With 60 per of its amplifiers off, and the remainder going into thermal protection mode, the sound at the 50,000-seat Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium at East Carolina University (ECU) was in mid-season crisis. ‘Half the sound system didn’t sound like it was working,’ recalls James Braddy, Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) at PC Sound, a local specialist in pro audio, video and lighting. ‘I knew we needed a solution and we needed it yesterday.’
On the weekend in question, gamegoers and players alike complained that they couldn’t hear, and the system would cut in and out. Braddy then got the call from the Associate Athletics Director at ECU, Greg Pierce, who explained that the previous weekend’s home game had been overshadowed by a series of audio issues. While PC Sound tried to find a solution quickly, they also knew the current supply chain could be an issue.
‘I have always been able to get amps from LEA Professional through their rep Mavric and they are my go-to provider,’ Braddy says. ‘We put the order in on a Tuesday at 7pm and within four minutes I had a reply from Scott Robbins, the VP of Sales, with different options. The amplifiers were delivered to us on that Thursday and on Friday we did the install, ready for the weekend’s games.’
For Braddy, most of this was possible because of the simple set up feature on the Connect Series amplifiers. ‘One of my favourite things about these amplifiers is just the speed of set-up’, Braddy confirms. ‘Being able to push a button and connect to it with my phone or iPad without downloading an app or registering an account is fantastic.’
The PC Sound team installed eight 704D Dante Connect Series amplifiers from LEA Professional to drive the existing loudspeakers at the stadium – the second largest college stadium in North Carolina.
‘The new amps, combined with a new mixer we added, ensured the stadium sounded much cleaner and clearer than it had ever sounded before, even though we were still dealing with some blown speakers at the time,’ Braddy says. The following game sounded better still, and the stadium was ready for homecoming the following week, which included a performance by a live band.
In order to monitor the system, PC Sound uses the LEA Professional Web UI, a browser-based interface that allows local monitoring of every amplifier connected to the network from phone, tablet or PC. In addition, it allows users to view the status of every channel on any given amplifier. This alongside the remote control LEA Cloud platform, ensures the integrator is in full control of the system at all times.
PC Sound is considering adding this remote monitoring service as an additional feature to their service contracts. ‘That’s something that we are looking forward to starting soon.’ Braddy admits.
Currently, the system at ECU runs on analogue cabling, but the plan in the immediate future is to switch it over to a Dante network. This provides the stadium with another safety feature, if the Dante network goes down for any reason, it will automatically switch to analogue.
For Pierce, the new system is exactly what was needed: ‘It was everything we needed and some,’ he says. ‘I couldn’t have asked for better and we’re just so grateful to have a superior sound system in the stadium for our players and fans alike.’
