Dedicated rock fans who want to pay homage to their heroes in New York City instead of Cleveland officially have a new home base: the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ANNEX NYC (www.rockannex.com) in the heart of Manhattan’s SoHo district.
A recent press preview demonstrated that the audio technology behind the 25,000-square-foot exhibit space may be just as noteworthy as the musical memorabilia itself. An array of systems from Sennheiser and Klein + Hummel are integral to ensuring that the visitor experience is packed with information and delivered in the highest possible fidelity.
The event showed how visitors not only get a clear look at displays on the likes of the Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel, Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Elvis Presley, but also a clear listen. In the interactive layout produced by Running Subway Productions, Jam Exhibitions and S2BN Entertainment, ANNEX guests hear songs that complement each area of the gallery they are experiencing with a pair of Sennheiser PX 200 headphones and a clip-on Sennheiser guidePORT receiver.
With the wireless guidePORT system, visitors were able to hear a personalized audio navigation experience that moved at their own pace. Unlike many typical museum audio tours where the visitor must manually dial in the number of the exhibit they are viewing, the guidePORT system is able to trigger specially produced narratives and live sound tracks that come on automatically as visitors browse the multimedia exhibits.
In more open acoustical spaces such as the pre-tour “Signature Hall,” Klein + Hummel ProX 6 loudspeakers were selected, while the company’s IS 123 loudspeakers and subwoofer systems were integral to extremely crisp multichannel surround presentations elsewhere in the facility.
After its long-awaited debut, the ANNEX is off to a very sound start in its New York City home.
David Weiss
