audio-engineering-nw

Lighting & Sound Tips for Impressive Product Launches

Fri, 01 May 2026 15:46:40 GMT

Seamless Sound: Making Your Town Hall Feel Professional

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:38:15 GMT

Town halls bring people together, but they also put every detail under a microscope. When the audio feels slightly off, it pulls attention away from the message and toward technical distractions. People notice when voices cut out, echo, or feel uneven across the room. When seamless sound supports every moment, it helps make your town hall feel professional and keeps listeners engaged.

Seamless Sound Sets the Tone

The first few minutes of a town hall shape how people experience the rest of the event. A town hall meeting may include updates, leadership strategies, key initiatives, and open Q&A sessions so everyone stays informed and aligned. As attendees settle in and the program begins, balanced audio sets the event up for success by making everything easy to follow.

On the other hand, rough or uneven sound can break that focus almost immediately. Feedback, inconsistent volume, or unclear speech creates unnecessary confusion from the beginning. High-quality live sound creates the first impression you want for your town hall.

Clear Audio Builds Credibility

Town hall speakers rely on audio to deliver their message clearly. When voices sound natural and consistent, the audience connects more easily with what is being said. That clarity reinforces credibility and authority.

Poor audio weakens even the strongest message. If volume shifts or words get lost, listeners may disengage. A steady, intelligible sound keeps attention locked in, which supports both the speaker and the content they deliver.

The Equipment Behind Great Sound

Professional results come from using the right tools in the right way. Each microphone, speaker, and mixer should match the event's format and flow.

The following elements typically contribute to a more polished audio setup:

Wireless microphones suited to speaker movement.
Even speaker coverage across the room.
A mixer with clear control over levels.
Backup signal paths for key audio sources.
Monitoring tools for real-time adjustments.

When every component of live sound works together seamlessly, the town hall feels organized, intentional, and professional. The audience notices consistency, even if they do not think about the equipment itself.

Room Coverage Keeps Everyone Engaged

Have you ever been at an event where you struggled to hear, while people in other parts of the room could hear just fine? That uneven experience usually comes down to poor room coverage. When sound isn’t distributed properly, some seats get clear audio while others miss out.

Coverage depends on factors like speaker placement, room size, ceiling height, seating layout, and the surfaces that reflect or absorb sound. When the audio setup is adjusted to fit the room’s conditions, people in the front, middle, and back can all hear the speaker clearly. A skilled team can adjust levels, speaker direction, and system tuning to fit the space and the flow of the event.

Speaker Placement Shapes Clarity

The locations of the sound system speakers directly affect how evenly audio reaches the audience. If they are too close together, some areas may sound too loud while others feel distant or unclear. Poor placement can also create overlapping sound waves that muddy speech. A skilled sound team positions speakers strategically and adjusts their angles to deliver consistent coverage throughout the room.

Room Surfaces Shape Sound

Hard surfaces like walls, floors, and ceilings reflect sound, which can cause echoes or make speech harder to understand. Softer materials like carpets and curtains absorb sound, which can reduce clarity. These elements change how sound travels and lingers in the space. Audio professionals account for this by tuning the system and adjusting microphone levels, speaker output levels, and EQ settings to reduce reflections and keep speech clear.

Ceiling Height Changes Coverage

Ceiling height influences how sound spreads and how much it reflects back into the room. High ceilings can cause sound to disperse too widely or bounce in ways that reduce clarity. Low ceilings may trap sound, creating a more direct but sometimes overwhelming listening experience. A sound team adapts to these conditions by adjusting speaker height, direction, and output to maintain even, controlled coverage.

Rehearsals Create a Smoother Experience

A rehearsal gives everyone time to prepare and adjust. During this time, the event’s speakers become familiar with microphones and staging, and the crew can fine-tune levels and transitions. This preparation reduces uncertainty during the live event.

The following rehearsal steps create a more polished delivery:

Testing microphone levels for each speaker.
Practicing transitions between presenters.
Running playback cues for media elements.
Checking audience Q&A flow.
Confirming staging and movement patterns.

