Buyer's guide

Tony Sawyer, technical support manager for Bosch and Dynacord, reveals the key considerations when considering installing a sound system and we look at some of the hottest products around.

What is the most important thing to consider when choosing an installed sound-system?
The mostly under estimated part of the most venues is the sound system - a bad sound system it is very noticeable. Why? Because we have a physical reaction to bad sound - your hearing hurts, your ears ring and you complain it’s too loud and distorted, yet in this region, it’s the last thing that is put in to a venue.

A good sound system can make or break a venue and vice versa, a bad sound system may also deter clients. What is the point of having a top band or international DJ if the sound system they are using can’t handle the function.

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When having a system designed for a venue there are a few things that need to be looked at: Firstly, the functionality of the system. Designing the right sound system for the right function is the most important thing to start with - a sound system for back ground music, when the function is live, does not make sense.

Additionally, coverage and deviation in the room will be the next thing to be looked at. Just placing speakers randomly in a room is not designing a system - looking at columns, service areas and in some venues, areas of relief all need to be considered.

One biggest mistakes system designers make that I see a lot of is the lack of care or consideration in placement of the speakers - just putting speakers around a room facing this way and that way and then realising that you are hearing 10 sound sources at the same time - no wonder it is going to sound bad.

What have been the biggest developments in installed sound technology in recent years?
The advent of digital signal processors in installations must be the biggest improvement as far as installations market or sound in general.

How is selecting products for installs different to live sound?
Selecting products for the venue’s function is more important - you can use live sound systems for installations as long as they can handle the function. With regards to live, there fewer things to consider like rooms and room acoustics, reverberation etc.

Live systems tend to be easier to handle - yes, you must consider things in a larger scale but a lot of rules can be still applied to each other. Product-wise, amplifiers , DSP’s and some cabinets can be used for both, but a lot of factories tend to manufacture products for both segments and it’s worth noting that the installation products won’t have handles, rubber feet and speak-on connectors, while the live system will have all of these plus protection and tend to be more mechanically durable.

What is your current favourite product targeted at in the installed sound market?
My current favourite product is a DSP called the N8000 from Electro-Voice. It eliminates the need for any external hardware in everything from theatres to night clubs and arenas.

If you are mixing a band and DJ in a club, to routing a festival - this single DSP can do it all. Plus, having IRISnet to create a controllable graphic user inter-face makes life easier for the user. You can create 64 layers of control and for example, if you have a DJ and band in the same venue, you can mix, EQ, limit and control each individually and at the same time, protect the owner from unwanted engineers.

What is missing from the products currently on offer?

At the moment the installation market is in a lucky position, the current product profile has a lot of offer a client, from if he wants his speakers to be green and yellow to co-ordinate with his colour scheme in the venue, to 5.7” full-colour touch panels for zone and remote control.

Being able to offer this is important to a client, but it is a shame that not every factory offers this.

Is a PA or line-array system the more appropriate choice for an installation? Why?
Let’s make this very clear - line arrays are not the solution to every sound problem, even though some sales people would disagree.

Line-arrays’ advantage is the increased deviation back to front where the normal point source speaker or direct radiating speaker has the inverse square law to apply. If the venue has a short throw and a wide dispersion requirement, a line-array is probably not the right solution for you, but on the other hand if you have a long throw and narrow width then maybe a line-array is needed.

Line-arrays are fashionable at the moment along with their flying subs or bass, but look at the venue first look at the dispersion needed and then decide which one suits you best.