Case Study~Douglas Valley Elementary School

One of our favorite installs...

Douglas Valley Middle School, from District 20, came to us with an audio problem in their gym. The school had an aging audio system. The cables were a mess, no one really knew how to work the system, and it wasn’t really serving the school’s needs. We asked the PTO what they were using the gym for and the needs were pretty simple. The school staff needed to be able to hold an assembly, play music for gym classes and connect audio from a DVD player for movie night. The gym also doubles as a theater with a small stage for school programs and activities. The PTO and teachers also specifically requested a system that didn’t require them to know audio theory or reference big training manuals. They were looking for a quick, simple and effective fix.

With this in mind, we decided to focus on simplicity in the overall design. The school staff was not interested in learning to use a complicated sound board so we decided the first step was to eliminate it. How can you have a sound system with no sound board? Welcome to control systems! Specifically to Symetrix. Symetrix supplies control system DSP units that are configurable with wall panels to support a number of functions. We used the Solus line with 8 inputs and a 5” wall mount touch screen.  ​

On our site visit we noticed the speakers were also aging. They weren’t getting the sound coverage they needed and most of the time the quality was so bad, nobody could understand what was being said. This made school gatherings and events complicated and frustrating. Naturally, we looked to our good friends at Danley for a new speaker powerful and durable enough for a school gym, and with a cost conscious of the school PTO budget. The Danley OS12CX loudspeakers fit the build perfectly and then added a new line amplifier from the manufacturer Lea Professionals to power them. With better speaker design and placement, we were able to ensure that the entire room was covered with sound.

The fun feature we added, which we love to do on our installs, was the Bluetooth Audio wall panel from Atterotech. With this addition audio could easily be streamed from the gym teacher’s smart phone. Audio Technica handheld mics completed the installation. These unique mics are cost effective and very reliable. Each receiver works for 2 mics allowing 4 mics in a 1 rack unit space and built in antenna remotes needing only cat5. This remote antenna mounting allowed us to mount antennas outside of the closet and near the stage for excellent coverage and minimal dead spotting. A special Lambda touch included color coating each of the mics added to the system. With this solution a teacher could easily pick up the orange mic, slide the orange slider on the touchscreen and begin using the mic. This cut out the complication of mics being moved around and, again, added simplicity for multiple members of their staff to be able to use the tech without extensive training.

​To finish off the system we added a protected, because it’s in a school AND a gym, touchscreen panel on the wall to control everything. With this simple touchscreen solution, the teachers are able to control volume, input and easily turn the mics off and on. The other equipment was mounted in a locked wall rack inside a closet with the idea that no one would need to access it.

Within the control system we created a lot to make the system simple. A single graphic ON button on the touch screen powers on the system including the AMP and resets faders and mutes. Every fader on the screen is color coded to match the rubber bumper on each mic. We built in feedback suppression that resets its filters after each use and a system EQ to make everything sound great. We even built a button using the auto mixer functionality of Symetrix to allow users to simply tap the auto button and have all 4 mics automatically mixed together for group speaking situations.  

We had so much fun working with Douglas Valley Middle School and getting them some new equipment to make their gym a more functional room and cut some typical audio-visual hassles for teachers and students. The best part of this system was the training. As we were finishing the project classes were still in session. The gym teacher was using a portable boom box, so we brought her over to check out all the new gear. We spent about 5 minutes showing her the new system, thinking we would do a full system training after the holiday break when more teachers were around to learn. Within 10 minutes she was not only confidently using the new system but bringing in others and teaching them. The principal of the school even taught herself how to use it. In fact, the system worked out so well we never had to go back for a formal training. This has been one of our favorite builds we have ever done. We just loved building a simple system that met the needs of the school so well and let the teachers be confident in using their new system! We look forward to other D20 projects in the future!

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