When the Grand Casino Baden in Austria reopened in 1995 - as part of the resplendent Congress Casino Baden - it not only became the largest casino in Europe but one of the most prominent event centres in the country.

A subsidiary of Casinos Austria AG, the venue was set up to handle around 240 events a year (in three different function spaces) 365 days a year. And this required a first class sound system to match the ultra-modern facilities.

So back in 2002 Andreas Gallé, Congress Casino Baden's senior technician, decided to install a CobraNet digital backbone. "When we started to evaluate new amplifiers two years later it was logical to look for network-based audio devices," he explained.

The technician specified quantities of QSC PowerLight^TM PL6, PL236, PL230 and PL218 amplification, networked via seven QSC BASIS 922 units. To this the Casino subsequently added a further three BASIS 922 DSP's, linked by the DataPorts of two QSC CX 168's and and a CX 404. "This needed to handle important areas in the gaming part of the Casino, since originally it was equipped only with a 100V paging system," Gallé reports.

The entire system was networked by four Cisco switches, linked by Gigabit Fibre connections in a spanning-tree configuration, using one V-LAN for audio traffic and another for control.

Fast forward to the present, and the gaming area has recently undergone a complete architectural relaunch - incorporating an audio makeover.

Andreas Gallé was invited to design a multi-zone system, encompassing the many areas created by this redesign - and he again opted for a QSC solution.

"It was clear we needed a sound system, that could deal comfortably with the different zones. It made sense that after the excellent experience we had had with QSC we should complement the existing equipment with compatible controllers and amplification."

He again used QSC's proprietary BASIS platform, retro-fitting to the pre-existing network three BASIS 914's, to handle the control and monitoring of three, CX 168's, five CX 404's and a PL 224. These are divided into two racks - one located in the technical room, the second in the back office by the bar.

The user interface is based on a Crestron system, with a Crestron CP2E controller in each rack and seven touch panels, and Gallé has interfaced these with the Basis units. "This was vital, as all the sound processing and switching for the Casino is now taking place in the Basis units," he said.

He also turned to QSC loudspeakers, specifying six AD-S82H and ten AD-S52 (in white) - along with four QSC ILA WL-2082i enclosures.

The Casino technician explained the rationale. "I like the AD-S52 and AD-S82 for their good sound and clever [IntelliDock^TM] mounting brackets. We also used the ILAs because of their light weight, compact dimensions, high SPL capability - and great horizontal coverage of 140 degrees."

These are providing sound disperion on the small stage, which is used for promotions, and as the principle system in the main gaming area hall.

Andre Gallé reports that in view of their successful evaluation of QSC's ILA, he aims to incorporate a second line array system as part of the next phase planning for the main hall.