NEWTON, WALES: Newtown-based sound specialists, Sound Induction Systems (SIS), have just completed two installations, both combining Sennheiser SDC3000 digital conference and Sennheiser IR systems. The first system was for Monitor Facilities Management at Monmouthshire County Council and the second for the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority HQ in Brecon.
 

Simplicity of operation was a key factor in the selection of the Sennheiser SDC system for the Monmouthshire County Council in Wales

SIS first met with Monitor Facilities Management at Monmouthshire County Council when they provided conference system rental for a Welsh National Assembly meeting, held at County Hall, Cwmbran. The council was very impressed with what they saw and heard and employed the services of an independent consultant to assist in the evaluation of conference systems. They visited numerous other council's sites, assessing many other systems, and also arranged a comprehensive demonstration of the SDC3000 system with SIS and Sennheiser's John Willett. "In the end," said Phil Nicholes of SIS, "there were two deciding factors, clarity of sound and simplicity of use."

The system supplied was an SDC3000 with 57 delegate units and, as the installation is for permanent use, all wiring is concealed. In addition to the delegate mics, two Sennheiser evolution wireless systems also feed into the system for use in presentations. These are e312 lapel and e335 handheld systems, allowing presenters their preference.

An output from the SDC3000 system feeds the public gallery PA, consisting of an APart MA 40 mixer/amp and APart Sdi 20 100V-line loudspeakers. The SDC3000 also feeds the Sennheiser infrared system, used for hearing impaired people and for Welsh language simultaneous interpretation.

Channel one of the IR is fed directly from the SDC3000 for hearing impaired people. A Sennheiser evolution wireless e335 is then used by a translator and fed into channel two of the IR system. When a question is tabled in Welsh it is translated into English for non-Welsh speaking delegates listening on headsets.

Commenting for Monitor Facilities Management, Garth Brookfield said, "The conference facility, is not only the main headquarters for Monmouthshire County Council and operational base for Torfaen County Borough Council but, is also hired out to private groups, health organizations and the like. Simplicity of operation was therefore a key factor and the Sennheiser SDC system was clearly better than any other system we evaluated. We can adapt the configuration to be used but it remains absolutely simple for the delegates. Mic pickup is extremely reliable and consistent and the sound quality excellent".

Garth Brookfield also added, "Our building services department was able to coordinate pre-installation with SIS, which meant the final install and commissioning was quick and simple. We were also able to configure the installation to allow for any future expansion of the system and facilities."

SIS have also supplied an additional portable IR system for Monmouthshire County Council in a neat package using Sennheiser 1015-T IR and e345 evolution wireless systems, whereby the wireless receiver and IR transmitters are mounted together on a stand. "It's a great solution. You just place the stand, with combined radio receiver and IR transmitters in a suitable position, plug-in and you're up and running," explains Nicholes.

The second system, supplied to Brecon Beacons National Park Authority HQ in Brecon is a similar design to the Monmouthshire system. However, this time the drive was to create a system for the hearing impaired. Induction loop was discounted because of its inherent compromise in confidentiality outside of the meeting room and interference caused by over spill from loops in adjacent rooms, whereas infrared provided a secure solution. It was then decided that meetings could be more comfortable and effective for everyone with distributed sound reinforcement with chair and delegate control. Again the Sennheiser SDC3000 system was evaluated and chosen.

At Brecon the system is portable, to allow for changes in room layout. It uses 19 delegate units with an evolution wireless e312 feeding in for presentations and an output to the Sennheiser IR for the hard of hearing on channel one. Like the Monmouthshire system, a Welsh language translator then feeds in to channel two of the IR using an evolution wireless e335 system.