
Target Field Audio Gets a Boost With Dante Networking Use of venues for non-sports events strains sound systems By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, December 20, 2018 - 7:50 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Sports venues are being asked to host a much wider variety of events than they might have originally been designed and built for. Music concerts, in particular, increasingly put stadiums on their tour schedules. Last October, for instance, country crooner Garth Brooks did the first-ever concert in Notre Dame's football stadium, and that show, which played to an estimated 80,000-plus fans, was the first in a planned three-year tour that will play stadium venues only. Managing the audio in these venues has become a major undertaking.
The 39,000-seat Target Field, home to MLB's Minneapolis Twins, has its own concert series during the baseball season and hosted shows by the Eagles and Jimmy Buffett & His Coral Reefer Band this past summer. And there is no shortage of corporate and other non-sports events using its club seats, luxury suites, and Budweiser Roof Deck.
Pushing the Tech Envelope
What was happening was that the venue's use beyond baseball games was straining its technology, with many subnets in the facility and all audio transport done via a CobraNet system. Additionally, demand for a better fan experience required moving audio to and from areas not originally planned for audio support, including distributing audio out to various areas or pulling signals to the control room for mixing and processing: for example, bands performances before ballgames and during breaks.
Besides the MLB's Minneapolis Twins, Target Field hosts a series of concerts during the baseball season.
Although the CobraNet system is still in place to transport DSP audio data over fiber to and from fixed locations - amp rooms, clubs, press areas - the system had reached its maximum capability, and a new solution was needed.
We would have a band performing on the other side of the stadium, and there was very limited connectivity, says Jeff Pedersen, lead audio technician, Minnesota Twins Baseball, who manages and operates the sound systems and audio equipment for all games and special events. I could get only two audio lines to use: one for an intercom connection so we could communicate with our technician located with the band, who would then send me a submixed signal back on the other audio line. We were able to get the job done, but it was a difficult process, to say the least. My dream was to have control of all of this in front of me on my console, with separate channels for mixing. I finally got to do this by adding Dante connectivity into the system. The Twins had the new system up and running by midseason, in July.
Dante Domain Manager Upgrade
Pedersen and Tim Habedank, AV technical manager at integrator Parsons Electric, which has partnered in the past with the Twins, set out to upgrade and expand the audio experience in the venue. Dante and Dante Domain Manager were critical elements of that effort.
For instance, Pedersen needed a way to easily and inexpensively expand the number of inputs and outputs to his main console to provide a better fan experience and a better mix and to manage and control the total system. The next step was to install Dante-enabled equipment, immediately upgrading the system by expanding channel counts, expanding audio infrastructure, and reducing latency.
Dante also allows Target Field to tap into the existing networking structure, without having to install extra infrastructure to get audio where it needs to go. For instance, Pedersen added wireless microphone receivers, mixers, and input/output racks as a base for the Dante system.
The stadium's audio system comprises a control room tied to multiple locations. Three amplifier rooms support the stadium speaker system, as well as 18 other locations that receive audio feeds from the control room.
We started by using Dante to connect the control room to the band stage, says Pedersen. This step alone brought 16 channels from the band to my main console - a huge improvement for us. Our plan now is to get Dante into all of our remote locations and bring all the control and mixing to our main control room. If we need more remote support, I can easily plug in a network cable and jump on the Dante network to my console. There's a lot of flexibility now in being able to share inputs and outputs with different mixers in different areas.
Once the Dante network was in place, the next step was to implement Dante Domain Manager, network-management software that enables user authentication, role-based security, and audit capabilities for Dante networks while allowing expansion of Dante systems over any network infrastructure. This enabled the stadium to integrate its many separate subnets into a single, manageable, and secure audio network.
For instance, Pedersen and Habedank needed to integrate audio into areas of the stadium that were not originally designed for audio, such as where the band plays. Instead of adding an audio pathway and thousands of dollars of cabling, they used an existing data drop at these new locations, adding a Dante input/output box and plugging it into the network.
However, these new locations were not on the same subnet as Pedersen's control room. With some configuration and help from the stadium's IT department, Dante Domain Manager was deployed to bridge the various subnets, passing Dante audio from the new locations to the control room.
At Target Field, they have a Layer 3 network at the closet, Habedank explains. That means every closet has its own subnet, and the control room on the opposite side of the stadium was in a different subnet than the live-band location. Dante Domain Manager allows us to bridge these subnets and pass Dante from one
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
11/08/2026
Weekly immersive broadcasts will feature 8K 3D video, a 180-degree field of view...
11/08/2026
By Briana Brady, Social Media Manager, Production Hub
Sports content is having ...
11/08/2026
She addresses why media organizations need more than asset storage, how sports t...
11/08/2026
Remote commentary has improved significantly on these broadcasts
At a clip of ...
