Among the largest sports stadia in West Africa, the 60,000-seat Olympic Stadium of Ebimpé is home to Les Éléphants, the country’s national football team. It is located in Abidjan, the largest city in the Ivory Coast, it will eventually form the heart of a 287-hectare Olympic village, and will host the opening ceremony and final match of the postponed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
The need for a new sound system soon after the stadium’s construction was prompted by its original PA system – installed by China’s Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) – being damaged by adverse weather. A new system was designed by Ricardo Castro, CEO of Portuguese A/V consultancy RCOe, on behalf of local integrator Protech Distribution.
In addition to 61 Powersoft Quattrocanali 4804 DSP+D amplifiers with Dante Audio-over-IP networking – Castro specified 14 Powersoft Duecanali 6404 DSP+D amplifiers to lend additional power to the 104-loudspeaker Community/Biamp system, which comprises 28 clusters to optimise audio coverage throughout the venue. Two Quattrocanalis are bi-amped to each Community R2-66Max loudspeaker cluster, while the Duecanalis are used to drive Community IS8-215 subs.
All amplifiers, patchboxes and network switches are housed in four rack rooms, located at the four corners of the stadium, to minimise the length of the cable connection to the loudspeakers. A Biamp Tesiraforté DAN DSP is used as a Dante converter for the primary audio source to the amplifiers, as well as for a four-zone paging system for security and emergency announcements.
When approached by Protech MD Inza Bamba, with whom he has a longstanding working relationship, Castro offered Powersoft amplifiers and Community loudspeakers from Biamp would be a perfect fit. He subsequently discovered that BCEG had used Powersoft racks for the otherwise poorly designed previous installation, a helpful discovery from a budgetary point of view. ‘Time was very tight, which I think was the biggest challenge,’ Castro recalls. ‘I was given six months for everything.’
The installation was completed on time, despite difficulties recruiting suppliers and dealing with a shortage of parts and equipment.
Castro initially equipped a quarter of the venue – one of the four zones – with the Powersoft–Community/Biamp system as a proof of concept. ‘I said, “Let’s see how it works”. And on one of the days we were there, stadium staff, consultants and clients all came along and heard the system for themselves, and they couldn’t believe the difference – in sound quality, volume and intelligibility – compared to the previous system.’
Powersoft solutions engineering team leader Davide Quarto – one of four people on site to configure and test the new system, along with Castro, Bamba and John Caton of Biamp – says that all parties were happy with the support offered by Powersoft both during the installation and system set-up.
‘They strongly believe in the added value of Powersoft when supporting project activities, from the design phase to the system first run by a skilled technical team,’ he says. ‘To them, this is strong confirmation of why choosing Powersoft makes a difference.’
Quarto adds that the stadium audio team are particularly appreciative of the operator view interface offered by ArmoníaPlus, Powersoft’s system design and monitoring software, as it limits user access to the system configuration options. ‘The customer wanted to have a system that can only be monitored and safely operated with limited access to the system, so as to avoid dangerous situations like changing the EQ or presets or even unlinking an amplifier,’ he says.
‘I have been working with Powersoft for over ten years – it’s a very reliable brand and we know their products work,’ confirms Castro. ‘They have good expertise, the support is great, and their amplifier platforms are very reliable. Plus, their software, ArmoníaPlus, is a must for us when it comes to getting everything connected and making sure it’s all working properly.
‘Of course, there are other brands also do good work, but when it comes to challenging spaces and installations, you know you can count on Powersoft.’
More: www.powersoft.com
