KidZania Cuicuilco: Sound System Design for Theme Park

Bogen Amplified > KidZania Cuicuilco: Sound System Design for Theme Park

KidZania Cuicuilco: Sound System Design for Theme Park

Case Study / White Paper | June 06, 2014

kidzania

Challenge

Mexico City-based international kids’ role-playing theme park KidZania Cuicuilco needed a large-scale, fully-integrated sound system for its flagship Mexico City facility. Situated on a sprawling multi-block metropolitan site, KidZania offers a realistic educational experience in which children can experience a wide range of real-life occupations in a kid-friendly environment that features a variety of buildings such as retail stores, restaurants, a theater, even a scale car circuit.

Spread over the equivalent of several city blocks, KidZania’s indoor/outdoor theme park presented a number of challenges, including several semi-independent audio environments and widely differing listening conditions, ranging from quiet office hallways to a child-sized car circuit. In addition, KidZania needed its original, high-performance, complex sound system design completely re-engineered to accommodate substantial budget constraints – in short, a design that provided a similar quality system and listening experience at a lower cost.

Design and install a multi-zone, fully-integrated audio system on a tight budget
Provide system flexibility and scalability to accommodate a wide range of semi-independent, indoor/outdoor listening environments
Overcome high levels of ambient noise in a variety of applications while providing clear, distortion-free audio

Solution

Bogen’s Mexico-based distributor Francom, working with Bogen’s free system design service, developed a comprehensive system layout that features a four-zone general audio system with over one hundred vendor locations and several semi-independent subsystems including two outdoor plazas, a small stadium, a theater, and an auditorium.

The zones in the general audio system are wired into three local electrical/network rooms that serve as intermediate distribution frames (IDF) containing the amplifiers for their respective zones. The backbone of each zone system includes dual-channel 600-watt Bogen Black Max™ power amplifiers driving dozens of weatherproof Bogen NEAR® speakers for outdoor applications and Bogen coaxial, 2-way high fidelity ceiling speakers for indoor environments.

The three IDFs are tied into a main distribution frame (MDF) computer room from where the general system audio feed is controlled by a media computer, enabling the entire park to be covered by a single music/voice signal. The four-zone distributed system enables various subsystems within each zone to be independently controlled. When local audio is required – such as game announcements in the stadium or special events in one of the two plazas – the general audio signal can be switched off and local inputs used as needed, including wired and wireless microphones as well as local music and recorded message sources.

Results

“This was a challenging design and installation project,” said Francom president Francisco Arzani. “By simplifying the wiring and using a distributed, local area network (LAN)-based system, we were able to simplify the overall system design and precisely match high quality Bogen products to system requirements, providing KidZania with an outstanding sound system that offered similar quality to their original system design, but at substantial savings.”

The innovative engineered solution provided by Francom and Bogen’s design service helped eliminate several inherent problems experienced by KidZania in earlier installations, including a residual feedback issue on the theme park’s theater stage. The result was brighter, more realistic sound throughout the theater, with virtually no feedback, even when a live mic was used close to the front speakers.

According to Allyn Muñoz Reyes, a company official with the National Company of the Arts KidZania Cuicuilco, the theme park was thrilled with both the installation and the sound it provided.

“KidZania is always interested in providing its visitors with the best possible experience. Bogen’s audio systems have aided us in accomplishing this goal by maintaining the high quality standards that entertainment centers require,” said Muñoz.

General Audio System

The general audio system comprises the entire system architecture, feeding audio throughout the park. For ease of installation and service, it is broken into four approximately equal zones, each wired into one of four intermediate distribution frames (IDFs) in their respective local electrical/network room which also houses the local BlackMax™ X600 Power Amplifier(s) for that zone.

10 600-watt Black Max™ X600 Power Amplifiers located in 4 distributed computer rooms
1 VMIX Mixer, equipped with TNG1S, TEL1S, MIC2S and SAX1R modules, as well as a PVMC security cover
1 DFT120 Digital Feedback Terminator for recorded audio page messages
1 MBS1000A Emergency All-Page Microphone
129 A2TBLK Bogen NEAR® A-Series Loudspeakers featuring weatherproof polypropylene cabinets mounted on posts throughout the park
34 S5TB Bogen NEAR® Signature High-Performance Foreground Loudspeakers situated throughout the park where a wall-mount speaker was more suitable
4 S4TB Bogen NEAR® Signature High-Performance Foreground Loudspeakers used as monitor speakers at amplifier locations
38 HFCS1LP High-Fidelity Ceiling Speakers for areas with tile ceiling (mostly in the partial second floor of the park and restroom areas)
44 A6TBLK Bogen NEAR® A-Series Loudspeakers mounted adjacent to the motorcycle track

Within the four zones are several semi-independent subsystems, each with unique design and installation requirements.

Plaza A & B

Two outdoor plazas each required the ability to reproduce the general audio feed as well as switch to an independent local audio signal for special event purposes (e.g., a school group program, sponsor events, etc.).

