Passionate and partisan, when they played local Istanbul rivals Fenerbache on 18 March, an impressive 131.76dB was registered in the 52,695 capacity, all-seater stadium, qualifying it for entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
It was left to Asimetrik (QSC and EAW's Turkish distributors) who were awarded the AV installation contract, to design a networked QSC system, based around DataPort-equipped ISA and CX amplifiers, and BASIS signal transport operating under QSControl.net, to overcome the mighty roar on match days.
Using the HD15 DataPort facilities on the CX amplifiers, Asimetrik set up a QSControl.net network to control the main system, creating two IP-rated rack spaces - just under the roof and in the catwalks. According to Asimetrik's technical supervisor, Erçin Ural, ten CX705 amps are positioned in each rack to drive the PA system - with a QSC BASIS 902zz processor handling the network distribution.
"There are fibre optic converters in both racks feeding directly to the audio room, which is stationed in the north west corner of the stadium. There we have another BASIS 922uz processor where we make all the inputs to the system (four channels covering the North, South, East and West stands) - fed from the main mixing desk."
Helping to optimise the sound are presets stored in the QSC devices for full- and half-capacity houses to help mitigate reflections - the presets are simply recalled depending on the size of the crowd, aided by an automatic sensing structure.
Speaker and tone processing facilities reside in the catwalk racks - and via the QSC environment Asimetrik can conduct full system monitoring, healthchecks and diagnostics. "Thanks to QSC we can monitor the entire system via PC - checking the load capacity and retrieving all the information we need," explains Kadir Ulusoy.
BASIS also 'links' the main PA with the evacuation system covering the public concourse and ancillary areas, and to this end a further BASIS 922uz DSP is located in the south west corner of the stadium. By interfacing with the other PA system 'brain' signals can be routed to the respective zones system via the G+M Elektronik APS System to feed the 20 ISA-Ti 2-Channel 100V commercial amplifiers which drive this system - also from two (main and slave) rack locations.
According to UEFA regulations, the sound system for the stadium needed to be able to generate an SPL of 105dB - however, Asimetrik managed to design the system with a much greater capability extending towards 140dB. They were also careful to design headroom into the system for future expansion.
To achieve the required impact, Asimetrik specified the weather-protected EAW MK series for the stadium PA, with MK 5366WP (60° x 60°), MK 5364WP (60° x 45°), and MK 5396WP (90° x 60°)° dispersion patterns.
The 46 EAW speakers are arranged in pairs around the perimeter of the stands - and since the arena has been designed with two tiers of seating, and a layer of VIP boxes sandwiched between them, one of each pair fires up into the top tier while the other points down into the lower tier. Speakers positioned in the areas behind the goal helped even out the sound pressures.
Helping to optimise the sound are presets stored for full- and half-capacity houses to help mitigate reflections - the presets are simply recalled depending on the size of the crowd, aided by an automatic sensing structure.
Elsewhere, the broadcast / camera infrastructure design supports HD format. There are extensive press and media centre facilities, and also two points for OB vans to connect to.
All safety, security, evacuation and fire regulation standards have been met and there is the possibility to control the whole building's lighti
