How One University Upgraded the Audio Experience at Athletic Events Indoors and Out

Matt Hill’s affiliation with the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, Minn., runs deep. He played football, ran track and cross country, and wrestled while a student at the school, then returned as a track and field coach and sports information director. That was a quarter-century ago, and within a year inside the administrative offices at Northwestern, he was promoted to athletic director. To say Hill has a personal stake in the quality of the experience for current Eagles athletes and fans would be an understatement. It had been decades since the UNW gym’s audio system had last seen an upgrade when Hill chose to modernize with Biamp. Based on that success, he brought the Beaverton, Ore.-based company back last summer to revamp the school’s outdoor venues, as well. Hill explains why Northwestern chose to blanket its entire athletic campus with Biamp-driven sound — even in some atypical locations.

Can you describe the sound situation inside the gym?

It just was inaudible. You could understand it if you listened really closely, but you start putting people in there, and you just couldn’t understand what the announcer was saying very clearly. It blasted at you in certain areas, and in other areas you couldn't hear very well. It wasn’t zoned great.

How did Biamp address that?

They really did a nice job of upping the quality and then the controllability. If we run a junior varsity game in there, we don’t need audio on one side. We can customize what speakers are being utilized, and the quality is much better. You can hear the PA announcer and music completely better.

Did you do much research into available solutions in the marketplace before choosing Biamp?

That’s a good question, because our AV Services Department actually started up the project. They came to me and basically said, “This is a great vendor. We’re going to use them.”

What were your issues outdoors?

One of the things we needed on each of our fields was the ability to adjust the quality of the sound at the actual venue, because all of our sound runs through a sound room underneath our stadium. In the past, we did have some volume adjustments in each of our four areas where we plug in and announce from and play music from, but it didn’t work. The settings were never right. Now, they’ve installed the ability for us to really control and lock down what we want to do at each site. The tennis courts facility has its own box now with all the equipment inside of it. That was really one of our biggest needs at the venue, not having to run into the stadium every time we need to adjust the sound. So, the functionality was great. The useability of the equipment they installed — it’s just a dial wheel now with a menu and push buttons. It’s so easy to use, as opposed the other system. That flexibility is nice. The ability to lock down the sound now, so that we don’t have some joker come out, put on their own music and have a concert on our field until the cops show up. We have the ability to really control the security of the system.

Isn’t it a little unusual to have audio at a tennis facility?

It is, but it’s kind of fun. They’re out there practicing, and there’s music on, or you’re doing a starting lineup and you get to announced kids. It’s nice.

Does the hardware vary from outside to inside?

Good question. All the four outdoor venues use basically the same exact system or same equipment to function, so if you know how to use one field, you know how to use them all. Inside is slightly different. It’s actually not in a secure area, so it has a touchpad, a key code and then you can adjust. It gives you a little bit better quality, because you’re inside, and it’s just a little bit more customizable. We have more inputs into one unit. We have a couple of wireless mics. We have a couple audio inputs. It’s a little bit bigger system than what would be outside. We don’t need a whole lot for baseball — a mic and a sound jack.

What impressed you most about working with Biamp?

They really listened to our needs. They did a really deep dive. We had so many meetings, because they really wanted to get it right, and I appreciate that. They asked lots of questions. They gave us diagrams. They took sound checks. They were completely thorough — probably one of the most thorough companies, besides maybe the builder of our facilities, that I’ve seen, and one that really is concerned about the outcome. “Where do you need the sound? Where’s the majority of your sound when you’re doing practices? You want music? Where do you want the sound projected to? What about your neighbors? Do we need to be concerned about how we mount these and which direction we send the sound?” And the follow-up was great. They came out and trained us, asked us if it worked, tweaked a couple of things. We asked if something could be done a little bit different, and they had no problem moving a few speakers. It turned out really nice.

What have you heard either from your athletes or your spectators? Has there been a noticeable appreciation for the improvement in sound?

Yeah, for sure. People in the gymnasium have definitely noticed the improvement — the quality of the PA announcements, the quality of the music being played and how you can just understand things better. Outside, the ability to adjust the volume levels in more strategic ways, as opposed to just turning it up loud for the entire complex, has been great. I know some coaches have said that. Occasionally, we’ll have a baseball and a softball game going on next to each other, and we have to be cognizant of the sound at each, and this new system allows us to do that.

How do you personally feel about it?

I will say this, the quality is so good, I park past the outfield for baseball, and a few times I’ve called in to say, “That sounds really, really good in the parking lot, like I’m getting a concert out here — because it’s so good. So, I have noticed, personally, the quality of the sound. Like I say, I’ve been here 25 years, so I’ve seen three different systems, and this is the best one we’ve had.

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