Dynamic Music Distribution at Matches Sports Bar

With Dynamic Music Distribution, Powersoft offers the ability to scale inputs and zones conveniently and efficiently with dynamic routing capabilities embedded on its amplifier platforms. This makes it simple to dynamically route music and other signal sources, along with control signals between different zones and across multiple amplifiers – all independently of source location and without the need for a centralised DSP.

Two Mezzo 604 ADs – Powersoft’s four-channel, 600W compact amplifier – are powering the entirety of the 250-capacity bar, forming the core of a unique hospitality venue incorporating multiple distinct audio zones and spaces. Tucked away behind the counter, a single 4.3″ wall-mounted Powersoft WM Touch screen, gives complete control of the entire Powersoft’s Dynamic Music Distribution system, including Mezzo’s embedded dynamic routing capabilities.

“By using Powersoft’s Dynamic Music Distribution solution, we were able to keep our design simple all the way through, from designing the project to handing it over to the client,” explains Ashley Bond, managing director of the system designer and installer, MADE Worldwide. “The client is then left with a powerful start-to-finish solution from a single industry-leading manufacturer, providing them with a safe and secure audio system that’s really going to push through.”

Matches Sports Bar – located at Elwick Place in Ashford, around 95KM south of London – opened in June and has been doing roaring business ever since. Its food and drink, live sports, and evening entertainment is proving popular with both locals and Eurostar passengers.

With a single four-channel Mezzo amplifier now able to drive up to four independent zones of audio, thanks to Powersoft’s new ArmoniaPlus 2.2 software release, the DMD ecosystem was the natural choice to bring Matches vision together – a tailored sound experience in each individual area.

“We have three semi-private self-pour beer areas. In those aread, whilst customers want to be able to hear the experience, the volume allows them to have a conversation with other across the table,” says Jon Shephard, Matches’ owner. “We also have other semi-private areas, such as the snug area and in the private room, where customers are all encapsulated in high-quality, 3D surround sound.”

“In the main bar area, we wanted a system where customers could really feel like they’re in the stadium watching the match live. However, once the match is finished and we turn the (TV) sound off, we want to get the music pumping – to turn it up loud and have no loss in quality with regards to audio.”

The two Powersoft Mezzo amplifiers are responsible for managing the audio throughout Matches, including the corridor and washrooms.

Powersoft’s UK distributor, CUK Audio, supplied MADE with the Mezzo’s and WM Touch, as well as the AUDAC loudspeakers (ATEO wall-mounted speakers, CIRA ceiling speakers, and BASO10 and NOBA8 subwoofers) the amplifier’s power. Its Installed AV Channel Manager, Steve Barton, says multiple output options like those on the Mezzo 604 AD were essential for a venue like Matches, where a single amplifier is able to power both Lo- and Hi-Z loudspeakers.

“The Powersoft amps have up to four channel running 600W, with full Power Sharing across all the channels,” Steve Barton commented. “The key here is that they can do low impedance and a 100V line on the same amplifier, all using the integral DSP – in a half RU space – so you can fit a heck of a lot of processing power in a really tiny space.”

“One of the challenges on this project for us was to keep everything nice and tight with a small-rack install,” adds MADE’s Bond. “Because the Mezzos are so small in the rack, we were able to fir three satellite boxes, and an AUX input, so we could come in and throw (sound) around in different zones and make it easy for the client to use.”

Despite its high spec, the Powersoft system is so competitively priced that recommending it to MADE for the Matches project was very straightforward. “Dynamic Music Distribution is very easy to justify to integration partners and end-users because it offers supreme flexibility while being really cost-effective,” Barton explains. “When you look, in terms of money and size, how much power, processing capabilities, and content you’re getting out of it, it’s a no brainer.”

Shephard says he is “delighted with the AV system we have in Matches”, which made its public debut ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020 football championships. “The WM Touch system is super user-friendly – we have a control panel behind the bar, which any of our staff can log on to and be able to change the audio in a couple of clicks. Plus, the training (from MADE) only took a minimal amount of time – no more than half an hour – because it’s so simple to use.”

“The system is basically automated as far as it can be, and that’s based on the fact that we used the Dynamic Music Distribution system by Powersoft. It’s made our lives easier because we know that the customer benefits from a user-friendly system,” concludes Shephard.