Microflex Ecosystem Provides High Quality Audio for Hybrid Learning at the UPF

Customer Profile

Pompeu Fabra University (UPF-Universidad Pompeu Fabra) – Barcelona School of Management, established in 1990, is a public university located in Barcelona. In 2021, UPF was ranked the best university in Spain and the 15th best young university in the world by Times Higher Education World University Rankings. 

Challenge

Like many higher education institutions around the world, UPF needed to adapt its education model to hybrid learning, combining face-to-face and virtual classes in order to continue teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic. Hybrid learning concept was completely new to the university as they didn’t hold online classes prior to the pandemic and didn’t have the A/V system to support it. 

Ditec Comunicaciones, a system integrator specializing in audiovisual services, identified Shure Microflex Advance series as the best solution as the system is very user friendly, requires minimal touch to operate and provides high class audio for all participants, whether they are in the classroom or attending the lesson remotely. 

With the support of EarPro, the official Shure Distributor in Spain, Portugal and Andorra, 38 rooms in UPF were successfully renovated and adapted to hybrid learning.

Solution

Microflex® Advance™ MXA910 Ceiling Array Microphone and MXA710 Linear Array Microphone were deployed across all rooms to capture speech. These microphones feature Steerable Coverage ™ technology with default templates for quick deployment. This allows microphone lobes to be aimed at capturing voices of teachers and students in different locations within the same room. Due to the IntelliMix automatic mixing and Autofocus™ technology, echo and unwanted background noise are removed and the audio quality of the talker's voice is improved. 

Several Microflex™ MXN5W-C Networked Ceiling Loudspeakers were installed in each room, based on the room size for providing high quality sound reproduction. They deliver premium audio performance due to the seamless integration with the array microphones with the added confidence of Shure Audio Encryption and Dante Domain Manager compatibility. 

The entire system was managed by the installation of IntelliMix® P300 in each room, providing a clear, clean sound for faculty and students within the physical and virtual learning environment. 

As the Microflex Ecosystem is designed to work together, the system provides a seamless and user-friendly audio experience.

To complete the AV solution, 3 types of Aver cameras (Aver PTC500S, Aver CAM520 Pro PoE and Aver Cam340+ ) were used, depending on the needs and the size of each classroom.

Advantages

The adoption of Hybrid learning across the UPF campus now means that all lessons are catered for by a cutting-edge AV system that exceeds audio requirements and provides the best possible learning experience for academics and students alike.

“The MXA710 was one of the main protagonists since it allowed Ditec professionals a simple and discreet integration, with the premium audio quality necessary in a project of these characteristics. Furthermore, the pandemic was a challenge for the implementation of the project since it forced us to minimize contact and meetings with the staff of the university as much as possible” explains Kiko Margalef, Audio Product Manager at EarPro.

“However, being able to count on the Shure Designer software and its assistant, allowed Ditec engineers to configure the entire system remotely, which meant we were able to guarantee the quality and performance required in each space, as we were able to verify it remotely”, concludes Margalef.