With up to four beams available from each 'building block' IC8 module, eight separate beams of acoustical energy can be produced by an IC16 array, 12 by an IC24 and 16 by an IC32. The acoustical center of each beam can be located anywhere between the top and bottom of the array. Beamware's intuitive GUI now includes an 'Auto Focus' function that allows the designer to specify the number of beams to be produced by the array. Beamware then automatically aims the beams evenly to optimize coverage of the audience area or areas, using one of two algorithms as specified by the designer. Auto Focus will alert the user if the specified mounting position is not ideal for coverage optimization.
Once a configuration has been generated, the designer reviews it and chooses either to accept the result or to refine it further with manual adjustments to the output levels, opening angles and aiming angles of each beam. "Our goal with the Iconyx project was to integrate software with next-generation electronics that transmit the proper signals to each driver entirely in the digital domain, along with intelligent acoustical design," says Renkus-Heinz vice-president Ralph Heinz. "The latest release of Beamware, with its multi-beam functionality, takes Iconyx to a new level of accuracy, control and problem-solving performance. Complex audience areas can now be covered from a single array using custom beam shapes created from multiple beams. Designers and installers have also gained additional flexibility in choosing the mounting height of an Iconyx array."
Iconyx is engineered to provide enjoyable music and intelligible speech in highly reverberant environments. Its slender "thin stick" vertical profile mounts flush to vertical surfaces, blending easily with both classical and contemporary architecture. The integrated system inside provides a powerful new solution for consultants, contractors and architects who need precisely controlled acoustic energy for musical, intelligible, musical sound in any space where architectural considerations are a major concern.
The modular Iconyx system is based on the eight-channel IC8. Each channel consists of a high-performance co-axial transducer powered by a high-current, audiophile-quality digital amplifier with integrated DSP. Each DSP channel can implement both FIR filters for beam shaping and steering, and IIR filters for system tuning and commissioning.
Beamware, a Windows application, allows the system designer to specify a section view of the audience area or areas, build and hang a virtual Iconyx array, and optimize coverage by defining and aiming one or more beams of acoustic energy. Beamware can save a configuration file for import into EASE 4.0 or higher, allowing 3D modeling of system performance. Beamware v1.40 is a free upgrade and can be downloaded from the Renkus-Heinz website.
(Lee Baldock)
