Audio Myths and Legends... busted!

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Over the years that I’ve worked in the Hospitality sector there are some statements that I hear time and time again, ‘myths and legends’ of AV that are passed on and often never questioned.  So I’ve decided to address a few of them, the ones that I hear most often, and hope that after you’ve read this you might look at your AV in a whole new light!

More speakers just =  louder sound

In the hospitality sector, our aim is to deliver a consistent guest experience, one which reflects your Brand and encourages repeat visits to your venue, or other venues within your group.  All your diners receive the same quality food & service, so all guests should receive the same quality audio. However, this is so often not the case.

If only a few speakers are fitted, this will lead to audio ‘hot and cold’ spots within a venue.  Taking the dining analogy, proximity to speakers will either make your guests dining experiences ‘loud’, if seated near to a speaker, or quiet for those seated further away.  You wouldn’t have areas of your dining room lit and areas in darkness, so why should this be the case for sound?  

If you install numerous speakers running at a low level, this can create an even and all encompassing sound.  It’s not that more speakers just mean a louder sound, it means that they can create a more consistent sound.  By installing a sound system in this way it will surround your guests, acting as an extension to your lighting and decor, to complement the food and service you offer.

Speakers are black and ugly

Speakers now come in a variety of sizes, colours and finishes.  Some speakers are even invisible and for those that are not, they can be sprayed in any RAL colour to exactly match your decor.  CGA like to get involved as early as possible in the design process to ensure that, where possible, speakers are integrated and hidden.  We can offer plaster in “invisible speakers” and have even installed these behind a gold leaf to deliver both a five star sound and aesthetic!

If the sound system requires visible speakers, these can be colour coordinated with your design scheme.  CGA can finish most speakers to any RAL colour.  If the grill or even the speaker cabinet is visible, this can be the same colour as your ceiling or wall, or if desired they can be finished in a coordinated colour to match other design elements, to give a fully coordinated appearance.  So although speakers are also available in black, if this isn’t the colour of choice it’s really not an issue!

But the speakers in the restaurant next door are tiny!

The tiny domestic ‘design led’ speakers that you see dotted around in certain bars and restaurants are often favoured by designers, as they have minimum impact aesthetically, but these are actually only the visible part of a much bigger system. Their size might be attractive if you are trying to minimise any visual impact, but when you install small speakers such as these, they only reproduce mid and high-frequency sound.  To get a full range sound you will always need to add a complimentary larger cabinet, (or bass bin), to fill in the warm full bass and lower sound frequencies which these tiny speakers cannot reproduce.

These ‘bass bins’ as they are referred to are much harder to place in your venue, as they invariably create a bass ‘hot spot’. A salesman might state that “bass is Omni directional, you can put a bass bin anywhere.”  This is an accurate statement, bass sound does spread in all directions, but it spreads from the bass bin and similar to the example given above when we looked at speaker numbers, if you have a table next to the bass bin guests there will hear the bass much more than those at a table placed further away, resulting in each guest having a very different audio experience. There are ways to work with bass bins to try to mitigate this effect, but if you fitted slightly larger full range speakers instead, this will ensure that all of your guests receive the same audio experience and consistency of sound as they move through your venue.  As we have mentioned above, speakers now come in many different colours and finishes so their size really shouldn’t affect the aesthetics of your interior design!

Why have a music player, I can use my iPod or Spotify in the Bar

Whilst there are many legal pitfalls in this statement, even if you can address these, a portable music player or streamed music source will just offer inferior quality sound.

Many digital sound formats are very heavily compressed to allow sound files to be sent over the internet as fast and as easily as possible. Unfortunately, once compressed, much of the ‘dynamics’ and ‘excitement’ is lost from the music for ever, so even if you have the greatest sound system in the world, it will still sound flat and lifeless due to the poor quality of the source material.  Amplifiers do what their name suggests, they just amplify sound, what you put in is exactly what you get out, only louder! So if you use a poor quality music source, you just get loud, poor quality music.

In addition to this, if you do have a sound system which uses an iPod as a music source, there is always the concern over control.  You run the risk of staff using their iPods and playing music that they like to listen to, as opposed to playing the carefully selected music playlist that is right for your customers in your venue.

When choosing a music content provider, always talk to them about the file size and compression rates they use.  Ask them to explain and demonstrate the difference between the same track on a CD and on their music player to ensure that the music quality is right for you and your venue.  

There are some exciting new technologies now available such as the revolutionary new British technology MQA.  It is still a compressed music format, but MQA offers better time alignment which considerably improves the quality of the music output from compressed files.  Once it has passed through the MQA decoder in the sound system, the track is reproduced in the same quality as the sound recorded by the artist in the recording studio!  In a quality hospitality venue why would you settle for anything less?

