Let’s talk sound.

We’re in this huge (to us) world of AV and the V often grabs all the attention because it’s bright and colorful and it gets bigger and with more pixels all the time. It’s the Blinky Light Syndrome. Audio is seen as the noise that goes with the picture and sadly, really good audio implementations aren’t very common. Further, the common user of AV doesn’t understand even the basics of audio such as the Inverse Square Law but they can understand the simplicity that 4K is more than 2K so it must be better.

A survey that I saw about workplaces taken pre-pandemic showed that audio was four times more important than video and that 4 of the top 5 frustrations were related to audio. None of the top five were video related yet the majority of the investments were expected to be focused on displays and control systems. The blinky lights. Little “a”, big “V”.

To some extent, it’s easy to understand the focus. It’s easy to justify a new 21:9 display or LED wall because the upgrade is in your face, literally. You know where the money went. It’s right there on the wall.

While you can experience sound, good or bad, you can’t see it. While you can easily measure background noise or RT60 times, you can’t see a NR rating or a RT60 time and most site surveys never include making basic room acoustical measurements. Out of sight, out of mind.

While some know the room has a sound problem, they may not understand the benefit of why they should put money and resources into changes needed to the infrastructure. It’s easier to justify a budget for equipment because it’s invested into something tangible. They can show their supervisors exactly where the money went. They can point to it.

Recommendations for acoustical treatments or reducing the HVAC noise aren’t popular even though they are foundational for human communication within the space. Acoustical treatment is often the first thing deleted in a “value engineering” exercise. (Perhaps we should market acoustical treatment with sensors and colored LEDs that vary with the amount of sound energy being absorbed or diffused so they can see it “work”.) Worse, acoustics may not even be a consideration when aesthetics are the primary concern. Remember this after the last contractor has packed up and left the site: The end users are still there. They’re stuck with whatever has been built whether it serves their purposes or not. If it’s a bad room, the search begins again in a couple of years to upgrade the technology in the room because communication in the room requires effort. While that’s fine for selling equipment, it impacts AV’s reputation as an industry.

Here’s something else to consider:

The one thing that hasn’t changed over time is the human. Humans communicate with other humans using the same interfaces, the same eyes and ears they’ve been using since we were drawing pictures on cave walls.

And while the signal processors have improved, they still can’t fix a bad room.

Numerous references state that the RT60 time for a meeting room or classroom should be under 0.60 seconds in the 500, 1,000 and 2,000 Hz octave bands. Persistent reverberation decreases intelligibility.

ASHRAE’s (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers) chapter on Sound and Vibration gives maximum allowable background noise levels of NC 30 and RC 30. Excessive background noise levels reduces the acoustic signal-to-noise ratio in the room which decreases intelligibility.

If communication is impeded in the room, the humans have to exert more energy to listen and listener fatigue begins to set it. This isn’t “Zoom Fatigue”. This is the fatigue that sets in trying to communicate with one another in the same room. The extreme to this is being on the far side of an audio conference call with bad audio. It’s too much work to try and understand what’s being said so you start checking email and doing other things. You might as well not even be there as information is no longer being communicated once you’ve tuned out. If you’re in the same room with bad acoustics or excessive noise you just pretend to be listening because doing otherwise is simply impolite. Add in someone whose first language is not your own and the effort required to understand what’s being said increases exponentially.

When was the last time you saw any sound measurement requirements on a Site Survey form? Why is it that two of the most basic metrics used to assess a classroom or meeting room for suitability as a classroom or meeting room are ignored like they don’t exist?

A lot of rooms with only carpet and acoustic ceiling tiles for the drop ceiling will meet the RT60 criteria. For example, a 30 ft. x 20 ft. with a 9 ft. ceiling comes in just under 0.60 even with some glass walls. Raise that ceiling to 10 ft. and you’ve added more reflective surface but the amount of absorptive surface, the ceiling, hasn’t changed and you’re over the limits. Lose those absorptive ceilings tiles with the 9 ft. ceiling and the numbers go to about 2-3 seconds. But I’m sure it’s a pretty room.