11/08/2026
A pair of LANTIME IMS M2000 PTP Grandmasters deliver resilient timing infrastruc...
11/08/2026
LTN has announced expanded capabilities for its Live Event Master Control offering, providing sports broadcasters, leagues, rights holders, and content owners w...
11/08/2026
WTA Ventures has appointed IMG as its managed production services partner in a multi-year agreement commencing with the 2027 season. The partnership is the late...
11/08/2026
The New York Jets and CBS New York have agreed to a multi-year extension of their partnership, keeping CBS New York as the official broadcast home of the team. ...
11/08/2026
Nielsen Holdings and DoubleVerify have announced a definitive agreement under which Nielsen will acquire DoubleVerify in an all-cash transaction with an enterpr...
11/08/2026
The Audio Engineering Society has announced the results of its 2026 Board of Dir...
11/08/2026
The CSN co-founder details its network and affiliate' model, how creator wi...
11/08/2026
Gravity Media is providing host broadcast operations for the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026, supporting ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) in delivering the tournament to glo...
11/08/2026
TAG Video Systems has released a memory usage optimization for its MCM software that reduces the cost per channel by up to two-thirds for compressed workflows. ...
11/08/2026
SMT is expanding its technology partnership with the Cincinnati Open this year, adding new LED displays, production capabilities, and fan-facing experiences at ...
11/08/2026
The Pac-12 has announced that home Olympic sports broadcasts throughout the fall season will be available free on the conference's YouTube channel at youtub...
11/08/2026
Spreading a message of faith requires both widespread accessibility and uncompromising visual quality. Real Life Network (RLN), a free, faith-based digital stre...
11/08/2026
Taking the synergy of sports and entertainment a step further, the NFL venue in Nashville will house iterations of two iconic music clubs
The marriage of Taylo...
11/08/2026
Free library captures pro classical string section
There's no shortage of freebies in The Crow Hill Company's line-up, with their Vaults series offe...
11/08/2026
Percussion instrument introduces all-new engine
Emergence Audio have just introduced a instrument that brings together a vast collection of percussive analo...
11/08/2026
Introduces new all-in-one Spatial Panner tool
Boris FX have recently announced the latest major update for their mastering and broadcast-focused DAW softwar...
11/08/2026
Rohde & Schwarz installs millimeter wave security scanners at Airports of Thaila...
11/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/08/2026
farmerswife and Cirkus will return to IBC 2026 to showcase new tools designed to help broadcast, media and post-production teams manage workflows with greater s...
11/08/2026
LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit played a central role in the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23 to August 2, 2026). The host b...
11/08/2026
Jigsaw24 has appointed James Morse as Client Director, Media Sales, as it deepens its focus on sports, live events and integrated production. His appointment co...
11/08/2026
Net Insight today announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live Media solution to centralize the production of Blinkfestivalen 2026. Combining...
11/08/2026
Modular HEVC and JPEG XS workflows enabled resilient, ultra-low-latency delivery for leading linear and digital media platforms across all 104 matches
Appear A...
11/08/2026
Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Fabiola M ndez The first cuatrista to graduate from Berklee talks about the community that shaped her career ahead of her Homecom...
11/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced Dalet Solution Suites, a new portfolio of cloud-native solutions ...
11/08/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, will showcase how media companies can prep...
11/08/2026
Transforming your audience into advocates with Kelsey Gamble 10 August 2026
Building community, harnessing fandom for marketing and activating the four stages ...
11/08/2026
Whether gamers are looking for high-octane action or a laid-back afternoon, Appl...
11/08/2026
Hosts D ith S and Kathryn Thomas rose to the occasion on Tuesday (August 11)...
11/08/2026
Every new generation of accelerated computing demands more from the infrastructure underneath it - more compute performance, higher rack density and more effici...
11/08/2026
A Day in May airs Wednesday 12 August at 9.35pm RT One and RT Player
A Day in May revisits the people and stories behind Ireland's historic marriage equa...
11/08/2026
As AI shifts from chatbots to autonomous agents, open models are serving market ...
11/08/2026
The open source ecosystem is making it easier for AI enthusiasts and developers to build, customize and run increasingly capable agents locally.
Throughout Au...
10/08/2026
Weekly immersive broadcasts will feature 8K 3D video, a 180-degree field of view...
10/08/2026
Saturation plug-in free until 20 August 2026
fedDSP have announced the launch of Raiju, a new guitar pedal-style saturation plug-in that's capable of de...
10/08/2026
New mix-comparison & feedback tool
Independent Swedish record label I/O Music have recently released a handy new tool that provides artists, engineers, prod...
10/08/2026
Additive soft synth gains free counterpart
Sound Radix have just released a free monophonic additive software synth that's based on the same engine as t...
10/08/2026
Chroma integrates MXO oscilloscopes into ATS 8000 platform, rounding out its hig...