The latest jewel in the crown of Auckland’s tourism sector in the heart of the entertainment precinct, is a fully interactive, immersive experience, drawing the visitor into the world of the All Blacks.
The Opportunity
The All Blacks Experience allows visitors a unique opportunity to be immersed in the world of the All Blacks and Teams in Black and to discover more about their culture, legacy of success and connections with New Zealand.
A priority was to create a highly engaging experience for visitors. The visitor is immersed in this latest experience that steps through the process of what it takes to make, shape and be an All Black. Five interactive zones provide the opportunity for a visitor to face the full force of the haka, to prove their rugby knowledge, as well as getting hands-on in the skills area by testing their kicking, lineout and agility skills against some of the greatest All Blacks and Black Ferns – and each other.
Wellington-based company Toulouse were engaged to work alongside the project team at Workshop E to design, specify and install immersive AV, lighting and audio technology into this new experience.
Toulouse specialise in providing creative design and technical solutions for the visitor experience and arts presentation sectors. The company collaborates with key players in this space to provide some of the best experience-based storytelling, both within the country and internationally.
The Solution
The end-to-end audio architecture for the All Blacks Experience is delivered on a variety of hardware – Crown CDI Drivecore installation amplifiers, AVoIP audio decoders, a mixture of PC’s and Brightsign media players for source. There are three sets of 5.1 audio spaces within the experience.
Due to the unique audio requirements of each zone, Crown CDI4300BL, CDI4600BL and CDI41200BL amplifiers were selected. Crown CDi installation amplifiers feature Crown DriveCore technology, ensuring consistent power output and a range of input options. Designed for energy efficiency, these amplifiers also provide versatile networked audio capabilities and the inclusion of a BLU link digital audio bus to facilitate high-speed, high-bandwidth integration with BSS networks.
In each zone across the experience, the multi-channel (5.1) audio is delivered via an HDMI cable from a Brightsign media player to the AVoIP audio decoder. The six discrete channels of audio are then delivered into the BSS BLU-806 digital network for distribution to each of the Crown CDI amplifier channels.
The BSS BLU806 digital signal processor made this complex system possible with its BLU link and Dante connectivity. With configurable architecture and intuitive drag-and-drop design, it features a low-latency 256-channel audio bus, combining high bandwidth and power with user-friendly design for efficient and reliable audio distribution.
All other audio is again delivered by the Brightsign media players in a mix of mono and stereo sources, outputted into the BSS BLU network. The BSS BLU network then delivers the audio to a range of spaces within the site via a series of Crown CDI BLU enabled amplifiers.
“The Crown CDI range of amplifiers offered the project the best value for the integrated audio network features and the most versatility utilising both the BSS BLU network and Dante audio together within one architecture.”
The key challenge was the complexity of the experience and the range of requirements – from a bone rattling haka performance to an intimate ‘locker room’ conversation. Toulouse installed 160 loudspeakers and 138 channels of audio amplification across this experience. Some amplification was located in the field, whilst other zones of the experience were rack mounted and integrated into the audio network.
Each zone within the experience had uniquely different audio and architectural requirements – to address this the amplifiers and loudspeakers were matched to the composers and designer’s wishes. Extensive testing was undertaken in the Toulouse Wellington workshop with sample source audio provided ahead of the installation in order to achieve this. Creative leads were engaged with the tweaking process to ensure the clarity and depth of the audio experience matched the vision.
Some design elements added complexity to the functionality of the audio design. The ‘Haka Room’ – where the audience are face to face with larger-than-life All Blacks projected on a four-metre-high screen performing the haka Ka Mate Ka Mate – called for a subsonic boom, amplifying and replicating the power of being in front of the All Blacks as they perform the haka on the pitch.
Loudspeakers were carefully selected and deployed to achieve this truly immersive and powerful effect. Amplification within the Haka zone is through a series of Crown CDI41200BL amplifiers delivering 1200 Watts to the centre, left, right and surround speakers, with bridged 2x 1200W to each of the subwoofer enclosures. For the loudest portions of the soundtrack, the amplifiers are maxed out on the fronts and subs – there is considerable audio being delivered into the small space, allowing the visitor to be fully surrounded in this audio experience.
“The finished product creates an immersive and highly emotive soundscape, delivered with crystal clear sound and high fidelity.”
The Impact
“The Crown CDI range of amplifiers offered the project the best value for the integrated audio network features and the most versatility utilising both the BSS BLU network and Dante audio together within one architecture,” says Marc Simpson of Toulouse. “The audio power and reproduction from Crown enhanced the loudspeaker performance which were also ultimately selected with value and audio performance as key drivers.
“The networking capabilities of these products afforded the Toulouse team a high degree of flexibility and responsiveness during the installation process – creative decisions were made in-situ and Toulouse needed to match the client requirements with the technical capacity within a short time frame.”
The effectiveness of the specific product and the overall impact was noted by the client:
Phil McGowan, General Manager All Blacks Experience said: “Toulouse are a trusted critical partner for us at the All Blacks Experience and their work on the delivery of audio content within the experience has been exceptional. The finished product creates an immersive and highly emotive soundscape, delivered with crystal clear sound and high fidelity, which allows our visitors to not only hear the amazing soundtrack, but to feel it too!”
“The mighty Ka Mate haka from the All Blacks literally shakes our visitors to the bone – this kind of sound isn’t possible without reliable, professional audio equipment and a highly engaged, experienced technology partner like Toulouse who can bring their years of experience to bear to ensure the technology used is specified, installed and cared for correctly.”
