ACC Liverpool Future Proofs its RF System with Shure’s Axient Digital

Shure, a leading manufacturer of microphones and audio electronics, collaborated with Adlib, one of the UK’s longest established event technical service companies, to upgrade ACC Liverpool’s RF system. The result is a future-proof system ready for today’s challenging RF environment.

Pushing the Limits of RF 

The ACC Liverpool is the UK’s leading conference centre situated on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront. The event campus is an interconnected arena, convention and exhibition centre, which plays a leading role in shining a spotlight on the city. The venue has successfully staged a wide array of national and international events, from shows to conventions and business gatherings to showcase exhibitions.

Welcoming more than 7.9 million people through its doors since they first opened, the venue is home to a flexible layout configuration, making ACC Liverpool a unique experience in Europe. A tiered auditorium, break-out rooms, the exhibition centre and an event arena can be split, joined, and arranged in countless ways.

Due to the unique and ever-changing configuration of the building, ACC Liverpool had an increasing need for RF on their site that would work across large venues. The solution had to be fit for the future, given the venues ever growing client base. The kit provided also replaced all previous ACC wireless systems operating in the 700MHz band, which was an essential change given that all PMSE (Programme Making & Special Events) wireless users need to vacate this part of UHF spectrum by the 1st May 2020.

Equipment Designed for the Future 

Adlib supplied the ACC Liverpool with 64 channels of Shure Axient Digital including 16 x 4-way receivers, AD1 bodypacks, AD2 transmitters, and an AD610 Showlink access port.

Harry Brown, Sales Manager at Adlib, comments; “The ACC Liverpool had no previous digital transmission and given the design and size of the building as well as the increasing number of events the venue is hosting, the sound system was considered no long future proof. The venue has a large channel count requirement and there was no better product to fit the job than Shure’s Axient Digital.”

"In today's congested RF environment, large venues like ACC Liverpool need a robust system they can rely on to perform day-after-day", adds Shure Senior Sales Manager, Dave Phillips. "Shure developed Axient Digital to withstand the RF challenges of today and tomorrow.  High channel counts and constrained spectrum are everyday hurdles for today's engineers and it's our job to develop products that make their lives easier on a day-to-day basis. The team at Adlib are no strangers to modern wireless and were clear on what the system needed to achieve. We were able to work closely with Harry and the team to develop a bespoke setup fit for a world-class conference venue. Features such as high-density mode come into their own here, making it easier to zone off multiple spaces and maximise channel-counts. Combine this with highly robust RF performance thanks to true digital diversity, interference detection and avoidance, and remote transmitter control using ShowLink, and we're pleased to say, ACC looks set for some time to come."