The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will sound better than ever, thanks to a complete sound system engineered and installed by Inland Audio Visual Ltd. at Winnipeg’s Canad-Inn Stadium. It features an all-Electro-Voice (EV) equipment list. Named after a leading Canadian hotel chain, the 200,000 sq. ft. Canad-Inn Stadium is home to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and has a seating capacity of 29,378. The new system features EV FRX+, Xi and ZX1 loudspeakers, EV P-RL Series remote-control amplifiers and EV microphones, all controlled and monitored via EV NetMax digital audio matrix processing.
“We felt that it was in our best interest to partner with a manufacturer that could offer a complete system solution from input to output,” commented Barry Carr of Inland Audio Visual, “rather than opting for a piecemeal system from various manufacturers.” We've been selling and endorsing EV products for over 20 years. Working with EV gives us two main advantages: firstly, their extensive product line means we can specifically address a client’s needs according to both the application and their budget; secondly, in my experience, no EV product reaches the market unless it both sounds good and offers the utmost in reliability and performance. Two pretty solid reasons to work with EV!”
Carr continued: “Monte Wise from EV came up to consult us on the installation during the winter, which can be pretty severe here in Winnipeg! That level of dedicated manufacturer support is important, and really emphasized to the stadium decision makers that an EV system is professional grade equipment with professional expertise behind it.
“Monte recommended FRX+ boxes for the bulk of the system, which balanced the stadium budget with the excellent directivity control and full-bandwidth coverage they needed. For near field speakers we chose ZX1i, which pack a lot of loudspeaker into an aesthetically pleasing compact box. For north end zone coverage we have two long-throw Xi boxes. The systems on the east and west sides of the field are controlled via EV NetMax N8000 digital matrix processors, running a combination of IRIS and IRIS-Net software via P-Series remote-control DSP amps. Using NetMax makes the system easy to use and monitor—all via a laptop—while keeping things streamlined with minimal hardware and mess. We worked with Ethan Wetzell of EV Tech Support on the NetMax spec, and it was as headache-free to install as it is to use. “We installed a Midas Verona 32-channel console to handle the mix – it has everything they need, offering that inimitable Midas sound without the superfluous bells and whistles that would usually make a concert-quality console cost-prohibitive in this application. Verona is a great idea in that sense, and, of course, it sounds amazing.
“At the 11th hour we also replaced their microphones with EV mics,” Carr added. “Our EV rep Mark Kulas had an N/D267 on hand and we gave it a try across the new PA. The difference between that and their old mics was staggering. The 267 is not an expensive microphone, but it is so much brighter and crisper than the stock-in-trade mic it replaced, with far less proximity effect. On a system this big, every nuance is magnified exponentially, so this was a big deal. Why install a huge PA like this and then use poor quality mics? Again, this emphasizes the importance of working with a manufacturer that offers quality products for every step of the signal path. If it has EV written on it, it’s going to sound good, and, as the final detail in the installation, it was a real pleasure to announce that fact over the brand new PA with those 267s!”
