MIAMI – HED South and Michael Chafee Enterprises provided a low-cost solution to help the performing arts department at Miami Country Day School (MCDS) enhance the sound of the new audio system at the school's amphitheater with a Symetrix Automix Matrix 780 processor.
More details from Symetrix (www.symetrix.co):
Symetrix Automix Matrix 780 The Brains Of Miami Country Day School's New Amphitheater
MIAMI – Located just north of its namesake city in Florida,
Miami Country Day School (MCDS) is a private, non-denominational
institution that serves 1,100 students in kindergarten through twelfth
grade. With a deep history and a proven record of providing first-rate
educations for its students, the prestigious institution attracts the
children of Miami's performing arts and music celebrities, among others. As
a result, the performing arts and music departments have an unusually high
bar to meet, a fact that influenced decisions surrounding a recently
completed multipurpose amphitheater in the school's quadrangle. To ensure
stunning audio performance and the flexibility to handle both simple and
involved productions for a few dozen or up to seven-hundred audience
members, a Symetrix Automix Matrix 780 processor serves as the brains for
the new amphitheater's audio system.
Initially, MCDS could only find sound designers and installers who were
either too busy to give the system the attention it deserved or, going too
far in the other direction, wanted to design sound systems that were so
complicated they seemed capable of launching a tactical military strike. In
the end, HED South partnered with Michael Chafee Enterprises to meet the
school's needs without going ballistic. "The objectives were clear," said
Jan Vitrofsky, principal at HED South. "The system had to look clean,
perform simply yet flexibly, and sound fantastic."
Chafee specified two One Systems 312CIM full-range loudspeakers for the
primary left-right coverage, with support from two One Systems double-18
subwoofers. A single One Systems 112IM serves as center fill in a way that
nicely cross fades with the main speakers as one travels away from the
stage. Chaffee flew six One Systems 112IM directional boxes from the ceiling
to serve as stage monitors. "With the monitors on the ceiling, there is less
clutter on the stage," he said. "That adds to the flexibility of the system
and permits a more rapid changeover from one use to another." QSC ISA 1350
and ISA 750 amplifiers provide power.
"One of the main features that the school asked for was scalable
sophistication," said Chaffee. "When they're doing something simple, it has
to be simple to operate. But it still has to have the capability to pull off
more sophisticated productions." To affect this, Chaffee provided two
Symetrix ARC-2 remote controls on stage. It controls up to six mics to be
used in what Chaffee termed "no brainer" mode. The ARC-2 provides simple
volume control of the mics. In addition, he provided the school with a port
to connect their existing sound console for full-scale productions. The
second ARC-2 controls configuration and source selection
In a single rack space, the Symetrix Automix Matrix 780 provides all of the
assets necessary to condition the input sources, route them logically
depending on the preset, and deliver a properly balanced, time-aligned
output. "On top of having the right input and output count and all of the
customizable user controls we needed, the Symetrix 780 simply sounds great,"
said Chaffee. "Symetrix was founded by current CEO Dane Butcher, who got his
start as a sound engineer. He has the ears for great audio, and he has
always ensured that any product bearing the Symetrix name sounds wonderfully
musical, free from distortion or artifacts. Because sound quality was such
an important requirement for the school, Symetrix was the right choice."
"The bottom line is that the folks who actually work with the system, as
well as the folks who merely enjoy it during performances, are all very
pleased," concluded Vitrofsky. Chaffee added, "Yes, and the standards are
very high at Miami Country Day School. I know a lot of the parents make a
very handsome living in the performing arts and music industries. They know
the difference between bad, adequate, and great, and this system has
received nothing but straight As!"
