MINNEAPOLIS, MN--After recent conversions and upgrades, three of the Minneapolis area's premier hotels now share more than lavish accommodations and spectacular service. The W Hotel in the famous
Foshay Tower, the Westin Minneapolis in the historically-registered US Bank building, and the Bloomington Hilton near the Mall of America boast sound systems commensurate with their prestige. All three systems are centered on SymNet open-architecture DSP systems with user-control via SymNet
wall-mounted interfaces. Electronic Design Company (EDC), the same regional firm that has been contracted to provide a state-of-the-art sound system for the new University of Minnesota Gopher's TCF Stadium, performed both the design and installation.
According to EDC lead installation technician/engineer Tim Miles, their principle functions are to flexibly provide background music in lobbies, common areas, restaurants, and bars via an extensive 70-volt network of ceiling loudspeakers and, where needed, subwoofers. Thus, many of the system inputs come from DMX Music sources, with play lists customized both by venue and by time of day. Additional iPod, CD player, and microphone inputs service bars, restaurants, and other areas that require local sources.
Nevertheless, the arguably more interesting use of the sound systems is to provide reinforcement in the elegant ballrooms and well-built meeting rooms in each hotel. Their large number of microphone inputs prompted EDC to include several SymNet BreakIn12 units, which added the required inputs without incurring the cost of additional, but unnecessary, DSP capabilities. Where multiple rooms could be combined or separated with air walls, Miles used SymNet's Automix Room Combiner DSP module to elegantly provide the necessary processing.
