From local high school baseball diamonds to college football fields to professional soccer fields, stadiums bring on their own unique needs for quality audio-visual systems. Stadiums hold some of the best memories for a person or a community, but can be a sound person’s logistical nightmare when it comes to temporary patchwork fixes, systems that don’t fit current needs or blown-out equipment. All audio-visual equipment needs to be evaluated periodically and when that evaluation tells you it’s time to invest in your stadium’s sound there are some pitfalls to avoid. In a previous article, we discussed how to get it right the first time. This time we will explore 7 stadium audio-visual mistakes to avoid when looking to reinvest.
- “Just make it louder”
The home crowd will always cheer for the long throw, but sound that throws way beyond the stadium can be an annoyance. A neighboring community or the people in the stands don’t want sound that’s piercing or overbearing. Bringing in an audio-visual team to assess the stadium’s layout can help in pairing you up with the right powered solution for announcers and playback. - “Who has the cheapest option?”
Working within a budget is nothing new for the professional audio-visual designer and installer, but when looking for a reinvestment it’s important to have a great grasp on the needs of the stadium. Sometimes, based on your needs and goals, an audio-visual team can use some of your current equipment and pair it some newer to get a solution that not only fits a budget, but also your goals. Going off of the cheapest option alone, and not looking at some of the bigger picture things, can cause the stadium to have to reinvest sooner than they planned. - “We just need one person to know how this all works”
Having one person as the “point person” isn’t a bad idea, but only training one person with how the whole system works and how to maintain it properly isn’t the best practice. Having a small team of those who can be trained by the audio-visual team allows for consistent maintenance and best practices in using the equipment to it’s fullest potential. - “It’s just speakers, how long can it take?”
Creating the right redesign for a stadium requires gathering a lot of vital information like measurements. There are a lot of considerations the designer has to take into account before the install and testing process starts. Some stadiums, like football/track and field, can be busy year round. Knowing what your time expectations are going into the project can help set you and your A/V company up for the best results and turnaround. Remember, the A/V team isn’t just working with the sound requirements but also the architectural design and surroundings of your current area. - “The more buttons, the better”
As stadium’s needs grow and expand and look for more robust remodels, it’s not always merely getting the solution that “does more”. While “doing more” might be on the needs list for the remodel, a stadium could end up with a system that is a bad fit and over complicated to use. Know who will be using the system and what their needs will be can prevent you from looking for solutions that are too complicated for your application. - “The less buttons, the better”
On the other side of the “more is better” coin is the “less is more” side. While ease-of-use and simplicity is a great goal for those operating the system, it’s important to make sure you express all your needs to your A/V team so that you end up with a solution that can grow with your stadium. Going with a system that is smaller but doesn’t meet your needs can only lead to frustration and missed opportunity. - “It just needs to do what our old system did”
Over the last 10 years not only has the sound technology evolved, but so has the purpose of the systems in stadiums. As stadiums are using more video technology, music playback and have more robust scoreboards the need for changes in the technology have also. More than ever, crowds that fill stands are expecting clean, clear communication that isn’t muddled or distracting.
Fans undoubtedly come to the stadium to enjoy the game, but clear and clean sound definitely plays a large part in that enjoyment. When it’s time to remodel your current audio-visual application in your stadium you want to get it right and have an investment that takes the stadium into the next phase of growth. Avoiding costly mistakes in the remodel means you’ve selected a team that knows what they’re doing, listens to your needs and delivers a solution that fits well.
Audio Acoustics understands the unique needs a stadium has and is able to design and install an application that will give your audience an experience to remember.
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