Castanea Forum Adds Network AV with the Q-SYS Ecosystem

[De] - Located in Lüneburg, Germany, Castanea Forum is a conference and event center on the premises of the Castanea Best Western Resort. Opened in 2019, the center offers eight multi-functional rooms, available for corporate or private events. The forum was looking to deploy an end-to-end audio, video and control (AV&C) solution that would provide users with a flexible and intuitive means of setting up and controlling meetings or events, and the Q-SYS Ecosystem from QSC provided the perfect solution.

Working alongside QSC, Hamburg-based system integrator PM White designed the system around a Q-SYS Core 510i Integrated processor, which manages the audio, video and control processing throughout the venue. With Q-SYS there is no need for separate, cumbersome control processing hardware, and PM White took full advantage of the full-featured control engine to create unique user control interfaces (UCI) for the lobby and eight rooms via Q-SYS network touch screens.

Utilizing the Q-SYS Scripting Engine, the integrator built custom Lua scripts to add control capabilities for third-party devices, including video projectors and the KNX building automation systems (lighting/HVAC) to each of the rooms. Next, they created various audio, video and lighting presets, which can be selected from the touch screen, based on how the room is setup. Presets include which microphones and loudspeakers are active, which lights are on and which projectors and screens will be in use. Once a preset is selected, the users have additional access to room/microphone audio levels, background music controls and video source select, along with lighting and HVAC controls.

Q-SYS UCI Editor enabled PM White to create intuitive UCI for the lobby and each of the eight rooms. With the lobby UCI, hotel staff have access to controls for each of the eight rooms, along with background music source selection and volume controls for the lobby. Q-SYS made this process simple, by allowing the integrator to drag-and-drop these controls onto a UCI without the need for additional programming.

The system was completed with QSC CXD-Q network amplifiers, which integrate seamlessly into Q-SYS and offer advanced telemetry and monitoring capabilities should the end-user need them. “I have known the Q-SYS Ecosystem since its launch in 2009, and Q-SYS delivers so much more than the distribution of audio data,” explains Ingo Jakobs, authorized representative and partner at PM White GmbH. “And by standardizing on QSC components through the signal chain, we delivered more features and functionality with less hardware. The installation was successful and the customer is very happy with their Q-SYS system.”

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