Real-Time Support Builds Presenter Confidence

A strong message does not land as well when audio problems keep getting in the way. If a speaker sounds too quiet, too loud, or difficult to understand, the audience must work harder just to follow along. That extra friction can disrupt the flow of the presentation and make important points easier to miss. Speakers may also lose confidence when they feel the room is not hearing them as it should.

Live sound teams help steady the experience so the message comes through clearly. They monitor the system throughout the event, adjust levels as needed, and respond quickly when something changes on stage. They also help prevent common issues like feedback, dead microphones, and uneven sound between speakers. That real-time support helps presenters stay composed and deliver their message more naturally.

Backup Planning Prevents Disruptions

Unexpected issues can happen during any live event. Strong planning includes backup options for key audio elements. Extra microphones, spare batteries, and alternate signal paths keep the event on track.

Preparation limits the impact of technical problems when they arise. If something goes wrong, a quick response keeps the event moving without a major interruption. In many cases, the audience never notices there was an issue at all.

Strong Audio Elevates Hybrid Events

Hybrid town halls connect in-person and remote audiences simultaneously, making them a practical choice for organizations with distributed teams, multiple offices, or off-site stakeholders. When hybrid events are run well, they expand reach and flexibility, allowing more people to stay informed and engage with initiatives.

The most common hybrid audio challenges usually include:

In-room voices not translating clearly to the remote feed.
Volume differences between presenters, videos, and audience questions.
Delays or awkward transitions between live and virtual segments.
Background noise that distracts remote participants.
Multiple audio sources competing without clear control.

Seamless audio helps solve these problems by keeping every source balanced, clear, and easy to follow from start to finish. A skilled live sound team makes real-time adjustments as the event moves from one segment to the next. They can manage microphones, playback, audience questions, and virtual feeds so no one source overwhelms the others. Clear, steady sound across both in-person and virtual channels creates a more cohesive experience.

Your town hall is a chance to lead clearly, build trust, and create a stronger connection with your audience. When the audio works the way it should, you can stay focused on the message you need to deliver instead of worrying about what might go wrong. If you’re looking for a sound company in Seattle for your town hall, Audio Engineers Northwest can support your event. Your attendees will stay connected to every update, question, and key part of the conversation without issue.

The Hidden Costs of Choosing Cheap AV for Conferences

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 18:04:21 GMT

How to Avoid Embarrassing Mic Failures at Company Events

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:35:41 GMT

Why Clear Audio Is Critical for Your Corporate Keynote

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:51:28 GMT

You’ve spent months perfecting every slide and talking point for your keynote, but if the audio fails, that hard work vanishes instantly. Poor sound quality—whether it’s feedback, static, or muffled voices—turns a powerful message into a frustrating endurance test for your audience. Instead of inspiring your listeners, poor audio forces them to mentally check out before you even hit your second slide. No matter how charismatic the speaker is, clear audio is critical for captivating your corporate keynote audience.

First Impressions and Professionalism

Your event’s audio quality is the very first thing your audience will notice, even before your speaker utters a single word. A crisp, clean sound signals professionalism and competence from the get-go. Conversely, a buzz, hiss, or feedback indicates that you’ve cut corners.

This initial perception shapes the audience’s experience and their view of your brand. Excellent audio makes your speaker sound confident and authoritative. Poor audio, on the other hand, creates an aggravating distraction that suggests a lack of preparation.

Message Clarity

The primary goal of any keynote address is to deliver a message that inspires, informs, or persuades. If the audience has to strain to hear or decipher what’s being said, your core message becomes lost in a sea of sonic mush. Muffled words and inconsistent volume levels force the brain to work harder, causing mental fatigue and frustration.

As a result, audience members will quickly disengage, pull out their phones, or start chatting with their neighbors. The meticulously crafted speech, full of powerful insights, will fail to land because it never truly reached the listeners. Clear audio is the vehicle that carries your message from the stage to the minds and hearts of your audience.

Enhanced Audience Engagement

When an audience can hear every word effortlessly, they can fully immerse themselves in the presentation. They can laugh at the jokes, ponder the questions, and feel the emotional weight of a story. This connection is impossible when they are preoccupied with just trying to hear.

