WHU Relies on Microflex Advance MXA910

WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management is a business school of international renown with campuses in Vallendar/Koblenz and Düsseldorf serving over 1,500 students. In recent years, this privately funded university began investing in networked learning with a view to recording lectures using the latest AV and remote camera technology in the best possible quality for the benefit of all its students. A comprehensive Panopto system and a Crestron signal management and media control system were installed in the university’s lecture halls to allow video to be provided in first-rate quality. The system integrator, SIGMA System Audio-Visuell GmbH, is now upgrading the system’s audio component. In the last 12 months, several lecture halls and seminar rooms were equipped with the Shure Microflex Advance MXA910 Ceiling Array Microphone. This allows the university to make learning content and discussions involving lecturers and students accessible anytime and anywhere - with perfectly intelligible speech.

Client Needs

Having planned and installed the video recording systems for the lecture halls, the AV integrator specialists at SIGMA saw that voice transmission confronted them with a very challenging scenario. “The client required a microphone solution across several lecture halls and seminar rooms. Students should be able to participate without needing to interact with a microphone yet still follow the lecture without distractions,” explained Christian Backes, CEO at SIGMA System Audio-Visuell GmbH.

The audio signals are streamed to and from WHU’s Vallendar and Düsseldorf campuses and provided to students via an e-learning and streaming platform.

Solution

While the lecture halls feature partially fixed seating, the flexible seminar rooms at WHU are used differently, as required. To cover all rooms without any variations in pickup quality, SIGMA incorporated several Shure MXA910 Ceiling Array Microphones. Each provides eight lobes for precise and automatic focus of the pickup area to the speaker or speakers.

Each lecture hall was covered using three or four MXA910 units while one MXA910 was installed in each of the multi-use seminar rooms. In addition to the white ceiling array microphones, that enable discreet ceiling integration, if required the lecturer may switch, while speaking, to a more traditional QLXD14E system with a lavalier mic and body pack.

Results

“Thanks to the MXA910 systems, recording and streaming is accomplished barrier-free, which is especially important for lectures involving active discussions. This allows lecturers and students to be heard from any position in the room with no loss in quality or volume level,” adds Backes. The system ensures outstanding audio quality for the business leaders of tomorrow.