THE VENUE
Noosa Lions Football Club in Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast boasts around 700 members from young to old. Established in 1973, the Club has over five decades of history in competitive football dating back to when it was originally known as the Noosa River Soccer Club. Currently, Noosa Lions FC is based out of the Girraween Sports Complex at Noosa Heads.
THE CHALLENGE
Despite the club’s many members and busy schedule, it lacked a key element. “The club didn’t have an audio system when it was constructed,” says Rebecca Whisker, Administrator at Noosa Lions Football Club. “We’ve been wanting a proper system for a while so after successfully applying for one of the COVID grants we decided to go ahead with it.”
Noosa Lions FC approached production business Event-X on the Sunshine Coast with a request to upgrade its PA system. At the time, the Club’s near-new building was using no more than a single powered speaker on a pole with a USB Bluetooth dongle wireless mic system to cover the main oval. Presentations were an embarrassment, as the presenter’s mic would fail more than 5m from the speaker (which wasn’t difficult as the speaker is more than 5m from the ground).
Event-X came to NAS seeking the right audio products to give Noosa Lions Football Club the upgrade it deserved. This meant approaching the project as a three-zone install – the clubhouse, field 1 and field 2 – and finding the right system for each area.
THE FIX
The clubhouse (Zone 1) has a capacity of around 100 people and is hired out for functions, parties, fitness classes and corporate events. A pair of dBTechnologies Opera 12 active loudspeakers in each corner more than sufficiently reinforce the space, with each mounted on Quik Lok QL/950 adjustable wall brackets. Background music is the main duty of the Zone 1 system, so audio sources are BYO devices and a PC input. On the wall is a Cloud BT-1 Bluetooth receiver, which is connected to a line input of a Cloud CX263 mixer via Cat5 and an FPA-1 adapter. A 3.5mm-to-RCA Quik Lok cable connected to the CX263 provides easy connection to other BYO devices.
When it comes to system control, Brendon McDonald, Queensland Integrated Systems Account Manager at NAS, is an advocate for simplicity. “Staff operate the individual zones. If they want to send audio to a zone, they just select the input source and turn the volume up – it’s all done by front panel control. Bar managers and people from sporting organisations aren’t always technically savvy. In the end the customer wants something that’s easy to use and that’s why I push the Cloud products.”
Feedback from the club confirms the ease of operation. “The system is very easy to control,” comments Rebecca. “We can easily switch between different zones for announcements or presentations inside the clubhouse.”
Covering Field 1 (the main field) are seven inDESIGN ID-MH158 loudspeakers installed under the eaves facing out towards the field. Event-X specified two supplementary dBTechnologies Opera 12s which face down onto the seating area for extra bottom end and musicality. Custom Perspex covers were made for the amp modules with a bead of silicone along the top of the cabinet’s Perspex seam offering insurance for Queensland’s horizontal rain factor, just in case a bout of inclement weather reaches that far back. The inDESIGN speakers project loud and clear to the other side of the field, thanks to their horn-loaded design and the bridged output of the new Ashly CA1.04 amp powering them. A Parallel Audio M2000 dual wireless handheld system is installed with remote antenna kits and the mics are easily picked up from the coach’s bench seat on the other side of the field.
Field 2 has six of the inDESIGN ID-MH158 loudspeakers and the canteen has a single Inter-M CU9120 column fed off a smaller amp and paging mic. All of this is connected by Maximum and Quik Lok cable and inDESIGN wall plates and 12RU rack.
THE RESULT
Noosa Lions Football Club is delighted to now have a capable audio system with big sound and intuitive control.
“The client was incredibly happy with both the coverage and also the clarity of the new system,” says Michael Williams, Director of Event-X. “It completely changed the way they operate as a club; they’re able to communicate more effectively for their carnivals and six-a-side programs, which previously wasn’t possible.”
The sound is really great,” says Rebecca. “Members love that we can have the music going all the time. We used to have one speaker blasting across the field but the new loudspeakers let us easily talk to everyone while still hearing music and announcements clearly.”
