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Jack White Gets Bats with Harman

Baseball bat manufacturer Warstic Sports, co-owned by rocker Jack White, recently opened a new HQ/retail space outfitted with JBL Pro and Crown audio gear.

Jack White performed at the recent opening of Warstic Sports' new HQ.
Jack White performed at the recent opening of Warstic Sports’ new HQ, using the venue’s Harman-outfitted audio system.

Dallas, TX (May 26, 2022)—Baseball bat manufacturer Warstic Sports, Inc. recently opened a new facility that combines its company headquarters and a retail space in Dallas. The facility features a networked audio system centered around gear by Harman Professional Solutions.

Founded by former baseball player and entrepreneur Ben Jenkins in 2011, Warstic specializes in metal bats and customizable wood bats, along with batting gloves, fielding gloves and other baseball and softball accessories. In 2016, four-time All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler and musician Jack White became co-owners alongside Jenkins, and in November 2021, the company officially opened its flagship store and headquarters in Dallas.

In addition to a retail space and batting cage area, the facility also features a cafe, a conference space known as the War Room, and a live performance space in the basement. To both meet Warstic’s current needs and anticipate future plans for the space, Harman Professional Solutions provided design assistance and installation guidance for an audio system featuring JBL Professional, Crown, BSS and Soundcraft solutions.

“The building itself is not only our central office, but also a retail store, batting cage, speaking and event center, factory, coffee shop and a place for live music,” said Christine Edgington, president, Warstic Sports, Inc. “There are so many components packed into our 10k foot space. We started the process with a detailed explanation of how we would be utilizing all of the different spaces, and Harman matched our needs with their extensive list of products.”

“Each space had its own individual needs as far as audio was concerned,” explained Nick Mourn, production application support specialist, HARMAN Professional Solutions. “What made this installation unique was that Warstic wanted each space to share the same audio for things like background music, as well as the option for each space to have its own audio source. There’s a considerable amount of flexibility in the design so that as time goes on, the company will have an easier time launching future plans and projects. The retail space has a big projection screen, for example, and the plan is to eventually be able to play things on the screen and have the video’s sound run through the audio system just within the retail space. So this design was all about maximum flexibility without making it too complex.”

The retail space features JBL Control 65 P/T compact full-range pendant speakers with Radiation Boundary Integration technology, providing immersive background music, communications and coverage throughout the spaces. A Crown DCi 4|600N amplifier with BLU link and DriveCore technology provides power to the Control 65 speakers in the retail space, cafe and War Room.

The batting cage space needed both maintain audible sound during batting sessions and full-range live sound for acoustic shows, events and classes planned for the space. The area consists of JBL AM7212/95 two-way loudspeakers, as well as JBL Control 31 two-way monitor speakers for additional monitoring during shows or outdoor events. A Crown DCi 2|1250N amplifier powers the speakers, and a Soundcraft Ui24R digital mixer are also on-site.

Third Man Records Gets Live in London

The basement is an intimate, speakeasy-style live music area similar to the stages found in Jack White’s Third Man Records locations in Nashville, Detroit and London, all of which feature Harman audio systems. This space features JBL AM7215/26 high-power loudspeakers and ASB6128 high-power subwoofers. Additionally, JBL SRX812P self-powered speakers and SRX818SP subwoofers provide onstage monitoring, and both can also be used as a portable sound system for pop-up or outdoor events.

For the stage’s backend, a Crown DCi 4|1250ND amplifier provides ample power and a Soundcraft Vi1000 digital mixing console with a Soundcraft Vi Stagebox offers more than 100 available inputs. Elsewhere, JBL Control 65 P/T speakers powered by a Crown DCi 2|600N provide background audio for the basement.

For the entire facility, a BSS BLU-101 signal processor provides high-bandwidth processing and low-latency audio. BSS BLU-BIB input expanders in each area also allow for individual inputs in any part of the facility for events or live shows. Finally, BSS EC-8BV wall-mount controllers can be found in each area.

Warstic celebrated its opening with a surprise performance by White. “It was a very exciting night; Jack and the band played a great set and we got a lot of compliments on how good it sounded, especially given that the space is extremely small,” said Mourn. “We look forward to seeing where Warstic takes this system from here.”

 

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