PAI, who also specified the lighting control, had a difficult, reverberant environment with hard finishes, and needing to deaden reflections from the café bar surround and live stage loudspeakers in an inherently 'live' room, they chose the BSS 9088 Soundweb DSP networker as the solution provider. According to project manager Martin Draisey, while the choice of loudspeakers for Birmingham were laid down from Hard Rock headquarters, the general specification was the responsibility of the local contractor.
The venue was divided into 10 zones - including a VIP area, two dining areas, entrance/retail section, toilets under the command of a Crestron CNMSX processor and LC3000 touch controller, which is responsible for local volume level and source selection specific to each zone. Stored in the Soundwebs are time alignment settings, EQ and crossover parameters. Martin Draisey said: "We use Soundweb because of its flexibility, and although this is under manual control, because of the limiters in the Soundweb there is no danger of overdriving."
The Crestron touch controller also controls all the video matrices manually, with a video switcher between DVD, S-VHS and MPEGs, programmed in America and decoded via the Cisco computer system. Screen destinations are a mixture of 42" plasma screens and LCD monitors. The new concept will now roll out on sites in Leeds, Nottingham and Cardiff over the coming year.
(Lee Baldock)
