Action Audio Apps Enters the Arena

The joint venture of wireless microphone transmitter system maker Quantum5X and tech startup Action Audio Apps, which aggregates sound from wired-up players at games into a show pushed out over WiFi to attendees’ mobile devices within a stadium or arena, has produced its first football app.

The April 6 home opener of Arena Football League’s Orlando Predators will be the first professional football game where fans have exclusive live access to on-the-field audio via Action Audio Apps. The audio will be available via the app at all future home games at the Predators’ venue, Amway Center Arena.

Action Audio Apps has already entered into agreements with regional sports leagues and teams, including the Danbury Whalers of the Federal Hockey League and teams in the Ontario Hockey League, as well as a number of semi-pro boxing matches.

Users can download the Action Audio App for iOS and Android smartphones or tablets and hear player and other personnel audio from the locker room to the field, including the bench and the penalty box.

The audio remains nominally under the control of the team or league, protected by a 3.5-second delay. Eight channels of signal from the Quantum5X microphones are sent from the RF receivers to a portable Behringer X32 audio console. In hockey, multiple player microphones may be assigned to the same channel, subdividing the teams on the ice, with other channels assigned to coaches, referees, and the penalty box.

An open microphone is kept at the mix position, and Action Audio Apps’ own commentator talent may bring a player or coach tableside for a quick interview or clarification of rules on a close call.

Audio is distributed throughout the venue via WiFi, accessible to fans through the app, which is available for free from the Apple App Store. At venues not fitted with their own WiFi network, says Action Audio Apps founder Sebastian Failla, his company has installed temporary wireless access points.