Xilica Case Study

FLOW

Located in the historic Amsterdam neighborhood of Hauthavens, Flow encapsulates a modern workplace where corporate and lifestyle co-exist.

SOLUTION BENEFITS

• Content streamed around the building over main IT network, removing proprietary copper cable and eliminating cost.
• IP-based processors distributed across building, but linked easily over CatX for centralized management.
• HearClear AEC facilitates unified communications with noise elimination and ultra-easy user experience.

The first office building to receive WELL® certification in the Netherlands, Flow utilizes the convergence of AV and IT technology to support the productivity, creativity and employee retention strategies that are hallmarks of the global building standard.

Challenge

With public and private workspaces housing multiple business tenants, systems integration firm Sinus Audiovisual needed a networked architecture to route and distribute video and audio signals over five floors. That included a dedicated large conference space called the “war room” that was built for high-profile events such as product launches, company presentations and sensitive private meetings. This would require a highly reliable and secure AV solution that also optimized audio quality for voice intelligibility.

Flow’s emphasis on lifestyle and well-being makes audio an essential part of the workspace experience. Sinus specified a core Xilica DSP solution built into the central IT infrastructure that could be shared between locations. A separate VLAN was added for AV and control signals, with some interconnectivity to Flow’s main network.

“We have interconnections with Flow’s network for streaming radio, most of which originates from four Sonos audio players,” said Kaandorp. “Sometimes, the Flow principles want to control more of the sound in carious zones around the building. Xilica Solaro DSPs play critical roles for processing these and many other audio signals moving around the building, as well as meeting audio within the war room.”

Solution

Xilica Solaro FR1 DSPs are integrated in IT equipment racks on the first, third and fifth floors. Each 64×64 matrix reliably processes and manages analog and digital music sources coming in and out of the frames, with all signals converted to Dante for distribution through the building. Xilica’s flagship Solaro FR1 DSP offers flexible, modular expansion options for Sinus should more capacity be required.

“We first considered integrating everything into one large matrix but then split the DSP functions into more localized racks for the sake of simpler maintenance,” said Peter Kaandorp, Sinus Audiovisual. “The Xilica Solaro FR1 brings immense processing power in a 1RU frame, and it’s incredibly straightforward to program and integrate. The clean interoperability with Dante makes the audio networking aspect so much simpler.”

A fourth highly secure unit is dedicated to the war room, with an emphasis on acoustic cancellation and noise reduction to optimize meeting and presentation audio from Sennheiser microphones. The Solaro FR1 DSPs also work flawlessly with Creston IP video encoders and control systems for seamless AV interoperability over the IP network, with pre-built integration from Xilica.

Impact

The Xilica Solaro QR1’s networked design eliminated much of the traditional cable and clutter common with legacy audio systems. Xilica’s partnership with Sennheiser ensures exceptional audio and quality inside the large conference room, which is often a substantial hurdle due to surface reflections and other acoustical challenges.

The broad array and density of signals handled by the Xilica Solaro FR1 DSPs outside the war room make the manufacturer’s integration with the Crestron control solution an enormous benefit for overall ease of use. Users of any skillset in the workplace can easily adjust volume and manage zones without learning curve or delay. Xilica’s overall ease of use also simplified the programming and integration for the Sinus team.

“Xilica makes the integration process with third-party equipment very painless,” said Kaandorp. “We could also create the audio matrix design within the Xilica DSP, and replicate that in the central control system. That made everything seamless and interoperable from the programming stage forward. Dante audio networking with Xilica then made it very easy to serve all five floors with great sounding audio.”

“We are confident this deployment is exactly what Flow and their tenants need today, with plenty of additional opportunity to serve future requirements.”

—Peter Kaandorp, Sinus Audiovisual

Products Used For This Solution