Small Boardroom

Will Fraser

Small Boardroom

The audio system for a small boardroom has a number of unique requirements, including:

~Correct microphone input gain to ensure maximum signal with minimum noise
~An automatic mixer allowing microphones to turn on only when someone is speaking
~A mix minus matrix that determines which microphones will be heard in each speaker, and at what level
~A high pass filter to be used on microphone inputs to eliminate any low frequency noise triggering the automatic mixer

This configuration accomplishes all that...

The input gain of the microphones must be set up correctly – this allows maximum signal through the system with minimum amount of noise. The optimum situation is to have the level set as high as possible without the signal clipping.

By using the Automixer, only the microphone of the person speaking is active. This allows for more gain before feedback in the space, providing greater intelligibility.

A mix minus matrix will further increase intelligibility by routing the active microphone at a lower level to the speaker nearest the microphone, reducing the potential for feedback.

Normally a mix minus matrix will allow you to cancel the microphone from the speaker that is directly above the microphone. Of course this does not affect the microphone signal that is present in other speakers. Doing this enables you to get a much cleaner signal with lots of headroom. A mix minus matrix in HiQnet™ London Architect™ is achieved by feeding the direct outputs of the Automixer into a Matrix Mixer. Normally, one would not use the mix output from the Automixer except for a recording feed.

High pass filters can be used on the inputs of the microphones to eliminate any low frequency noise which could trigger the automixer. The voice-band filters in the Automixer can also be activated to enable the Automixer to limit triggering to vocal frequencies.

A common method of control in boardrooms is third party control systems such as AMX™ or Crestron™. Soundweb London™ devices, including the BLU-16, communicate with third party control systems using messages sent via serial or Ethernet. It is very intuitive to program control systems to adjust level controls, mutes on microphones, source selections or preset recalls setup in Soundweb London.

Another common process used in boardrooms is camera switching. With Soundweb London you can send out a signal from the logic ports on the back of the unit to indicate when a person is speaking. You can connect this logic output to a camera controller to be able to switch or pan the camera to point at the person speaking. The logic output ports can also be connected to third party control systems which can then provide more comprehensive camera control.

With Soundweb London there is a wide variety of processing available to be used at any point in the system, input or output, as your application requires.


>>>Click here to download the full application guide and sample file.<<<


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Technical Support Team
BSS Audio
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