Each plaza subsystem includes:
1 VMIX mixer equipped with MIC2S and SAX1R modules
1 300-watt Black Max™ X300 Power Amplifier
9 A6TBLK Bogen NEAR® A-Series speakers (Plaza A)
11 A6TBLK Bogen NEAR® A-Series speakers (Plaza B)
3 UDMS800 UHF Wireless Microphone Systems
3 UHT800 Handheld Wireless Microphones
3 UBP800 Lavaliere Microphones & Body Packs

Stadium

A small outdoor stadium at one end of the park is used for games and sports as well as a variety of promotional events. Similar to Plazas A and B, the stadium has a local system that, when not being used independently for stadium events, carries the general audio system signal from the distributed network.

1 VMIX mixer equipped with MIC2S and SAX1R modules
2 600-watt Black Max™ X600 Power Amplifiers
17 A12 Bogen NEAR® A-Series High-Output, Long-Throw Loudspeakers designed specifically for long-range outdoor sound reinforcement
2 UDMS800 UHF Wireless Microphone Systems
2 UHT800 Handheld Wireless Microphones
2 UBP800 Lavaliere Microphones & Body Packs

Theater

KidZania Cuicuilco’s indoor theater is a fully-functioning entertainment venue with a stage and audience seating. Bogen’s Apogee Sound International products were used for the theater speaker system because their high-performance and high-accuracy, live event speaker arrays, unlike conventional loudspeaker configurations, enable acoustic energy to be precisely directed toward the audience for the most accurate, distortion-free live audio experience possible.

Apogee equipment includes:

2 ALA-1 / ALA-1LT Acoustic Linear Array Loudspeaker systems for the house, designed to maximize the audience listening experience with minimal sound-distorting reflection
1 CA-8000 Amplifier
1 DLC24 Digital Loudspeaker Controller

Bogen equipment includes:

4 HFCS1LP High-Fidelity Ceiling Speakers for backstage area
1 S5T Bogen NEAR® Signature High-Performance Foreground Loudspeaker as an audio booth monitor
1 300-watt Black Max™ X300 Power Amplifier
5 AT10A Volume controls

Other equipment includes: 16-channel mixer, ceiling & wireless microphones.

Auditorium

KidZania Cuicuilco’s auditorium is designed to show a wide range of entertainment and educational videos. Initially designed to include a motion-enhanced sensory experience, budget constraints required the sound system to be redesigned to provide as realistic a “you are there” auditory experience as possible in a theater setting without motion capabilities. For this purpose, a 5.1 Apogee system was designed to enhance the desired “shock & awe” experience, coupled with an elaborate lighting and special effects system.

Apogee equipment includes:

4 AFI-4W Fixed Installation Speakers (2 center, 1 left, 1 right) for signal processing versatility
1 CA-8000 Amplifier
4 AFI-WA low-profile fill speakers mounted to the sides and back of the room to provide wide angle, surround sound enhancement
2 AFI-118 Subwoofers for dramatic, low-frequency impact
3 CA-4000 Amplifiers drive front left, center, and front right speakers
1 CA-8000 Amplifier to drive surround speakers
2 DLC24 Digital Loudspeaker Controllers

Adjoining the auditorium, where children stand in line prior to the show, there is a pre-show staging area featuring additional Bogen equipment, which includes:

300-watt Black Max™ X300 Power Amplifier
8 HFCS1LP High-Fidelity Ceiling Speakers
2 AFI-118 Apogee Subwoofers for dramatic, low-frequency impact
2 A8T Bogen NEAR® A-Series speakers
1 HDU250 Handheld Stage Microphone with stand

Other equipment includes: 24-channel mixing board and several wireless microphones.

Vendor Locations

The park hosts 105 vendor locales that comprise KidZania’s “small city” role-playing environment. These various locations include scaled-down simulated airlines, hospitals, restaurants, department stores, and language schools among other businesses, all representing a wide range of brands.

Every location receives an audio signal from the main computer room, distributed through the network and connected to each locale via the distributed IDFs. Each particular vendor’s audio program is then reproduced using one or two self-amplified ceiling speakers connected to low-voltage power supplies.

Equipment includes:

179 ASWG1 Self-Amplified Ceiling Speakers equipped with tile support rails and RE84 back box
105 PRS2403 low-voltage power supplies, 6 CU each

Key Products

Bogen NEAR® A-Series Loudspeakers
Bogen NEAR® Signature Series Loudspeakers
HFCS1LP Ceiling Speaker
UHT800 Wireless Microphones
ASWG1 Ceiling Speaker
Apogee DLC24 Digital Processor
Black Max Power Amplifier
VMIX Power Mixer
Apogee CA-Series Amplifiers
Apogee AFI-Series Loudspeakers/Subwoofers
Apogee ALA-1 Line Array Speakers