System integration partner North returns to Celtic’s 60,000-seat stadium to ensure venue continues to get value from audio investment
Dynacord’s ecoRAIL technology reduces power consumption by up to 50% contributing to a lower carbon footprint
GLASGOW, UK – The pace of technical advances in the AV industry means that venues often don’t need entirely new systems to upgrade their audio performance. Sometimes an incremental improvement to the electronics will provide a significant boost to the audio capabilities. This is the case at Celtic Park in Glasgow, the home of Celtic Football Club, which has recently upgraded the electronics for its main PA to an all Dynacord signal chain.
More details from Dynacord (www.dynacord.com):
The 60,000-seat stadium had a full audio refit in 2017 to enhance the audio coverage in the main bowl. This saw the installation of Electro-Voice EVH and EVF loudspeakers driven and processed by Electro-Voice CPS amplifiers and NetMax digital matrix controllers. While the system still performed well, technology has moved on in the last eight years, and there were significant advantages that the stadium could gain in efficiency and performance by taking another look at its sound system. Celtic returned to their integration partner, North, to seek advice.
The weatherized loudspeakers were still in good condition, so the decision was made to focus on the electronic backbone to the system. North recommended the new amplifiers based on the solution installed at Fulham’s Craven Cottage. The West London stadium features the same EVH loudspeakers as Celtic Park but driven by state-of-the-art IPX amplifiers. “The difference in performance for the EVH loudspeakers is amazing,” explains Dynacord sales manager Richard Leadbitter. “You have much more readily available power and the processing on them gives a marked improvement in clarity and control”
The upgrade has seen the installation of 13 IPX 10:8 DSP amplifiers alongside a pair of IPX 5:4 DSP amplifiers. These add greater efficiency and processing power to drive the existing 52 EVH and 60 EVF loudspeakers flown around the stadium bowl. IPX Series offers an extremely high power density of up to 20,000 watts from a single amplifier and pristine audio quality thanks to a number of proprietary Dynacord amplifier technologies. It also features integrated networking (Dante audio and OCA/AES70 control) and can be fully configured, controlled and operated by SONICUE Sound System Software.
The main advantage that Celtic has received from the amplifier upgrade is reduced energy costs through increased efficiency. “The club was aware that they would need to upgrade their sound system at some point, and when we showed them how much they could save with IPX in terms of energy costs, they knew it would be beneficial for them,” recalls Leadbitter. “They would always have to replace the amps at some point, so they made the decision that they should get it done quickly so they could reduce their carbon footprint and start saving money.”
Celtic Park can achieve this saving thanks to Dynacord’s ecoRAIL technology. This dramatically reduces idle power consumption of the IPX series while still providing audio output, full system supervision and the capacity to restore full output power without any delay. When playing background music or pilot tone or when the system is in idle mode, power consumption may be reduced by more than 50%, all while the amp stays active and fully functional. The new technology has also allowed further savings for the club by reducing its overall UPS requirement by 50%. This further helps Celtic reach the Carbon Footprint goal of being the first ‘green’ club in the UK.
Further audio routing and control is added with a redundant pair of MXE5 Matrix Mix Engines. These performance audio matrices, combined with SONICUE Sound System Software have enabled a greater level of user control to be delivered with custom GUIs that offer various presets for aspects such as match days.
The North team headed up by Commercial AV and Pro Audio Consultant Jason Lee worked closely with the Dynacord team to create the custom GUI for Celtic Park and push the boundaries of the MXE5 matrices. “Using the in-built panel designer in SONICUE allowed North to create a professional-grade audio control interface without requiring advanced design skills,” furthers Lee. “Being Icon driven, the custom GUI provides the operator a comprehensive dashboard with several key benefits for monitoring the PAVA system, enhancing usability, efficiency and responsiveness. It provides real-time status updates for all analogue and Dante signal routing, loudspeaker zone status, loudspeaker enclosure status, amplifier health, network connectivity and UPS monitoring across the stadium bowl, multiple rack locations and the matchday control room. In the event of an alert, the operator can quickly identify an issue by immediate visual alerts.”
Reflecting on the overall project, Leadbitter is happy to see this Scotland’s largest football stadium develop its sound system to get the most out of its investment. “Celtic Park is one of the loudest stadiums in the country, maybe even the world!” he states. “When you have 60,000 fans in there, they are very loud. So you need top- quality, powerful audio to cut through the noise. The upgraded PA is doing that perfectly well.”