I hope that I have succeeded in breaking down some long standing AV ‘myths and legends’.  Obviously, each venue and every room is different and each desires to create a unique experience for their clients. Here at CGA Integration we pride ourselves on understanding customer needs and striving to apply the best AV solution every time. Why not contact us to see how we can make your AV work better for you in your venue?

Refurbishing your events room? How can I maximise the effectiveness of this critical space?

Background

Much consideration is placed on the look and ambience of events spaces and ballrooms in our hotels, these rooms are a key part of the hotel armoury, as a successful conference or function booking secures sales in so many other areas.  It is therefore vital that their role, and the technology required to deliver this, is carefully considered as part of any refurbishment cycle.

Design vs. Functionality  Design vs. Functionality

You should not have to trade off design for functionality.  With careful planning the functionality of a space can be delivered alongside beautiful design.  To create a successful ‘events space’ it is vital that the technological aspects are considered alongside the visual appearance of the room as part of the planning process; not just what you need the technology to do, but what hardware is required in order to make this a reality.  Where carefully designed together, a holistic approach to lighting, audio and video needs can be seamlessly integrated into the design of a room to deliver the functionality required in an unobtrusive, even invisible manor.  When done effectively, this actually enhances the overall ambience of the space, as sound and lighting are critical in creating the optimum guest experience,

What Hardware do I need?

Before this question can be answered, it is vital that the key usage of the room is understood.  Requirements for conference delegates may be very different from wedding guests and may differ again for those attending a charity fundraiser or gala dinner.  Understanding how you wish to position your ‘events space’ is key in delivering the best technology to suit your guests.  Many hotels may find that they require facilities which are flexible, to meet the needs of all these kinds of events.  In addition ‘types’ of customers also need to be considered.  Sometimes spaces are hired out directly to ‘the end user’ who will need the venue to provide all of the facilities and at other times they are hired to an ‘events’ or ‘production’ company who will provide their own technology and room dressing, each have very different requirements of the events space.  

  

Designing the most flexible events space

Flexibility is often the answer, as many venues need to be able to adapt to suit many different requirements.  As such, it is important to own a certain level of hardware to allow ‘in house’ events and conferences, as well as to have the ability to provide an adaptable and technologically compatible venue for events companies to hire.  As a basic requirement, every venue needs its own PA and Projector system to allow for background music, speeches, announcements, and presentations.  The specification of these will depend on the acoustics and size of the venue.  It is always worth discussing your customer’s needs with your lighting, audio and video integrator during the planning of your refurbishment.  They will be able to suggest the best solutions for your particular events space.

How do I make my facility appealing to events companies?

Increasingly, large companies are employing events organisers to deliver important events in their corporate calendars.  In turn, events organisers need reliable venues to work in partnership with, as they strive to be as professional as possible.  They need interesting and unique rooms to hold events within or the ability to easily create a unique environment within an existing space.  This relies on three key attributes;

1. Accessibility 

2. Power 

3. Compatible technology 

These in turn need to be designed into the structure of the room to ensure that they are as seamless as possible.  This will subsequently free up more space and therefore enable maximum occupancy within the room. 

  

Accessibility

Dressing a room, building a stage or bringing in lighting & PA equipment requires a large team, lots of boxes and often odd shaped things! If you have the opportunity to consider the loading route for a venue, it is helpful to allow vehicles as close as possible to the events room and if possible, allow the main loading path to be on a level route or one with ramps rather than steps. If this is not possible, lifts are an option, but these need to be goods lifts with a good internal volume and load rating and not guest lifts, as even the best handles of a flight case can bang, scuff or dent a lift interior. 

Power

All events need power, and lots of it!  It is vital that events rooms have a good number of 13amp sockets in a suitable number of circuits, spread around every wall and between multiple doorways. If you have a venue large enough to justify a stage or a flown lighting rig it will be worth fitting what is called hard Power; some large Cee Form/commando style connectors offering higher currents of single or three phase power. These are most usefully placed near the side of the stage, just outside the loading doors near back stage or behind panels in the room where the desk/amps might be or the cable runs to the lighting rig may come down and will allow the staging area to be effectively lit. 

  

Compatible Technology

Sound:  It is essential that your systems are never compromised in the desire to make your facilities as appealing as possible to events companies.  When considering sound requirements it is paramount that your ‘main racks’ and ‘controls’ are not touched by any third party as this will void your warranty with the installation company.  If your existing room sound configurations do not meet the requirements of an events company, it is always safer to allow them to provide their own systems for further specific requirements.  If however you have established a good working relationship with a particular events company it is possible to allow them to connect to the ‘front of house’ audio or video sockets to use the ‘house’ system in parallel with the ‘events’ system.  If you feel this is beneficial for you, it is always advisable to contact your installation company to ensue that relevant safeguards are in place and any training required is conducted with the relevant events company staff.   

