Powersoft, the Italian amplifier specialist, has revealed that it has supplied its next-generation amplifier Unica and a Mover compact transducer for an enhanced audio experience at Treetop Adventure Golf, UK.
Treetop Adventure Golf, famed for its immersive mini golf courses, recently opened a new location in Gateshead, Newcastle. The new location features two 18-hole jungle-themed courses, one themed on the natural environment and the other on an ancient temple.
Collaborative process
To ensure an uninterrupted experience, Treetop Adventure Golf contacted system integrator Full Production. The firm hired audiovisual experience designer Dan Roncoroni to develop an AV system that could stand alone without staffing for 14 hours a day, seven days a week.
Roncoroni explains: “Treetop Adventure Golf as a whole was an excellent client – there was no real traditional briefing, but a much more collaborative process where the system was designed to meet the company’s ambitions for new audio content, which was created with the capabilities of the system in mind.”
The installation’s goal was to tell a narrative to people playing mini golf. This, Roncoroni says, is: “exceptionally hard to do so without considering the audio system at the inception. With a huge variance in visitor demographics, and hundreds of visitors a day, ensuring that all voice lines are intelligible in all circumstances, and that the site is well balanced and not cacophonous, is vital.”
Multiple loudspeakers are concealed at each hole so that guests do not see any of the low-level loudspeakers. Players activate audio material by making or missing putts on each hole, while a continuous soundscape plays in the background.
Powersoft amplification is used throughout, with 16 Unica 8M amplifier platforms, eight of these are Unica 2000W/eight-channel and eight are Unica 4000W/eight-channel. Roncoroni chose Unica primarily for its power density with limited rack space. He shares: “The design relied on nearly every loudspeaker being individually amplified; therefore, having eight channels of amplification with power sharing in 1U was invaluable.”
The Powersoft Cloud for remote monitoring was also a key consideration. Roncoroni explains: “There are no dedicated technical staff on site and Powersoft Cloud allows us to try and be proactive with servicing and fault finding.”
James Lawford, live sound channel manager of CUK Audio, Powersoft’s UK distributor, adds: “The rack space was limited, with only 16U rack, it was useful to have Unica’s power density. Not only that, but its power-sharing capability, allocating power across different speakers and utilising multiple channels within a small amount of space proved invaluable given the number of speakers in the installation.”
Effective solutions
Because electrical work was still being carried out throughout the audio installation, Roncoroni considers the testing and verification functions using PoE++ to be critical. He explains: “Being able to test loudspeakers with only the switch powered, with no mains to the amps, was invaluable.”
The PoE input on Unica allows it to keep the network ports and amplifier logic circuits powered in the event of mains loss, providing a quick wake-up time when power is restored. Lawford shares: “Dan relied on PoE++, which Powersoft highlighted as a key feature during Unica’s launch. This goes to show that Powersoft was considering both the end user and system integrator needs from the outset.”
Roncoroni also selected Powersoft’s Mover, a small, low-frequency inertial-drive haptic transducer that was positioned in a space where the sound and feel of a collapsing structure needed to be recreated. The ceiling height was not sufficient to install a large subwoofer, and he was concerned about noise inconveniencing nearby properties.
Roncoroni says: “Mover solves both of those problems while arguably being far more effective than any traditional subwoofer.”
Mover’s small design and power-to-size prowess enable it to be fitted into restricted locations, without orientation constraints, and to provide a very high ratio between moving mass and total mass, increasing overall final product efficiency. This increases the aspect of any AV immersive experience while alleviating concerns about low-frequency noise pollution.
68 EM Acoustics EMS-41, 24 QSC AD-P4TB pendant speakers, 14 EM Acoustics S-48 low profile VLF installation subwoofers, 13 EMS-51, five EMS-61 and four EMS-81X passive loudspeakers, seven AD-P.SUB-B pendant subwoofers, and two QSC AD-CTW ceiling speakers have been utilised in addition to Powersoft amplifiers, together with two M2 Mac Minis, running QLab and PanLab plug-ins, two RME Digiface Dance and one TiMax SoundHub 32-S.
Creative approach
Every loudspeaker on the golf course has its own amplifier, and the Unica amplifiers are housed in a single 42U rack next to the equipment rack for lighting and show control. According to Roncoroni: “the audio system is relatively simple. Each 18-hole course is run from a Mac Mini running QLab. The Mac Minis output content via Dante, through the RME units, either directly to an amplifier or via the TiMax for spatial audio.”
The Pharos lighting system processes the output from each golf hole’s sensors to activate win, lose, or ambient content, triggered by OSC commands.
“This was the first installation with Unica in the UK, and for us it was great to see how many Unica features Dan and Full Production utilised to make the final result a success,” adds Lawford.
Roncoroni shares: “We’ve had an excellent response from Treetop Adventure Golf. The company and its creative team have embraced an attitude that wouldn’t be amiss in professional theatre making.”
Powersoft presented its innovative compact transducer, Mover, at the IAAPA Expo in Orlando from 14 to 17 November.
