Audio Systems Consultancy

Audio Consultancy Expertise

At Crossover many of our audiovisual consultants have an extremely strong technical and operational background in audio. Our team can advise on a wide range of audio and AV systems issues, drawing on systems design and installation knowledge gained over decades working across a range of commercial premises and within industry verticals.

Audio Solutions Specification

Consider, for example, planning, sourcing and installing a ‘rudimentary’ sound system. Crossover can provide expertise on the best options and practices right the way through the signal chain (the path between your audio sources and speakers):

• Microphones and sound sources (mic type and placement, power requirements)
  
• Cables (specifications, connection types, XLR / TRS jack, balanced / unbalanced, cable-laying and containment)
  
• Signal Processing (DSP mixing, EQ, compression, limiting, feedback suppression)
  
• Amplification (quantity, class, output channels)
  
• Equipment storage (racks, power distribution and power conditioning)
  
• Loudspeakers (Power rating and impedance values, subwoofers and crossovers, quantity, placement and mounting)
  

At the next level of complexity we can guide you on:

• Integration with other systems (video, IT, building control)
  
• Control mechanisms (touch panels, wall plates, RS232)
  
• Networked audio devices (IP configuration, DHCP vs fixed IP, bandwidth, subnets, routing and switching, IT network integration)

Invitation to Tender and Technical Documentation

In instances where you’d like potential suppliers to undergo a formal tender process for your audio requirements, we provide the appropriate technical documentation to facilitate this, giving vendors a watertight set of guidelines to adhere to when quoting for your new audio system equipment or install. When the submissions from your vendors are aimed at a the same tightly defined target, it’s much more straightforward to compare their quotes, which might otherwise vary significantly in feature set and quality.

Audio, Acoustic and Electroacoustic Analysis

If you want help predicting and analyzing the acoustics of your architectural designs, we use the industry-standard software for acoustic modelling EASE (Enhanced Acoustic Simulator for Engineers) and can provide CAD models to help you assess variables such as choice of construction materials and surface finish, loudspeaker placement, listening positions and acoustic treatment. This information is typically used in order to understand how these factors influence speech intelligibility or full-range music within the space. Crucially this modelling can also help identify potential acoustic problems, such as standing waves, resonant frequencies or flutter echoes, saving you from encountering these problems at a later stage which can be costly, or impossible, to cure.