Shure Wireless Systems and Stem Ecosystem Support Flexible Conferencing Solutions at The Royal Academy of Arts

A range of Shure products are used at the RA to meet a variety of requirements, from in-built fixed installations to flexible mobile units. They run both ULX-D and QLX-D on various in-built fixed installations as well as within mobile PA systems, all running a range belt-pack and handheld microphone transmitters.

Eight channels of ULX-D are within the Benjamin West Lecture Theatre. The number of channels is dictated by the size of the stage, as you cannot fit more than six chairs for panel discussions comfortably. These tend to be a combination of lapel and head-worn mics with belt packs, alongside a lectern, and we run a few handheld mics for audience Q&As. The AV team occasionally route in a sub-mix of additional QLX lapels for larger conferences, but this fit-out suits most of the programme of events. RA events are often live-streamed or are multi-camera recordings. Having all the Shure receivers on the Dante network means they can have multiple independent mixes for both the live audience in the room and those online. They occasionally also route a mix for ISO recordings of both audio and video.

A more modular range of both MXCW and Stem Ecosystem are used for flexible hybrid meeting rooms.

In an interview with Benji Fox, he stated:

‘Both systems are robust and are quick to roll out. We once set up a very last-minute roundtable meeting with MXCW units for a meeting of 12 in-person attendees all within 10 minutes of receiving the request, but it’s not something I can recommend, or I would want to repeat but it is possible to set up a completely bare room to full hybrid meeting room very quickly.'

'When giving tours of the building, I used to say that “everywhere is an event space”, but I might change that to “everywhere is a potential hybrid meeting space”.’

The Royal Academy use a Shure Stem Table for smaller breakout rooms. The Stem Table is their go-to for any space that requires two-way online communication. Often this might be a last-minute request for a large roundtable in large spaces to tiny corner huddle spaces.

Quotes

“The relationship between the RA AV department and Shure is fairly long-standing and has been very supportive during our growth and development of both the team and of the academy itself. We know that if we run into any issue whatsoever, there is almost immediate help available to us from a familiar and friendly voice. This is not a unique manufacturer-end point user relationship, but it is rare. Thank you, Shure.”

“Fundamentally, using Shure systems introduces a higher level of trust, knowing that any microphone system deployed will work across site, will sound good and will also last for even the longest event durations. Our Shure batteries, after 5 years of fair usage, still last a good 9-11 hours, which is outstandingly good.”

Benji Fox, Head of Audio Visual, Royal Academy of Arts