I’ve seen meeting rooms with tall open ceilings including exposed joists and ductwork – all the properties of a mini gymnasium. Another one was an open office concept in an old warehouse made of concrete with a conferencing set up in the middle of the open area. It had all the acoustical properties of a parking garage. I’ve been asked for a mix-minus system in a room that’s less than 1,100 sq. ft. because the acoustics are so bad. It had a very tall “V” shaped ceiling that rises on both ends and comes down to a point about 12 ft. AFF in the center of the room. But it has a skylight.

And while things like ceiling or wall mounted microphones have gotten better and the sound has improved going to the far side, these same devices and processors can’t fix these rooms.

What about noting other acoustical room defects such as concave walls and domed ceilings?

Have you asked AI to show you a modern meeting room? If you’re an audio or acoustics person, you’ll cringe at most of these images but that’s what clients are seeing and now expecting from the look of a meeting room. AI needs to take some courses in acoustics.

If you’re trying to meet sustainability objectives for LEED or the WELL Building Standard, you’ll see some of the same acoustic criteria I noted above for limits on RT60 times and maximum background noise. These folks get it – it’s about the quality of the environment being designed for human comfort.

Someone asked me recently what I use on site. “My eyes.” If the room looks pretty, you’re probably in trouble. All of that glass and marble is not your friend acoustically, nor it is the user’s friend. That’s not to say that I don’t back up what I’m seeing without measurements because I do measure, but if you’ve been around a while, you know what to expect before you ever open your kit.

That’s also not to say that every meeting room or classroom should be devoid of any personality or artistry but it needs to consider room materials, room shape and room size as primary considerations for the room it be effective as intended.

Designing for Good Sound

In the end, we all know we need to sell, design, specify, install, configure, test, commission, and support AV systems to make a living. However, I think we’re well overdue in informing building owners, architects and other construction disciplines in the criteria required for a functional meeting or classroom space.

First, make it comfortable for the humans to communicate with each other in the room. They probably won’t understand or know why they like the room but they will and they’ll prefer it over other underperforming rooms. Afterwards, apply the technology so they can communicate with other humans outside of that room.

If you need assistance or have questions about a client’s project you’re looking at, reach out to us here at Exertis Almo. We’re happy to share what we’ve learned over the years to help make it a complete system that includes the room.

If you enjoyed this blog, check out Tom’s “Choose Quality AV” blog for more insights.

About the Author

Tom Kehr

CTS-D, CTS-I, Network+, LEED Green Associate, ISF-C, ATD Master Trainer

In-House System Designer and Trainer

Supported Applications: System Design

Blog written by Exertis Almo's Rob Voorhees & Nicholas Carnahan.

Getting to Know Audio and Exertis Almo’s Audio Team

(Rob starts off the discussion…)

If my career in Pro AV has taught me anything, it’s that you have to be able to adapt and you truly never know when the next big opportunity will come along. In late 2018, I was a relative unknown in the industry and had 18 months under my belt as the “telecom guy” at Almo Pro AV (aka Exertis Almo). Trying to figure my way through the ins and outs of the “great unknown” which was Pro AV to me, I was approached with an opportunity to try my hand in Pro Audio and being the “expert” for one of the most recognizable brands in the world, Harman Professional Solutions. Fast forward a few months and I started to jot down some thoughts, mainly as a form of self-therapy. The result was one of my first blogs titled “But I Don’t Know Audio!” A beginners guide of sorts to how we can find our way through the unknown and eventually reap the rewards, in whatever form they may be.

A lot has changed since 2019 as it pertains to not only my career, but also in Pro Audio and with those changes I felt I had no choice but to call in some reinforcements for what I am dubbing “The Sequel” to my original writing. Nick Carnahan joined Exertis Almo’s Business Development Team in 2023 after previously spending nearly a decade with Legrand AV and much like me, he prides himself on being a hands-on learner who simply likes to “figure it out”. If there is one thing that I will always appreciate, its when a person is determined to not let new opportunities go to waste and Nick is a prime example of that as he is now the Business Development Manager for Yamaha here at Exertis Almo amongst his other responsibilities. Given these similarities in our paths and general interests, Nick and I agreed that the path to success in audio is directly tied to how simple and comfortable you can make it for all involved.

