"See What's Driving the Future" was the motto of the 62nd International Motor Show (IAA) at the Exhibition Centre in Frankfurt am Main. The show ran between 13 and 23 September 2007, with the largest automobile manufacturers in the world presenting their latest models and many technical innovations. Around one million visitors came to view the spectacle beneath the gigantic, 257-meter exhibition centre tower.
The exhibitors weren't interested in simply unveiling their innovations, so carefully concealed until opening day, to leave them just standing there in the exhibition halls. Impressively choreographed multimedia spectacles and large-scale press events used modern image and sound technologies to captivate consumers and journalists alike, many of whom had travelled to the fair from all corners of the earth.
Professionally produced product presentations flickered across giant screens, while enormous audio equipment set the tone with thunderous and impressive multi-channel sound.
Here in the bosom of the financially powerful auto industry was a chance to put on a one-of-a-kind show, making the exhibition a veritable festival for the numerous service providers from the audio and video industry commissioned to implement the presentations. They were finally presented with a chance to combine their vast expertise with premier state-of-the-art technology. Yet big budgets also carry with them big expectations—after all, the people who sign the cheques want to see a return on their investment. The best was barely good enough, and the call for absolute perfection, precision and reliability was louder than ever.
The audio specialists in particular were faced with some highly intractable tasks. The public address systems had to be gigantic, powerful and clear sounding, yet also completely invisible—even if they were composed of up to 100 loudspeaker systems. Only the best of them were up to this challenging task and were able to win the hotly contested tender to organise the automobile concerts.
The German market leaders, DaimlerChrysler (now Daimler AG), VW and BMW (with Rolls Royce and MINI), were of course represented with impressive productions. The contracts for the installation of the systems went to the events systems providers Atelier Markgraph (DaimlerChrysler), Neumann & Müller (DaimlerChrysler), Profi Musik (VW), Tonart AG (BMW) and Heiko-Müller-music-&-light-design-GmbH (MINI and Rolls Royce).
Yamaha's DME Technology at the IAA
The audio specialists from the afore-mentioned companies pursued vastly different solutions in designing the systems and in particular for the device connections, yet when it came to system management, they all relied on Yamaha's modern and proven DME technology. Roughly two dozen Yamaha DME64N digital engines and numerous other models were put to work for the three largest German auto-makers as flexible control centres and as reliable providers of computational power for signal processing.
The big show for DaimlerChrysler
Six DME64Ns and one DME24N were required for star brand DaimlerChrysler alone to get a handle on the complex sound for their IAA production. The Stuttgart-based company didn’t cut any corners and rented the exhibition centre's entire enormous festival hall. During the eleven days of the trade fair and at the press tour conducted prior to the official opening of the exhibition, the interior space of the building acquired a second core containing a clever guidance system for viewers, including a large escalator installed just for the event.
The production designed for the exhibition itself involved a 20-minute long show loop with LED animation, video support and complex sound effects—an enormous challenge for whatever devices were to be used. The PA system assumed control of numerous loudspeaker systems from different manufacturers installed semi-invisibly on three levels, with d&b amps providing power and management handled by six Yamaha DME64Ns in 11.1 surround format. These DSP engines didn’t just function as a giant cascading switching matrix with 20 inputs and 86 outputs. They also delivered numerous dynamic processors, input EQs, output EQs and delays. Thanks to the run-time delays integrated into the system design and preset control, the direction of the sound waves could be completely switched around at the press of a button on the DME by resetting the delay lines. An additional delay, this time on the input, served to synchronise the sound with the video.
The creators of the system design and PA installation here were Atelier Markgraph, with freelance system designer Georg Jordan, who programmed the DME cluster with the new DME Designer 3, as well as Neumann & Müller, a world leader in PA technology.
Stefan Hartmann from Neumann & Müller on the installation and use of Yamaha DME technology
"We set high standards for our own work and we demand a consistent high level of quality. In the DSP processor field, we prefer Yamaha's DME technology because the networking via CobraNet is very interesting, regardless of the fact that for this particular installation we made an exception and relied on normal analogue audio-NF connections between DMEs and the decentralised amps, technology that has been tested a thousand times." The new DME Designer software makes linking a laptop to the DMEs very easy, something that makes the product all the more attractive, according to Hartmann. "The client was ultimately very satisfied with our work, for which we can thank the DMEs—which, as we expected, ran absolutely reliably."
Yamaha DME Installations for BMW, Rolls Royce and MINI
Bavarian auto-maker BMW commissioned the Tonart company to install an enormous audio system for the IAA. Here too a PA system capable of serving an enormous exhibition centre hall was required. Alongside the lovingly produced staging, pragmatically dubbed "Messeloop", the equipment also had to be capable of handling the press conference—a significant difference from the DaimlerChrysler set-up.
In all, the project involved 20 input channels, drawing on various speech microphones, multi-track play devices, interpreters and live conferences, relayed to more than 100 loudspeaker systems from manufacturers such as Kling & Freitag or d&b. An outside broadcast van and the press-room also required corresponding signals.
