Named the “world’s best zoo” by TripAdvisor in 2014, the Henry Doorly Zoo and
Aquarium is Nebraska’s biggest paid-attendance attraction. Exhibits include one of
the world’s largest indoor rainforest exhibits, the world’s largest indoor desert
(housed in the world’s largest glazed geodesic dome), the largest cat complex in
North America, and the world’s largest nocturnal exhibit and indoor swamp. The zoo
offers a wealth of educational programs and day camps and is deeply involved in
research and conservation. Founded in 1894, it offers up-to-date facilities and A/V
technologies, including networked video displays and digital signage, extensive
sound effects, and more.

“All audio processing and management for the zoo’s systems is done with Symetrix
DSP,” offers Tim Burkhart of Omaha systems integrators Midwest Sound and
Lighting, which designed and installed the A/V systems. “We use a few older
Symetrix DSPs but mostly we use Radius 12×8 processors to manage aquarium and
zoo sound effects, audio for the conference rooms, and a lot more. Some systems
are distributed throughout the zoo via their network, so there are Symetrix
processors all over the place.”

The Alaskan Adventure exhibit is a splash grounds for kids that features computer-
controlled sprays and spouts and more than 75 bronze sculptures. In addition to
simulating visual water effects made by whales, salmon, sea lions, and the like, it
offers associated sounds, delivered in sync with the water effects using Symetrix
Radius DSPs and an AMX control system.

Symetrix DSP enables a better visitor experience throughout the zoo, Burkhart
explains. “The zoo has a lot of education programs in different areas. Let’s say a
zookeeper is talking about the elephants, using a wireless mic. When he talks, the
background music is ducked in that zone of speakers, so you only hear the
zookeeper. The music comes back up when the zookeeper finishes. Nobody has to
push buttons or think about the controls; we’ve automated everything we can, so
people just interact normally, and the system works.”

Symetrix DSP was key to all of this. “The logic capabilities and the many modules
for the Symetrix DSP made it easy to set up; it didn’t take long,” insists Burkhart.
“With most other DSPs, you wouldn’t have those modules, or they wouldn’t be as
capable of doing what we needed. We have not found anything we wanted to do that
was impossible with the Radius.”

In addition to audio processing, Symetrix DSPs handle time-based event and energy
management, switching things off and on according to the daily schedule. Indeed,
versatility is one of the Radius’ attractions for Burkhart. “We take advantage of the
many Symetrix modules to do an assortment of things, while providing easy-to-use
controls for the customer. We can manage components that are thousands of feet
away from each other, and we can distribute audio over the network using Dante.”