CONTACT SALES
TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Seeking an Immersive Experience? Sound Matters.

Whether it's an entertainment, hospitality or corporate environment, the ultimate goal of any AV deployment is to provide a truly immersive experience. The type of experience that transports or wows a guest in a manner that seems natural and totally seamless. This requires getting a lot of components right. It often means pairing a story with a host of intriguing and often advanced technologies.  Without the right mix of sound and visual effects, this goal is unattainable.

 For a lot of reasons, video tends to receive most the attention in the installation world. Its bright, expensive, and the industry has done a good job of creating buzz words that incentivize users to upgrade. At the same time, audio’s evolution over the last decade has been more subtle.  Although equally important, advancements in amplifiers, DSP technology, and the availability of network-based gear allow for more flexibility and control than ever before. But without proper engineering, these tools rarely utilize their full capabilities. 

Despite taking a back seat, sound is an essential tool for communication. When sound is not given the same value and consideration as other elements such as video, the end product can feel disjointed or unnatural. When this happens the ability to achieve an immersive experience suffers significantly. A tricky thing about sound is that the best designs are often those that go unnoticed. If the end-user never considers the volume, clarity, or direction, that means we’ve done our job- creating an experience that seamlessly embeds technology.  

 Sound Design

 Good sound design starts long before you bring amplifiers and speakers into a space. For instance, starting with a room that naturally sounds good provides an enormous jump start over an environment that is not acoustically friendly. Unfortunately, the trend towards modern design, with lots of glass, big open spaces, sharp angles, and minimal décor creates loud and reverberant environments. This is not ideal for audio. You may notice that museums, restaurants, and lobbies have become louder in recent years. I believe architecture and interior design trends are partially responsible.

 Working with an acoustician when designing a space will pay dividends later when your audio engineers are not battling the laws of physics in an attempt to generate coherent sound. Sound design contains many subtleties that other métiers lack. Proper measurement tools allow you to clearly define video quality. This is not always the case with audio. Even with proper engineering, there is still no substitute for one’s ears when creating great sounds. Sitting in a space and tweaking a system to make it sound just right is as much an art as it is a science. 

Sound is a crucial tool when providing focus within theme park attractions. In these fast-moving setting, sound draws attention to a specific visual element. We can also use sound to help reinforce environments. Using echoes to create the illusion of a cavernous environment is a prime example. 

It's not hard to find similar examples across all types of AV deployments, often by recognizing deployments that fail to deliver.  Simply put, sound deserves equal attention. Failing to do so will undoubtedly result in a less than ideal experience.

What's your perspective?

Tell us the topic you would like to hear more about

More Perspective
7 MINS

The Evolution of Sound

Today’s performance audio landscapes are dominated by immersive artificial soundscapes, directional audio and other advanced sound systems. These innovative solutions build on the pioneering...

|
4 MINS

The Metaverse: A world of opportunity

When Gartner cites the metaverse as one of its top strategic technology trends for 2023, the technology has to be taken seriously. Indeed, according to forecasters, it looks like big business for...

|
2 MINS

Dark Rides, The Next Generation (Part 2)

In an earlier blog, Dark Rides – The Next Generation – Part 1, we explained the importance of upgrading dark rides to meet increasing visitor expectations and explored the three key trends –...

|
3 MINS

Dark Rides, The Next Generation (Part 1)

Dark rides have been an important and popular attraction in theme parks for generations, but now experiential technology is taking them in exciting new directions — and the new generation of rides...

|
2 MINS

The evolution of the video wall

Video walls as art - How far can LED technology take the video wall? Video walls have reached an exciting tipping point. The latest developments in LED video walls are helping designers create custom...

|
3 MINS

How to Use AI to Augment Your Creative Potential

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t the stuff of science fiction anymore. In fact, it’s powering billions of processes and workflows for companies worldwide. It’s become a key component in almost...

|
3 MINS

The Future of Onsite AV Support

The world of audiovisual technology is changing, and effective design, planning, engineering and installation of a holistic AV solution is now a prerequisite to doing business in an increasingly...

|
6 MINS office-shakehands

Planning to Hire an AV Company?

Exceptional projects demand an exceptional team. When engaging an audio visual (AV) solutions provider with so many companies out there… how do you choose? From design, to procurement, commissioning...

|
3 MINS

Are You Ready for ISE?

Taking place in Amsterdam February 11-14, the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) exhibition is a premier event focused entirely on audiovisual (AV) and systems integration. If you have a project on the...

|
2 MINS

Is Your AV Deployment Secure?