The Basics

One area where Nick and I shared similar sentiments was regarding our initial reactions when given the opportunity to join the world of Audio. Nick said it best, “I told myself to just remember the basics”. Given that he had some previous audio experience under his belt with Legrand, perhaps it was simpler for him than it was for me, but I too relied on “the basics”. To me, “basics” can come in different forms. For example, my CE and Car Audio experience, while vastly different in many areas from the 70v or low impedance system of Pro AV, at least gave me some type of audio background to start with. Nick’s basics were more traditional from the speakers/amps that fell under the Legrand umbrella and his general understanding and interest of how it all works. We think the key is no matter what the subject matter might be or how foreign it may seem to you, there could always be an opportunity to take it back to the basics to help simplify and make it not as daunting as it first seemed.

Questions, Questions, and more Questions

Nick and I could not agree more when the topic of qualifying questions came into the discussion. At the risk of sounding redundant from past writings, asking the right questions is essential in just about every facet of our lives. Its how we learn, its how we correct mistakes, its how we grow. Nick explained how outside of learning the right questions to ask, it’s an added bonus when you know your resources. “I have always prided myself on finding the right people if I ever did not know the answer to something. That is how I learned over time what the right questions were to be asking” Nick mentioned. Whether it be an internal resource such as Tom Kehr, our system designer and trainer, or any number of resources at our manufacturer partners, we will never be afraid to ask those questions because its how we improve our own skillsets which then enable us to pass that value on to others. Whether it’s a matter of “what amp would you pair with these speakers” or “explain AVoIP and Dante to me” the key will always be the ability to ask the right questions, learn the answers, and then hopefully retain that info for many years to come.

(Nick continues the discussion…)

Education

One area that has helped me greatly has always been my interest in educating myself. As Rob said earlier, we are both hands on learners and when compared to books or webinars we definitely would prefer to touch, play, and even break something while learning all about it. A valuable similarity we found with our manufacturer partners is that nearly all of them offer some form of online learning tract or web-based solutions center. The Solution Selling opportunities are of great interest to me personally because it can be used as a template to build out a system and learn which pieces are considered typical starting points. Having images and templates to guide us through simple to complex audio system is just as beneficial for us on the Business Development side as it is for the integrators who are installing and servicing. They also give us the chance to offer a complete package to the customer including the necessary cables, racks, mounting brackets, power management and more that might be needed.

Take Action…..and ask 1 final question

Now that Rob and I have hopefully taught you how to simplify the practice of implementing audio, its time to put the lessons into action. The key is to never be afraid to simply ask “What are you using for audio?” Those 6 short words could turn a $200,000 display sale into a $1.2 million overall solution once you add the audio, cables, mounts, and more to it. That one sale where the customer wants 65” display could easily expand beyond that when you ask “What are you using for audio?” The customer may reply with “Oh we have to look for a soundbar next” or “Come to think of it, we hadn’t even considered the audio yet….” Both are great answers as it opens the door to a deeper conversation and the ability to put all of our previous discussion into action. As is the case with the previous points above, that one question also helps us continue to learn on the job. The fact finding, discovery calls, site visits, etc all lead to us retaining more information than we previously had and that is an added bonus.

I hope you are able to take away at least one of these areas and immediately apply them to your day to day. Start that new training course, pick up the phone and ask that one question, or even start teaching yourself online through numerous vendor resources. Rob, myself (Nick), and Tom Kehr represent the Exertis Almo Audio Team and we are excited to answer any of your questions or assist in putting together complete audio solutions for any projects you may have! Contact any of us at [email protected].

Exertis Almo’s Pro Audio Team

Tom Kehr | CTS-D, CTS-I, Network+, LEED Green Associate, ISF-C, ATD Master Trainer

In-House System Designer & Trainer