Lighting:  There are positive benefits in allowing an events company to integrate their DMX lighting desk with your in house lighting system.  Working with your lighting system provider, it is possible through the installation of DMX sockets and a DMX merge unit to allow the events company to take control of the lighting within a designated room or area.  Your lighting system provider can ensure that this is set up such that the events company can only control the area you choose and that this will not affect any other areas of the venue or safety measures such as ‘lights to full’ in the event of a fire.  Once established, it will enable the events company to dim house lights and bring up stage lights seamlessly. 

  

Hiding the Hardware  

By their very nature, events and functions are temporary affairs and with them they bring what has become an inevitable number of cables, rubber mats and gaffer tape, running around your beautifully decorated venue!  To minimise the visual impact, however, the events room infrastructure can be designed to hide a large proportion of this temporary ‘hardware’.  This in turn will free up more space and therefore enable maximum ccupancy within the events room.  Some options include fitting; 

• Removable skirting board which has a void and trap doors to enable cables to be routed around the walls without being seen. 

• A trough in the floor around the perimeter of the room to allow cables to be laid in and covered.  This works well as it allows cables to cross doorways without impeding pedestrians or wheel chair access. 

• Vertical panels in walls at strategic points to allow floor to ceiling cabling to be hidden behind panels.  This allows the connection and control of lighting equipment without the need for big tripe’s of cable hanging down from trusses. 

• Video screens in the ceiling.  The use of video is becoming more and more prevalent in events for video, data and lighting projection. If screens are pre fitted in the events room ceiling, it produces a clean finish as these screens are nearly invisible once installed.  It also reduces the need for stands and rigging, allowing projection to be done swiftly and easily. 

• Rated flying points in the ceiling*.  Having properly rated flying points in the ceiling, which are compatible with the systems used by the events companies you work with, will enable a rigger to fly all of the lighting rigs and speakers from the ceiling, leaving you with the best possible space for your guests. 

* Flying points always need to be designed with your structural engineer to ensure stability.  Likewise it is always advisable to check riggers qualifications and insurance prior to their arrival on site even if they work for the events company. 

What else should I think about?

Your own staff or events coordinators will often know what will help to make a room work better as they experience the downfalls everyday.  This may be moving doors, changing the direction in which they hinge or the type of hinge fitted to allow silent access for minimum disruption.  It may also be prudent to fit general purpose cameras that can be accessed in back of house areas or the kitchens allow staff and events teams to have an unobtrusive view of the event room to enable them to deliver seamless timely service to guests.  It is also important to ensure that you have the relevant PPL and PRS licenses to enable music broadcasts to prevent any legal infringements.  

Conclusions

Getting both the design and functionality right will deliver a flexible and desirable events space which in turn will pay dividends for your venue.  It is vital to work with your lighting, audio and video integrator during the planning of your refurbishment to ensure that the best solutions are designed for your particular events space to maximise your return. 

Call CGA Integration Today to discuss your next project - 0845 058 4650

or

info@cga-integration.co.uk

www.cga-integration.co.uk

Value for money

What do you think of when someone say "we want value for money"?

It is generally interpreted as Cheap or cheaper in today's financial climate

But a low cost of purchase is not always value for money - equally the dearest may not be either.

This is where you need to understand not only what you are buying, but how you are planning to use it and for how long.

A low cost of purchase with a high running cost may not be a value for money purchase (please see our blog on cost of ownership(coming shortly)) equally a dear purchase that need speacialist to support at premium rates may also offer poor value for money - unless the breakdown/failure rates are exceptionally low.

What should I look for?
We cannot tell you what you want, but at CGA Integration we always try to explain every element of the system and what it does for you. If a supplier cannot explain why you need an "XYZ" they you should not buy it!
Often the dearer items we specify are the units that have functionality to reduce running costs:
Many of the CGA systems now have processors that allow us to remotely monitor and test your system - so that we can reduce the need to come to site for minor issues and when we do come to site we know we have the correct parts for the fault and will resolve it with the minimum on site disruption and downtime

We also generally specify equipment with a sensible level of headroom, WHY?
The obvious analogy is a car engine - many of us have a car that has an 1800 or larger engine capable of speeds in excess of 100mph but we hardly ever drive it at these speeds. But we all know that a small engine car run flat out all day long will not last very long and the ride will not be very comfortable - but a big engined car will acheive the speed limit effortlessly, get you from A-B regularly without strain or stress and last you much longer.
The same is true of many other pieces of equipment - most notably power amplfiers
and if your amplifiers are running well within their limits your speakers will also last - leaving you with a good reliable system that is more likely to give you good value for money.

CGA Integration installed a small restaurant back in 1999, we have been called back a few times over the years, but the most serious problem thay have had is rodents eating the spaeker cables - the system still runs seven days a week and offers good sound to all areas of the restaurant - and it was not a dear system, it was just the correct system, installed sensibly and I like to think offers good value for money - 11 years later!

So when you are looking at your system - either replacing, upgrading or repairing, please contact us so that we can review your usage and make some suggestions to ensure that you have the correct equipment and acheive value for money.