The signal processing, control, routing, run-time adjustment and complete oversight of the equipment were assumed by six DME64Ns that were powerfully outfitted with MY expansion cards in various formats. The DSP engines were also supported through several DME satellites—an extremely demanding task given the complexity of the system.
Tonart decided to work with modern network technology to handle signal transmission over longer distances, deploying the CobraNet format and Optocore. Using a fibre-optic ring network supported by Optocore DD32 interfaces, the signals were passed to various stations like the broadcast van and the press-room. For the AD and DA conversion, Tonart elected to work with tried-and-tested Yamaha DA824 and AD824 converters. Microphone pre-amplification was handled by a remote controlled Yamaha AD8HR preamp. The DMEs were programmed so that the volume control for the equipment in the exhibition space could be controlled simply and easily by lay users.
Additional DMEs were positioned at the MINI and Rolls Royce stands, for which Heiko Müller's music-&-light-design-GmbH from Leonberg was responsible. Three DME64Ns were in action for the charming and sporty little MINI, while luxury brand Rolls Royce was allotted one DME32. For MINI alone some 50 loudspeakers had to be controlled. Deft programming of the DMEs reduced problems with cross-talk from the sound systems of other stands to a minimum.
For BMW, the engineers involved in the project also elected to emphasise the reliability of the Yamaha DMEs. The devices are absolutely fail-safe and extremely flexible. Another big advantage is the ability to connect to practically all standard formats using Yamaha's MY cards.
Volkswagen AG reaches for Yamaha DME power as well
The third of the large German auto-makers, Volkswagen AG, put its trust in the expertise of the Profi Musik company for the installation of a powerful sound system in Hall 3 of the exhibition centre.
Three extremely complex events needed to all be performed on this same set of equipment—the big production, the dealers’ evening and the press conference. That meant that not only the Profi Musik technicians but the equipment itself had to offer extreme flexibility. Sound designer Bodo Bergmann, product manager Jonas Hellberg, system designer Arne Sumfleht and the lead designer for the press conference, Jörg Anders, selected six Yamaha DME64Ns to serve as the control centre for the system.
The DSP engines supplied loudspeaker channels for 105 ceiling-mounted speakers from manufacturers Meyersound and Kling & Freitag, providing sound coverage for the enormous area. Additional front fills and several line arrays were also rolled in just for the press conference. One noteworthy aspect here was the use of remote desktop for remote control of the DMEs. Presets like "show loop," "equipment test" or "press conference" were pre-programmed into the DME to allow the entire set of equipment to be switched from one event to the next.
For the dealers’ evening there were also three Yamaha LS9s in use (2 x LS9-16, 1 x LS9-32), responsible for the mixing of the live music, among other tasks. One Yamaha DM1000 recorded the signals from the press conference. An additional Yamaha 01V96 and six Yamaha MSP5 monitors were positioned in the production room.
"Along with the installation of the vast equipment, procuring the equipment was also a big challenge," explains Profi Musik General Manager Jürgen Thiele. After all, hotel rooms aren't the only thing in scarce supply before and during the IAA in Frankfurt—DMEs from Yamaha aren't that easy to come by either, he reports…
Closing words
When it comes to extremely high-pressure events like the IAA, where everything is on the line and even the smallest flaw could lead to the loss of the next big business contract, the top service providers in the events engineering field put their trust in products from Yamaha. That may serve as a fine calling card for Yamaha Commercial Audio, but it's no reason for our developers to rest on their laurels. The next IAA for passenger vehicles is coming soon (2009). And the story will remain the same: faster, higher, further, better.
Warm thanks for support to:
Atelier Markgraph GmbH (DaimlerChrysler)
Ludwig-Landmann-Straße 349
D-60487 Frankfurt am Main
FON: +49 (0)69 - 979 93-0
FAX: +49 (0)69 - 979 93-1181
EMAIL: contact@markgraph.de
http://www.markgraph.de
Neumann&Müller GmbH & Co. KG (DaimlerChrysler)
Berzeliusstraße 19
22113 Hamburg
GERMANY
Telefon: +49 (40) 25 40 49 - 33
Telefax: +49 (40) 25 40 49 - 30
http://www.neumannundmueller.de
Profi Musik GmbH (VW)
Marie-Curie-Str.6
D-21337 Lüneburg
Tel. 04131-20020
Fax. 04131-38610
E-Mail: profi@profimusik.de
TON-ART AG (BMW)
Königsberger Straße 100
40231 Düsseldorf
Tel.: 0211 - 23 808 100
Fax: 0211 - 23 808 990
e-mail: info@ton-art.de
http://www.ton-art.de
Heiko Müller music & light design GmbH (MINI, Rolls Royce)
Hertichstr. 23
71229 Leonberg
Germany
Telefon +49(0)7152-99966-22
Telefax +49(0)7152-99966-33
mailto:heiko.mueller@mld.de
http://www.mld.de