Furthermore, great audio shapes the energy in the space. The speaker’s vocal dynamics, including changes in pitch, tone, and volume, are powerful tools for holding attention. A professional sound system will faithfully reproduce these nuances, keeping your audience hooked from the opening line to the final applause.

Preventing Discomfort

Bad audio is not just an inconvenience; it can be physically uncomfortable for your audience. Unexpectedly loud feedback screeches, pops from a faulty microphone, or jarring volume changes create a hostile listening environment that irritates listeners.

Even subtle issues like a persistent hum or static can be incredibly distracting over the course of a 60-minute keynote. These small annoyances chip away at your audience’s focus and goodwill. A clean audio feed removes these barriers, allowing attendees to relax and concentrate on the presented content.

Accommodating Every Attendee

Your audience consists of individuals with varying levels of hearing ability, and in a large event, some may be seated far from the stage. A properly designed sound system accounts for the room’s acoustics and size, delivering consistent sound to every seat. This inclusivity means that the person in the back row has the same high-quality experience as the person in the front.

Here are some elements that a comprehensive audio setup includes to serve everyone:

Proper microphone placement to capture the speaker’s voice clearly.
Sufficient speaker coverage to fill the entire venue without dead spots.
Delay speakers for larger rooms to sync sound for distant attendees.
Mixing consoles for real-time adjustments to maintain balance.

Real-Time Adjustments

Achieving crystal-clear audio isn’t as simple as plugging in a microphone and turning up the volume. Live sound production involves mixing and amplifying sound for a live audience using specialized equipment. A professional audio engineer knows how to select the right gear, position speakers to avoid feedback, and mix audio levels to adapt to a speaker’s voice.

Technicians conduct thorough sound checks and troubleshoot issues before they ever reach the audience’s ears. They manage everything from wireless microphone frequencies to equalization, preventing technical glitches that can derail a presentation. Their work behind the scenes makes the entire audio experience seem effortless and flawless.

Protecting Your Return on Investment

You have invested a great deal of money into your corporate event, from venue costs and speaker fees to marketing and F&B. Poor audio undermines this entire investment. If your audience leaves without retaining the key takeaways, the event has failed to achieve its objectives.

Consider these ways that poor audio can negatively affect your event’s success:

It lowers the perceived value of the event and your brand.
It generates negative feedback and poor reviews from attendees.
It fails to inspire the desired action from your audience.
It diminishes the impact of a well-paid keynote speaker.
It creates a poor recording for future marketing use.

Impact on Hybrid and Virtual Events

If you’re hosting a hybrid or virtual event, your audience isn’t just in the room; they are also watching online from around the world. A poor audio feed for your live stream will cause virtual attendees to drop off in droves.

Therefore, your audio strategy must cater to both your in-person and online audiences. This often requires a separate audio mix specifically for the broadcast, one free of room noise and balanced for computer speakers or headphones. Investing in high-quality audio for your hybrid event respects your remote attendees and protects your brand’s reputation.

The Lasting Impression of Quality

Ultimately, you want your keynote to be memorable for all the right reasons: the powerful message, the inspiring speaker, and the flawless execution. Clear audio is critical for creating a lasting impression at your corporate keynote. When your audience hears every word clearly, they can fully absorb the ideas and emotions you’re sharing.

Here’s how live sound production creates an engaging experience:

Microphone quality and placement capture the speaker’s voice without distortion.
Speaker positioning prevents feedback and evenly distributes sound across the venue for all attendees.
Real-time audio mixing balances sound levels to adapt to the speaker’s tone and volume dynamically.
Wireless frequency management avoids interference for uninterrupted audio transmission.
Equalization (EQ) enhances clarity by fine-tuning frequencies to suit the speaker’s voice and the room acoustics.
Sound checks and troubleshooting identify and resolve potential issues.
Ambient noise control minimizes distractions by isolating the speaker’s voice from background noise.
Backup systems provide a safety net to maintain audio quality in case of technical failures.