The need for security impacts everyone. And, unfortunately, unmonitored access points can quickly lead to a costly data breach. The massive Target breach from a few years ago was the result of an...

|
1 MINS

Does 5G Matter for Your AV Deployments?

If you pay even the slightest amount of attention to technology trends, you already know that the hype around 5G is rapidly gaining steam. The question is what does the eventual movement from current...

|
4 MINS

Looking Back at a Decade of Opportunity

Each time we hit a new decade, it is always fun and often rewarding to take a look in the rearview mirror to see how the company has progressed. The past 10 years represent a decade of significant...

|
2 MINS iStock-1152574617

What's on Your Wishlist?

Do you have a project on the horizon? Is your goal to captivate your audience? In the spirit of the holidays, we have created a wish list of the qualities a company should consider when selecting an...

|
2 MINS james-pond-XO9uCZZaipE-unsplash

Dark Rides Expand Branding Opportunities

Brands are more important today than ever before. Why? Today’s consumer likes to relate to a brand – it is part of the experience they desire. This is true whether they are buying a product or...

|
2 MINS iStock-165683086

Dark Rides Protect Your Park's Future

Nostalgia has its place even with the Millennial crowd. There is something comforting about a known experience. It helps the guest even temporarily relive cherished childhood memories. That is the...

|
3 MINS dtorlando-01_(1)

7 Things You Need to Do During IAAPA

There is a lot of excitement at IAAPA, and without a plan the entire experience can quickly become overwhelming. Sensory overload is always a real possibility! Having participated in these events for...

|
5 MINS blog-image-01_(1)

Are You Ready for IAAPA?

As the attraction industry’s biggest expo, IAAPA is always a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on what we have done over the past year, as well as a time to meet with existing and prospective...

|
2 MINS iStock-863497498

Do You Really Need an AV Consultant?

As the experience economy continues to mature and evolve, it is has become increasingly more important to embrace creative and meaningful ways to visually interact with team members and customers....

|
2 MINS iStock-1093674926

Are You Ready for AV-As-A-Service?

The cloud-based as-a-service market has been one of the fastest growing sectors over the past 5 years. So much so that it’s estimated that organizations will spend $94.8 billion on these cloud-based...

|
1 MINS iStock-658188828

How Interactives Can Become Viral

We have talked in detail about the significant role that interactive audiovisual deployments can have as guests engage and ultimately embrace the immersive experience. What we haven’t discussed is...

|
1 MINS iStock-911030486-1

Addressing Learning Disabilities

Today’s educators are far more in-tune with the need to adjust lessons to meet individualized student needs. Addressing learning disabilities is a prime example.

|
2 MINS iStock-1065240764

Future of the Digital Workplace

The digital economy is here and with it comes a new way of conducting business. Technology is at the core of almost every job. Smart offices have become the norm with an influx of highly interactive...

|
2 MINS shutterstock_576827212

Collaboration and Communication

When properly leveraged, audiovisual (AV) technology is at the core of most highly effective collaboration and communications efforts in today’s digital world. After all, AV technology has the...

|
2 MINS podcast imageNEW-01

Unpacking the XR Revolution (New Podcast)

We are in the beginning stages of a true revolution – the extended reality revolution. Although some components have been around for a handful of years, the current level of maturity, understanding...

|
3 MINS iStock-169938237-1

Why Businesses Favor a Huddle Room

The global market is rapidly evolving, and if organizations hope to compete – or better yet thrive – they need to rethink their physical environments. Gone are the work weeks where workers file into...

|
1 MINS iStock-1043605040

Reinventing Spaces: Retailtainment

Modern retail venues are constantly evolving – merging entertainment with shopping to create lifestyle destinations for people to shop, eat, drink, socialize and work. They are ultimately redefining...

|
2 MINS monitor-1054708_1280

Why Audiovisual Solutions Matter

In today’s digital economy, how businesses leverage technology is often a key differentiator. While various technologies play a role in fueling this evolving environment properly deploy audiovisual...

|
2 MINS elc400_N5_medium_(1)

What is a Huddle Room?

As Millennials started replacing Boomers, they brought with them the idea of open office environments. And, while these open spaces created an aesthetic the new professionals desired, it also shined...

|
2 MINS victor-garcia-qm9pHqVt7KA-unsplash-2-2

Optimizing Design with AV in Mind

When creating a distinctive structure for a client, it is easy to get caught up in the aesthetics of delivering a truly unique design capable of setting a facility apart from the pack. However, doing...

|
2 MINS jeshoots-com-722888-unsplash-1

Putting an End to Terminal Boredom

Airport terminals can be busy and heavily congested environments, especially during peak travel times. However, even though terminals are often filled with people rapidly moving from point A to point...

|
Scroll to Top