The recently completed University of Phoenix Stadium—home to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals football team, encompasses 1.7 million square feet of space, seating capacity of 73,000 and was developed at a cost of approximately $455 million. The stadium relies on an audio/visual system conceived and installed by Miami-based design/build firm Pro Sound (www.prosound.net). As part of the system alignment process, the Pro Sound team brought in a Lectrosonics TM400 wireless system for test and measurement. The install was completed in August 2006.
Key personnel involved in the project included Pro Sound VP Kelly Prince and Dave Shoemaker, director of operations, from the company’s Orlando, Fla., satellite office. According to Prince, “Pro Sound handled all audio and broadcast systems at the stadium. This included the audio broadcast control room, hooks for the mobile broadcast trucks and the in-house control room. We purchased the Lectrosonics TM400 specifically for this project—with the big attraction being that the system would enable us to avoid having to run miles of cable to take our measurements. Our TM400 was used extensively to measure the new Meyer Sound system that we installed.”
“I was particularly impressed by the fact that the TM400 delivered digital performance with its 20 to 20k Hz frequency response,” adds Shoemaker. “This is a big plus. Equally important is the fact that the TM400 has no companding circuitry, as this enables the system to handle the full frequency response of the sound without being compromised by any compression. When you’re taking measurements, a compandor would end up compromising the measurement results, which is unacceptable. As a measurement device, you want a wireless system to behave like a hardwired mic, and the TM400 does exactly that.”
For additional information, visit www.lectrosonics.com.
