Powersoft helps create the learning space of the future for Monash University

The audio infrastructure is based on the technology of Powersoft. Specifically, they have been installed 22 Ottocanali 1204 DSP+ETH, 10 Quattrocanali 1204 DSP+D, 5 Quattrocanali 2404 DSP+D and two M20D HDSP+ETH.

the Monash University worked with CHW Consulting to carry out the tender it obtained Rutledge AV. Powersoft joined as a supplier of the project with its amplifiers Ottocanali and Quattrocanali that have been deployed in the Clayton Teaching and Learning Building.

They have been installed in total 22 Ottocanali 1204 DSP+ETH, 10 Quattrocanali 1204 DSP+D (dante), 5 Quattrocanali 2404 DSP+D and 2 M20D HDSP+ETH, as part of a high-specification audio setup that puts end users (teachers and students) at the heart of the solution.

Consider the largest university in Australia, Monash has established centers of academic excellence around the world. The Clayton campus is the largest and educates more than 30.000 students every year. First established in 1958, to 20 km southeast of Melbourne, has undergone a broad transformation of its learning and teaching building, with 65 formal training spaces and 60 Informal, spread over almost 30.000 m2, providing an innovative and forward-looking approach.

Designed to free the minds of academics and students from the constraints of more traditional teaching environments, AV configuration is central to this philosophy, as it allows them to interact with technology intuitively, instead of being a barrier.

Myles Fenton, Audiovisual Capability Manager at Monash University, whose team led the audiovisual design of the project, Says: "The 'student agency'’ was the core of our thinking. Students should feel comfortable making their own decisions”.

Monash University worked with CHW Consulting to secure a specification for the project to go out to tender., and Rutledge AV won that process and was appointed as a vendor and integrator of AV systems for the project..

Powersoft joined as a supplier in this project with its series of multichannel amplifiers of dedicated installation, Ottocanali and Quattrocanali. These have been deployed throughout Clayton's teaching and learning building..

They have been installed in total 22 Ottocanali 1204 DSP+ETH, 10 Quattrocanali 1204 DSP+D (dante), 5 Quattrocanali 2404 DSP+D (and 2 M20D HDSP+ETH) as part of a high-specification audio setup that puts end users (teachers and students) at the heart of the solution.

Fenton and his team set out to design the best circular learning space. "The common deficiency in other spaces of this type is line-of-sight issues that create a disconnect between focus on the presenter versus the content.. Our solution is an array of 98 inches".

Fenton goes on to explain the challenges they faced to bring the project to a successful conclusion. "We knew that round spaces have the potential to be an acoustic disaster.. We have an acoustic treatment above and below the slates around the perimeter of the room and a very dense acoustic one on the ceiling. Obviously, whiteboards are very reflective, so we have tilted them upwards so that the first reflections reach the acoustically treated ceiling. Similarly,, the octagon of screens is tilted downwards, to improve visibility and break acoustic reflections".

The installation has been carried out in the Learning in the Round, the centerpiece of the learning and teaching building. It was a big audio challenge because of its shape.; the reverberant field concentrates all the energy in the center and there are several access points. Consistency is key, while finding a balance in investment in the three key aspects of good sound installed: the directivity of the speaker, acoustic treatment and microphone.

To address all these challenges, the university opted for wireless technology Shure ULX-D across campus and, at the same time, selected a high directivity device with narrow, controlled dispersion patterns (EAW KF394), mounted on each screen in the octagonal array.

The KF394 was chosen because of the pair of controllers of 10 spaced inches of the cabinet that help extend pattern control to the mid-range where speech power frequencies are located. The EAW VFR69, together with Powersoft's Ottocanali or Quattrocanali multichannel amplifiers, ensuring it shares consistent sound with all other EAW speakers on campus.

Beyond Learning in the Round, the processing block Greybox EAW enables identical breadth and phase response in smaller learning spaces, as well as in high-specification theatres, with the ability to implement the filter set on the Powersoft amplifier natively.

Integrator loads the preset and gets optimized, accurate sound no matter what speaker category is chosen for a particular room or application. This supports Monash's goal of providing an equal audio and acoustic experience., regardless of space.

The ability to install EAW Greybox DSP presets allows teachers and listeners to have a matching response across multiple rooms with different speaker options. With the project team using Powersoft's Harmony software to load EAW Greybox presets and final equalization of the speaker system, the room file is saved for future service.

"Our goal with this project was to provide the learning space of the future for our faculty and students to excel and help cement our position as one of the world's leading academic institutions.. Audio settings play a key role in this.", concludes Fenton.

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