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The Stade de France in Paris this year celebrates events, or to be used for prestigious concerts and A new 13-zone audio system was installed, Put together with NEXO’s GEOSoft programme its 20th anniversary, instantly recognisable spectacles. featuring nearly 300 NEXO GEO S12 loudspeaker and EASE, Melpomen’s design provides high on the international sporting scene for its With all its different uses, this huge structure cabinets and nearly 30 RS18’s, the first time levels of management: control of the directivity distinctive elliptical lines. Built as the principal was designed to be a stadium for the third NEXO delivered these powerful sub-bass units of the loudspeaker output, which keeps the STADEDE FRANCE venue for the 1998 World Cup, hosted and won millennium, and, after 14 years of successful into a sports stadium install. The GEO S12 sound within regulation limits and within the by France, the 80,000+ capacity stadium has service from its NEXO Alpha sound system, the design was, at that time, one of NEXO’s popular stadium itself, and control of the operation of Paris, France enjoyed a lifelong relationship with local audio Stade de France turned again to NEXO to come live music line array designs. It was customised the system, which allows any signal to be sent to equipment manufacturer, NEXO, with nearly up with an equally forward-looking audio design. especially for the Stade de France installation, any zone from pitch to car-parks from a single 300 of its high-output loudspeakers affixed to Installation of the new fixed sound system began resulting in the creation of the now-standard control room. its immense floating roof. in September 2010, and the Stade de France S12-ST cabinet, so successful in large-format The NEXO sound system is split to cover the project team, led by Stanilas Degardin, worked sporting environments. “We modified the upper and lower parts of the stadium. A total of One of the remarkable aspects of the stadium’s with French event production company and GEO S12 with a +3dB treble boost to provide 40 clusters of NEXO cabinets are flown from the design is the cushion of air that allows the lower installation specialist Melpomen and the NEXO the output necessary for a loudspeaker that is roof for the stands. Seven GEO S12-ST modules stands to slide out in approximately 72 hours, engineering team. A short planned period of installed so far above its listeners: 45-metres are directed at the upper levels, while a separate depending on the different configurations overlap with the old Alpha system produced the above, in the case of the Stade de France,” array of six S12’s faces directly down towards needed, allowing the stadium to be reconfigured rather unusual sight of 700 NEXO loudspeakers explained Paul Massiani, NEXO’s Stadium the lower levels. Another 32 cabinets of S12 are Above: Stade de France during the overlap period, with two NEXO systems in place to house a running track for track and field in situ. Sound Manager. used for fill at ground level. RS18’s are flown, 27

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in total. “We can change any loudspeaker full EtherSound network. Such is the in any cabinet in 30 minutes, although level of system control that any input the NEXO NXAMPs provide excellent can be sent to any output at the Stade; protection,” continued Paul. publicity announcements for the car parks, One of the additional benefits of the or a message to a specific area of the Melpomen/NEXO design is that visiting grandstand. The connectivity is via fibre production companies, bringing in optic cable, which runs from the 11 Yamaha high-profile concert artists and theatrical SB168-ES stageboxes; 10km have been spectaculars, can opt to tie into the installed in a ring architecture, which has stadium’s system to cover the upper levels itself saved a huge amount of cabling for of seating. the installation team. A high level of diagnostic control is Since the construction of France’s national provided by 32 NXAMPs, NEXO’s stadium, NEXO has gone on to become proprietary amplified controller, tucked one of the world’s pre-eminent suppliers away in nine amp rooms in the stadium of stadium and arena sound systems, roof. These provide full diagnostic recognised for loudspeaker products which information to the control room, warning can throw audio over large distances of a problem in a rack even if functionality without loss of intelligibility or power. is not actually affected. An additional eight Its success is based on tight dispersion NXAMPs are used to control a separate PA patterns of the loudspeakers, which deliver system for the stadium plaza, the open sound precisely where it is aimed, and areas surrounding the stadium, which is proprietary modelling software such as the equipped with NEXO GEO S8 compact line NS-1 package, which accurately predicts the array modules. SPL (volume) which will arrive at every seat The Stade de France system runs on a in the house.

TECHNICALINFORMATION

INSTALLERS: Melpomen BRANDS: NEXO, Yamaha WEBSITE: www.melpomen.net / www.nexo-sa.com / www.yamahaproaudio.com

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