For over 100 years, The Muny has captured hearts and sparked imaginations through music and movement. The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical amphitheatre, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. The theater seats 11,000 people with approximately 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first come, first served basis. Each summer, Forest Park is filled with the sights and sounds of Broadway — now powered via a pair of Allen & Heath AHM-64 audio matrixes.
Sound Designer David Patridge specified AHM-64 as the audio hub for the venue, replacing The Muny’s older distribution system with the next-generation 96kHz 64×64 Audio Matrix Processors. “A lot of power built into 2RU and at a price point that blows away alternatives,” notes Patridge. Utilizing the 64×64 channel Dante option card allows AHM-64 to connect to amplifiers, microphones and other devices on a Dante network, including 3rd-party audio consoles within the existing system design. “The AHM provides seamless connectivity to Dante and fits into an audio over IP system well,” he adds.
AHM-64 deploys next-generation FPGA technology and a 96kHz sample rate, bringing acclaimed Allen & Heath sound quality and sub-millisecond latency to installations of all types. The audio engine has the power to deliver far more processing than the usual open architecture platforms, including 8-band PEQ, gate, compressor and delay on all input channels, and 8-band PEQ / 30-band GEQ, compressor, ANC, source selector, limiter and delay on all zone outputs.
“The system design that David put into place at The Muny is a perfect example of what AHM is designed to offer,” says Allen & Heath USA Marketing Director Jeff Hawley. “More and more consultants and integrators and designers are seeking out options that put audio quality first as they upgrade and configure installs of this type. With the Allen & Heath XCVI engine from SQ, Avantis and dLive behind the AHM-64, there is no question as to just how great things can sound. AHM comes with a well-established touring and critical audio application pedigree.”
Intuitive AHM System Manager software and AHM-64’s flexible architecture allow rapid configuration, striking a balance between the simplicity and set latency of fixed architecture, and the flexibility normally reserved for open architecture platforms. “The AHM-64 user interface is extremely intuitive and clear,” says Patridge. “With AHM System Manager on a Mac or PC we can easily handle sound management, paging, audio distribution, and speaker processing roles as needed. It’s a great system that we’ve put at the heart of the audio design at The Muny.”
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