PHOTO : BOBBY SINGH /@ FOHPHOTO PHOTO : BOBBY SINGH /@ FOHPHOTO
EAW ’ S MK8126I IN USE AS AN UNDERHANG FILL
AN OUTSIDE LOOK AT THE SEAT AND CONCOURSE FILLS
the QX594I , and two of the QX596I , with each model offering a slightly different vertical beamwidth . Representing the 300 series are 47 QX394I enclosures , as well as two QX399Is .
To augment the main PA experience , 276 additional EAW boxes are spread throughout the lower levels , shooting both into the concourses and downward as additional fills directly over sections of the stands . The bulk of these fills are MK8126i two-way passive speakers , with a count of 178 . Working in tandem with these are 92 of the smaller JF80z enclosure ( also two-way passive ) and an additional two JF60z boxes . Draped throughout the concourse , as well , are 172 QSC AD-P6T 6.5-in . pendant loudspeakers to fill in the walking space .
“ Those pendant speakers are for special events , and if they want to make announcements on the concourse level ,” Deslauriers explains . “ There are a lot of MK- and JF-model speakers underneath the underhang on the concourse level to listen to the field and the game , but sometimes they use the Rogers Centre for events and trade shows and other things … So it ’ s kind of its own zone .”
To round out the speaker count , 161 of QSC ’ s AD-S8T 8-in . two-way boxes were deployed as underhangs throughout the suite level , with 63 of the AD-S10T model throughout the venue as additional fills , including the ballpark ’ s exterior walkways . A small handful of JBL ’ s All-Weather Compact ( AWC ) series speakers are also deployed outside the building and at the very top of the dome , replacing the original 1989 fare . All-in-all , over 800 new loudspeakers were installed , ultimately increasing coverage , clarity , and overall capability in addition to future-proofing . The question then is , how do you power 800 loudspeakers in an installation like this ?
While the collaboration with an American integrator was a first for SFM on the business side , this install also presented the opportunity for another first , according to Deslauriers , as he explains that it was the first large-scale deployment of QSC ’ s CX-Q series network amplifiers – over 100 of them – including seven 1,500W , eight-channel 8K8 units ; 47 8K4 units , which offer four channels at 2,400W ; 27 4K4 units , also offering four channels but at 1,500W ; and 25 of the 2K4 , with four channels at 800W . Central to the network solution are two Q-SYS Core510i integrated processors .
What the Q-SYS ecosystem means for the installation is that venue staff have complete , remote control over any aspect of the system , from essentially anywhere in the building . Several QSC touchscreens throughout the ballpark , most notably in the amp rooms and in the audio control room , allow any single amplifier unit to be remotely inspected and its parameters changed at a moments ’ notice . The nature of the ecosystem also allows for remote control via iOS devices . It ’ s always delightful when the future arrives , and it certainly felt like a sci-fi moment standing on the field listening as Christiansen made real-time adjustments to hundreds and hundreds of speakers from his iPad . “ This system , unlike some other DSP interfaces , has its own built-in control suite ,” Deslauriers says of Q-SYS . “ So you don ’ t need a third party ; we can control all of our own devices and all third-party devices , because essentially being Intel-based , they ’ re like small business servers .”
The network switches in the system are provided by QSC as well , with eight each of the NS-1148p and NS-1124p 1Gbps POE units in action . “ These are pre-approved , pre-commissioned switches shipped from the factory ,” explains Deslauriers . “ Because as demands on audio systems have become higher , and this system certainly has a high demand on it , the network calibration and the QoS is paramount .”
To take the extent of the network capabilities even further , All Pro Design Engineer Michael Walden , CTS , describes an instance during the install where integrator All Pro was able to make tweaks to the system from Florida . “ One of the challenges with finishing this was that when we were finishing it , it was around the time that all of this stuff with COVID came up . So with that , while Spark Power was able to go out and do some additional work , we were able to remotely access the systems within Rogers Centre . As Spark Power was going through testing and checking things , we were able to go in and look at the system , and make sure everything was working . If they needed a tweak to a user interface ,
28 PROFESSIONAL SOUND