Target Field hits home run with Dante
- Details
Target Field is a large venue with multiple areas around the facility that require high-quality audio support. This includes distributing audio out to various areas as well as pulling signals back to the control room for mixing and processing. For example, live bands perform before ball games and during breaks, and stadium managers must be sure the audio is pleasantly experienced throughout the stadium.
Technicians needed a way to easily and inexpensively expand the number of inputs and outputs to the stadium's main console to better mix, manage and control the total system. Their search led to the Dante audio network platform from Audinate.
With Dante as the networking solution, the team at Target Field can integrate audio from a wide range of audio devices from multi-vendor manufacturers.
"We started using Dante to connect the control room to the band stage, and this step alone brought 16 channels from the band to my main console - a huge improvement for us," says Jeff Pedersen, lead audio technician, Minnesota Twins Baseball. "Our plan now is to get Dante into all of our remote locations and bring all the control and mixing to our main control room."
A Dante system allows endless audio possibilities for the stadium, as hundreds of Dante-enabled products are available and interoperable. Pedersen can now mix any Dante-enabled speaker, amplifier, microphone, mixer, receiver, converter and more. And, with the addition of Dante AVIO Adapters, the stadium can integrate older, legacy gear into Dante systems, adding to Dante’s interoperability and flexibility.
With a Dante system in place, Dante Domain Manager proved to be a natural next step to the network, as it added the control and security features the stadium desired.
“Before Dante and Dante Domain Manager, what I wanted to do was not really possible: the cost would have been prohibitive and the time spent patching and running cables wasn’t feasible,” says Pedersen. “One of the things I can do now is send 16 channels of audio to almost any place in the stadium up to the control room. It is very liberating.”
(Jim Evans)
