
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...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
24/07/2026
Referee hat cameras, player/coach mics, and virtual graphics will be deployed at the three-day event for the first time
The NFL FLAG Championships return to ES...
24/07/2026
Qvest, Ateme, and Scaleway have partnered to offer broadcasters, media organizat...
24/07/2026
LTN has completed satellite-to-IP migrations for more than 3,000 broadcaster, MVPD (Multi-Channel Video Programming Distributor), head-end, and content owner si...
24/07/2026
Chyron has released Virtual Placement 8.1, an update to its live sports virtual graphics platform. The release adds workflow and graphics changes across chroma ...
24/07/2026
Riedel's RefCam Live was used for the first time at an international soccer match during a friendly between the German men's national team and Ghana in ...
24/07/2026
USSI Global said it is prepared to help broadcasters, satellite network operators, and media organizations manage the next phase of C-band spectrum clearing, fo...
24/07/2026
FuboTV and The Athletic have launched The Athletic Video Hub on Fubo, bringing The Athletic's sports video content to connected TV (CTV) for the first time....
24/07/2026
Tagboard and Momento have partnered to bring Momento's fan reaction photos to venue videoboards in real time following big plays. The Seattle Mariners will ...
24/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) created an anthem called The World Is Here for Fox ...
24/07/2026
Caz TV has acquired Brazilian broadcast rights to the entire WTA Tour driven by Mercedes-Benz, covering all WTA 250, WTA 500, and WTA 1000 tournaments. The agre...
24/07/2026
SiriusXM and WWE have launched WWE Radio on SiriusXM channel 156, beginning Monday, July 27. The channel will carry live audio of WWE Premium Live Events, audio...
24/07/2026
Harvard Athletics produces more than 325 live NCAA Division 1 sports events and 500 edited videos per year. To manage video capture, streaming, recording, and s...
24/07/2026
Chyron's PRIME 5 graphics platform supported live graphics workflows for NBCUniversal Telemundo's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage across Telemundo, Univers...
24/07/2026
Wearable tech returns to the coverage, and a brand-new mobile unit is rolled out for the 2026 edition
The 21-stage Tour de France is nearing its conclusion. Th...
24/07/2026
More than 20 cameras, extensive player and coach audio, and a REMCO production model will power coverage of the league's showcase
For an event designed to ...
24/07/2026
New broadcast tool uses live timing, telemetry, and predictive analysis to decode real-time team decision-making for fans at home...
24/07/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
24/07/2026
First string library captured at Studio Richter Mahr
The latest sample library to be created at Max Richter's Studio Richter Mahr facility captures the ...
24/07/2026
Official emulation of Blackbird Studios reverb chamber
In their latest collaboration with Blackbird Studios, KIT Plugins have captured the sound of the Stud...
24/07/2026
Sohonet's partners at BIND Studio have published a great case study on the V...
24/07/2026
Angela Gomez brings over 14 years of experience in broadcast communications and audio engineering, specialising in live outside broadcasts, live sports and larg...
24/07/2026
Between the maturation of IP and remote production workflows, collegiate sports production is advancing rapidly. For an Ivy League institution like Harvard, kee...
24/07/2026
iWedia, a global provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announces the launch of Teatro Factory, a new operator-facing software factory o...
24/07/2026
Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisements into live video streams during the 2026 ...
24/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/07/2026
Current DASDEC software enables customers to comply with the FCC's new 15-character password mandate without requiring updates
LYNDONVILLE, N.Y. July 23,...
24/07/2026
At the IBC2026 Show, SDVI will give European media organizations their first hands-on look at the next-generation Rally media supply chain management platform f...
24/07/2026
Sonnet Technologies at IBC2026
Brie Clayton July 23, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image: Sonnet Twin25G T5 Thunderbolt 5 Adapter
At this year's IBC Sho...
24/07/2026
Musora Enhances Online Music Lessons with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton July 23, 2026
0 Comments
Director of Production Josh Holliday details workflo...
24/07/2026
Interview with Production 360. Original article published here
The theme of thi...
24/07/2026
Article courtesy of postPerspective
Read the article
While Toy Story 5 maintai...
24/07/2026
Kerry and Mayo fans Up For The Match as excitement builds in Croke Park on the e...
23/07/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 23rd, JULY, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisem...
23/07/2026
This Spring 2026 graduate from Honolulu found a home at SoonerVision as a live-production star and is ready to enter the industry as a replay op on Prime Video&...
23/07/2026
As the AUSL postseason begins tonight, listening in to players during games enhances fan engagement for the young organization
Ballplayers chatting with announ...
23/07/2026
Snap Inc. and the Esports Foundation have announced Snap's activations at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, running July 6 through August 23. For the fir...
23/07/2026
Sony has announced the FX5, a full-frame Cinema Line camera built around a newly developed fully stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and BIONZ XR2 image processi...
23/07/2026
TNDV (a division of Live Media Group) provided technical production support for the Pickleball Slam 4 live broadcast from Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, ...
23/07/2026
LTN has announced it has completed satellite-to-IP migrations for more than 3,00...
23/07/2026
Daktronics has announced the winners of the 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase, a national competition recognizing student work in media production, storytellin...
23/07/2026
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and beIN Media Group have announced a five-ye...
23/07/2026
Clear-Com provided the communications infrastructure for the Fryderyk Awards Gal...
23/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is, on paper, an unparalleled financial success. Total t...