Audio system provides clarity for The Deep
The Deep is an international tourist attraction located in Hull, East Yorkshire with a focus on marine conservation. The mind-blowing array of exhibits are home to over 5,000 animals and attracts almost half a million visitors each year – securing their place as the most commercially successful Millennium Project in the UK.
A challenging environment
Having already established a long working relationship, Visavvi were chosen to install a cutting-edge audio system that would bring clarity into the most crucial part of the visitor experience; providing presentations that are both informative, yet highly engaging. Acoustically, the building presents a challenging environment for audiences. Not only is it a large open space, but it consists of multiple hard surfaces. “We needed an audio system that would work with the environment and deliver superior clarity and intelligibility within each area”, said Ben Jones, Curator of The Deep.
AV integrator of choice
When it came to working with an AV integrator to rise to the demands, it was their faith in our team that made working with Visavvi an easy choice for The Deep. Ben enthused, “Having a good working relationship which has been developed over a number of years gives us confidence and trust in the advice and guidance they give us.”
The Deep is a charity and works within a strict budget – so in order to ensure that the solutions were the right fit for them, our team organised a live demo of several solutions to the client.
“We came to the site and set up ‘proof of concept’ systems in three areas and used them for live presentations. They were really successful – and allowed us to create a detailed technical proposal,” commented Steve Gore-Browne, Visavvi Account Manager.
Perfect audio solutions
With so many difficult, reflective surfaces in each area, the key to the AV solution lay in delivering the audio directly to the audience through focussed sound mapping. This was achieved using acoustically steerable line array speakers driven by powerful Symetrix Prysim digital sound processors. Inputs from multiple sources including Sennheiser digital wireless microphones are distributed and manged using a DANTE network. This audio over network capability allows the audio to be adjusted from tablet, PC or smartphone, giving the house staff total and flexible control of the audio system.
Our AV engineers
Our audio visual engineers worked closely with the team at The Deep, ensuring the installations didn’t impact on the normal day-to-day activities. Ben explained, “Our space is multi-use and often used for events. The Visavvi team were always flexible with installation timings and conscious about noise. They really worked with us to minimise disruption for our visitors”.
Instant benefits for staff and visitors
The ease of use and reliability were both key factors for the client. “Due to the number of staff members that need to use the system, it had to be really easy to use. We are aquatic, not audio experts. The AV system needed to be intuitive enough for a visiting presenter to use with minimal training. Our team were able to just pick it up and fly with it”, enthused Ben. ‘’We’ve had previous audio systems that haven’t worked and have let us and our visitors down. The audio quality and directional sound of the new system is superb and something presenters look forward to using which is a big contrast.’’
Following the installation, the benefits are already taking full effect. ‘’The audio has very much improved – clarity has been achieved in all areas of the environment. We often present to large groups of school children who get very excited and noisy, and now the audio can be heard clearly. As a charity we are very careful with our spend and the project has been very beneficial and has delivered real value’’, said Ben.
I deal with many projects, but this is by far one of the best I have worked on. The communication with Visavvi was great throughout and all ideas were presented to us which really helped us to make the right decisions. Everything was so easily achieved… I didn’t have to do much, which took a lot of stress out of my job! It’s made a huge difference, and this is just phase 1. We would definitely like to work with Visavvi in the future as we continue to upgrade our AV facilities here at The Deep.“
