Renowned for its love of ice hockey, Stockholm’s Zinkensdamms IP – a multi-purpose outdoor sports venue – is transformed into an ice skating rink in winter with an inflatable ‘bubble’ or dome protecting the ice skaters and rink surface from the weather. However, as the bubble is not soundproof the crowd, the event audio and from the rink itself regularly disturb neighbours.
To reduce the this spill to a more acceptable level, the ice rink proprietors called on Robert Nilsson, owner of local A/V integrator Dat AB, to recommend and install an audio system that neighbours would find acceptable. With more that 30 years’ experience in professional audiovisual work, Nilsson immediately considered AtlasIED’s Atmosphere platform as a means to address the venue’s issues.
‘The primary concern was limiting the volume to avoid disturbing the neighbours,’ he says. ‘However, there really needed to be two zones set up – one for the ice rink itself, which needed to be louder because of the ambient noise, and a second, quieter zone for the spectator areas.’
Using the Atmosphere AZM4, a four-zone digital signal processor, Nilsson was able to create up to four zones across the arena, including the rink and spectator areas. Using Atmosphere, he could limit the maximum level for each zone, capping each at 87dB instead of the previous system’s 105dB. Nilsson also chose an Atmosphere C-V controller rinkside to provide local volume control, and an Atmosphere A-BT Bluetooth wall audio input to allow personnel with access to the system to connect their phone via the A-BT to stream music.
The ability to remotely manage the system was another benefit: ‘It is very easy for me to access the system from my office in Säter, which is about three-hours (200km) from Stockholm,’ he says. ‘The ability to access the system, troubleshoot, and hopefully solve the issue remotely saves time and money on service costs.’
A second AZM4 is installed in the operations room, connected through AtlasIED1544AIO-D Dante converters that interface with the fire alarm system. If an alarm is triggered, the AZM4 mutes all zones so everyone in the ice arena can hear the alarms. There are future plans to play a pre-recorded message if the fire alarm is activated.
‘The ice rink’s been using the Atmosphere system for over six months, and I haven’t received a single trouble call,’ Nilsson reports. ‘Atmosphere just works.’
More: www.atlasied.com
