Quick view:
- Utilizing Genelec Smart IP over Dante allowed power, uncompressed audio, and individual speaker calibration to run over a single standard Cat 6 cable per unit, eliminating the massive electrical and cabling footprint normally required for a 140-plus speaker array.
- The system creates a continuous 360-degree listening sphere driven by high-end studio infrastructure—including a Danish Audio Devices AX Center, Mac Studio, RME Digiface Dante interface, REAPER, and Max.
- Moving far beyond music composition and ensemble rehearsals, the facility serves as a campus-wide laboratory. It attracts students and researchers from game design, engineering, film, and communications, while supporting cross-sector studies in acoustic ecology, health and wellness, occupational safety training, and industrial simulation.
Michigan State University’s College of Music has transformed its 2,150-square-foot Eichler Hall into one of higher education’s most ambitious immersive audio environments. Traditionally a rehearsal and performance space for large ensembles like orchestra, band, and choir, the facility now operates as a high-density spatial audio laboratory designed for Ambisonic composition, performance, education, and cross-disciplinary research. The initiative was funded by Ed and Wanda Eichler, led by assistant professor of composition and technology Anthony T. Marasco, and designed in consultation with Tanner Upthegrove of Electroacoustics.
[SCN Installation Showcase 2026]
The acoustic framework features 143 Genelec 4430AW Smart IP Installation Loudspeakers (in white) alongside two Genelec 7382A Smart Active Subwoofers. Operating over Dante via Cat 6 cabling, the Smart IP ecosystem proved crucial for an array of this scale, running audio, power, and control through a single network line. This avoided the immense complexity of running separate electrical infrastructure to more than 140 individual points. Upthegrove calibrated and commissioned the space using Genelec Smart IP Manager software, which provided zoned and individual EQ profiling, sensitivity adjustment, and alignment directly stored within each loudspeaker without relying on external DSP.
At the technical core, a Danish Audio Devices AX Center interface links with a primary Mac Studio workstation. Supplemental routing and integration hardware includes an RME Digiface Dante 256-Channel 192 kHz USB Audio Interface, Dante Virtual Soundcard, and a Behringer X32 mixer for integrating analog sources and live stage instruments. On the software side, the lab relies on REAPER and Max for complex multichannel routing, Ambisonic processing, live spatialization, and custom spatial audio scripting.
“When Tanner began looking at what we wanted to accomplish, he strongly recommended that we build the system around Genelec Smart IP," Marasco said. "That decision really unlocked what was possible in the room. Being able to deliver audio, power and control through the network greatly simplified an installation of this scale, while giving us the ability to manage and optimize the loudspeakers individually. With more than 140 loudspeakers surrounding the listener, that level of flexibility is incredibly important.”
Replacing an earlier, temporary 7.1.4 loudspeaker setup previously used for Marasco’s Immersive Sound Design course, the permanent installation gives students an unprecedented canvas. Learners can place sounds at exact 3D coordinates, combine Ambisonic field captures with discrete mono or stereo sources, or recreate physical and imaginary acoustic spaces using impulse-response modeling. The curriculum has expanded beyond music students to engage departments across game design, engineering, and communications, with plans to incorporate film and journalism.
Beyond traditional coursework, Eichler Hall is configured as a public venue for fixed-media playback concerts, guest artist residencies, and immersive festivals. It also functions as a campus-wide research engine, supporting studies in acoustic ecology, health and wellness, industrial simulation, and occupational safety training. By rendering audio so precisely that individual sources move seamlessly through the space rather than leaping between cabinets, Michigan State provides a pioneering platform where spatial concepts can be realized, tested, and shared across disciplines.
