Customer reference Berkeley Preparatory School
Read the customer reference about the cooperation between Berkeley Preparatory School and Sennheiser. Find out more about the experience and results.
As the Productions Technical Director, Christopher is Berkeley Prep’s resource for all things AV, and solely responsible for the technical aspects of all concerts, plays and assemblies. Given the nature of his role, he does not have room for equipment failure or troubleshooting, and must always be prepared for the unexpected, “if something goes down, I need a fast repair. When you’re the one guy people look to you for answers, so you better have it.” he shares. As a longstanding Sennheiser user, Christopher was reliant on the quality of the G3 wireless system for many years, and now subsequently the EW-DX, “Luckily, things don’t go wrong often with Sennheiser. I always have a plan B, plus Beamworks is always quick and stocked with Sennheiser.” Christopher has been a Sennheiser user since his time touring with musicians over 20 years ago. He shares, “I started working in audio in 2000, and when you go on tour, people are picky with what brand they use. Through traveling and using different wireless systems and microphones, I found that I always got more gain out of Sennheiser vs. other wireless brands. I fell in love with Sennheiser early and kept with it.”

Campus-wide Remote Control with the Sennheiser Control Cockpit

As a long-time Sennheiser user and an AV team of one, Christopher’s early adoption of the new EW-DX system was a natural progression. He needed a fully networked solution that could be managed offsite. He explains, “our campus is 80 acres, so I’m not able to walk from room to room – I have to hop on the golf cart. Now I just go on the computer, pop on Control Cockpit and make sure everything is good. We are networking all audio consoles.” EW-DX can be managed via Control Cockpit that allows for digital workflows so Christopher can oversee, coordinate and troubleshoot wireless operations from his laptop. As Berkeley Prep’s wireless setup spans three black box theaters across the elementary, middle and upper school divisions, a main stage 820 seat theater, a recital space and a brand-new chapel, being able to manage all these spaces and more from a centralized hub was a key consideration in their wireless audio decision.

Berkeley Prep’s state of the art campus extends to its recital hall, where an array of professional audio equipment allows students to really shine.

Christopher worked closely with Berkeley Prep’s trusted partners at Beamworks to plan, purchase and rollout the EW-DX system across campus. Drew McMullian, Operations Manager at Beamworks brought hands-on support to the installation process and found Control Cockpit’s networked approach to be a comprehensive solution for the school’s needs. He provided the example of the campus chapel: “getting everything connected and networked has been incredible. They built a beautiful new chapel recently, and the AV room is up a spiral staircase, so it is not accessible if you need to get there quickly,” Drew continued, “being able to control the wireless from the Control Cockpit software is a necessity for Christopher. All of this, with the flexibility to use any Neumann or Sennheiser capsules to outfit the church choir, made this a spot-on setup for Berkeley Prep.”

Berkeley Prep’s brand-new chapel relies on Sennheiser EW-DX for services.

With so many daily activities across campus that require wireless audio both indoors and out, navigating air traffic and buzzy Downtown Tampa to dodge dropouts and interference can feel like an obstacle course. Berkeley Prep needed a wireless system that could handle the crowded RF spectrum while minimizing the legwork for Christopher and other wireless users. EW-DX offers the lowest latency on the market (1.9 milliseconds) and eliminates the need for frequency calculation thanks to its equidistant frequency spacing which does not pollute available spectrum with intermodulation. In Christopher’s words, “with the EW-DX units I don’t have these [frequency coordination] issues. They don’t get stomped on by anything.”

Drew underscored the challenge that Christopher was facing, “In this area, anything from 500-540MHz band completely disappeared.” Beamworks has been equipping the local Tampa market with wireless solutions since the late 1990s, and Drew has almost two decades of first-hand experience with the crowded RF environment and how to best navigate it, “EW-DX can find nooks and crannies that work whereas regular bands don’t even function.”

Berkeley Prep’s 820-capacity theater uses 24 channels of EW-DX for a variety of performances and events.