Located in the Finnish city of Mikkeli, the Rantakylä School Centre recently completed a major upgrade to its audio facilities with the installation of two Allen & Heath SQ digital mixing systems.

With around 700 students, the school prides itself in its use of the latest technologies. ‘When our huge renovation project started, it was clear in our minds that our audio system needed to be as accommodating and up-to-date as possible without compromising on an easy and intuitive user interface,’ explains Juha Lindbohm, one of the school’s music teachers. ‘As we have several event locations within the premises, the key requirements for us were: a reliable audio network, wireless control and integration with lighting and video.’

The school turned to distributor, F-Pro, who recommended two identical A&H systems featuring an SQ-6 equipped with a Dante card and an AR2412 AudioRack.

Connecting to the Dante network (via two Dante-enabled rack units in the auditorium entrance hall and the sports hall), an SQ system is positioned in one of the music rehearsal rooms, providing the option to link anywhere on the premises via network switches located in the tech room. Audio is then directed to multiple breakout points situated in the sports arena, auditorium and two adjacent music classrooms. Lindbohm further uses the SQ’s Dante card for multitrack recording of local school events. The second SQ-6 set-up is built into a flip case that can be readily moved around the campus and used for a variety of events.

‘We love the possibilities of our new digital system, and there’s still so much to discover,’ Lindbohm continues. ‘I can say that the transition from analogue to digital has been a very positive surprise, and SQ has made that very simple. Especially the wireless control offered by SQ’s MixPad app – it’s something that I now depend on daily.’

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