SOLUTIONS: EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS, STRASBOURG [INSTALLED]
L-R: Franck Kolb, technician at the ECHR; Alain Mielle, head of the multimedia and computer section at the Council of Europe; Franck Rohm, Axians
All the audio in the courtroom is under the control of two Yamaha LS9 consoles
LS9-32 digital mixers, which are linked via MY16-ES64 and MY16-EX EtherSound cards. The mixers receive inputs from the desk mics, with outputs fed to a Bosch translation system, which handles audio for six languages at once. Each translation is then fed back into one of the LS9s, via an MY8-ADDA96 interface card, and then to the relevant amplifiers.
Other outputs include
untranslated audio feeds to the press office, recording systems and video, the latter via an MY8-SDI-ED HD/SD-SDI embed/ de-embed card. The aforementioned
Crestron room automation system, as well controlling lighting and curtains, has a major role in controlling the
courtroom audio. It is connected to the LS9s bidirectionally via MIDI/ RS232 interfaces. The console faders provide instant access to each of the 70 microphones, and the system employs a selection of programmed scenes that can be managed via a Crestron TPMC-9 touchpanel.
SYSTEM CONTROL The Crestron controller stores audio parameters relating to each participant in the courtroom. “We had to program the Crestron system to interpret the MIDI data it receives from each fader and potentiometer on the LS9s,” says Kolb. “The advantage of this system is that it remains open, while some brands are tied to proprietary protocols.
“If there is any failure, of course we can immediately use the LS9s to manage the audio, so hearings are not interrupted. We now have a total of 11 LS9s used at the Council of Europe and all have been totally reliable.” This innovative approach is one of the first of its kind to find its way into such a high- profile project, comments Mielle: “This installation was a big gamble. Where we usually consider the main element to be a conference system dedicated to managing all the microphones without really having direct access to levels, this one is the opposite: a Crestron controller operating as a central nervous system, around equipment not necessarily associated with conference audio, such as the LS9s, the ceiling speakers and the mini line array.
“Our system arouses curiosity because of the audio quality and intelligibility we get from the room. We no longer see the judges put on their headphones to hear what the complainant is saying to them, and the quality of sound sent to the interpreters is much better too.”
PROVIDING INSPIRATION According to Mielle, the new system has come to the attention of a number of other institutions that want to implement a more flexible approach to the control and management conference audio. So it seems that the evidence in favour of this approach has been found to be compelling. “The new system has
provided an enormous improvement in audio quality and intelligibility,” he adds. “It works very well and a number
AUDIO Yamaha LS9-32 digital mixing consoles beyerdynamic Revoluto MPR 211 desktop microphone units Renkus-Heinz IC8 mini line arrays KEF CI50R in-ceiling speakers Alcorn McBride AmpTraXX 16-channel amplifiers Bosch interpretation system
CONTROL Crestron room control system Crestron TPMC-9 tilt touchscreen Crestron TPS-6X wireless touchscreen HP TouchSmart 610 touchscreen monitors
of other institutions have asked for details. I think this is the beginning of many other conference facilities being based on a solution like this, with Yamaha digital consoles being a vital component.”