and improved the audio quality both on the local and remote ends of the conversation. Lectrosonics’ DM1612 is the digital glue that ties the entire system together, and the included LecNet2 software for Windows makes system setup and configuration easy. The DM1612 is a pleasure to work with!”