Don't let your big event become another victim of bad audio. A poorly managed sound system guarantees audience frustration, kills engagement, and makes your brand look amateur. Professional sound design solves these problems by eliminating distracting feedback, muffled voices, and dead spots in the room. Let Audio Engineers Northwest ensure your message is delivered with the power and clarity it deserves.

Seattle Concert Audio, Not just corporate!

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 18:49:37 GMT

Here is the FOH article about our show with Mudhoney and Clay Walker

https://fohonline.com/featured/rock-the-boat-concerts-go-from-grunge-rock-to-country-with-assist-from-tt-audio-gtx-p-a-system/

How do I Interpret an AV Quote

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 21:33:41 GMT

Pro Tip:

So you’ve got an event coming up and you need AV. You reach out to several places and the quotes have finally come back. (Why that took so long you have no idea, but I digress. Lol)

To your dismay, there is no order or synergy between them. With some it’s just a bunch of line items of stuff that looks more like a shopping list or recipe than a solution, others are beautiful proposals but the prices are all wildly different. What gives?

How do you make sense of it?
Which one is the correct price?
Which one is too high and which one is too low?
How do you know if your getting what you need or being overcharged or going to come up short on show day?

You don’t want to over pay, but you also don’t want to be embarrassed. Well, you’re in luck. Let’s dive in and I’ll show you how to interpret all of this.

Step 1 - The absolute first thing to look at is the people. The people will make or break your event.

Sometimes called labor or crew, sometimes called technicians. Sometimes they just say, A1, A2, A3, LD, General AV Tech, whatever.

First question is how many are there?

You’re going to need to think of the scope of your event. If you have a small 10 or 15 person meeting and the stakes aren’t terribly high, there might only be one person and that’s probably just fine. If that same meeting is 10 or 15 fortune 100 CEOs, you might want more and better people (But if you’re doing that event, you already knew that. Thanks for trusting us again this year! See you next year!).

While assessing the people, think about them like different departments or even different companies because often they are.

Audio
Video
Lighting
Power
Rigging
Staging
Scenic
Creative
Etc

Each one of those is a different skill set. An entirely different trade. If we were to relate it to home services since that’s something most of us can relate to easily. You could break this down into:

Electrician
Plumber
Flooring
Painter
Roofer
Landscaper
Carpenter
Handyman
Etc.

Now, to tie them together; a general AV tech is similar to a handyman. (Think In-House AV here) They can kind of do a little bit of everything but don’t necessarily specialize in one thing or do anything exceptionally well. Depending on the scope, it can be just fine, honestly. Need a lightbulb changed or an outlet swapped out? Easy. Some light drywall patching from the soccer ball that hit the wall? It all turns out fine-ish. But, when you go to re-do the electrical panel or re-roof the house, you don’t call your handyman. You call a specialist. Someone with years or decades of experience in that one specific thing that is super important for the integrity of the house. A leaky roof or a mis-wired electrical panel, can spell disaster. A drywall patch that didn’t hold? Not as critical…. See where I’m going here?

Our event industry works exactly the same way. An AV company is just the general contractor.

Each specialty is a subcontractor. Audio is a subcontractor, Lighting is a subcontractor. Video is a subcontractor, etc. Each with their own set of obsessed specialists that have forgotten more about their topic of expertise in the last 5 min than most General AV Techs will ever know.

Now, some companies house these all under one roof and try to do them all. (AV Companies) Some even do a pretty good job at most of them. But the absolute best? They do one thing exceptionally well and are able to source other exceptional subcontractors for you to create a team of superheroes that make you look like a Golden God to your client. They find the other companies or departments that also pack a bunch of “yeses“ into their proposal. That way when you get on site and things change, they can say yes to the additional requests.
I know, I know, things have never changed on site for a show ever……..��

Now that we have lifted the curtain on the hierarchy or the framework that we are asking for bids on. Along with the companies and people were dealing with, we can start to dig into some pricing to see if we’re getting a fair shake.

Again with the people, I would look at what they’re charging to see if that aligns with what other skilled trades typically go for in your area. Again a plumber or an electrician, etc. If the hourly or daily rate (typically they are billed on a 10 hour day) is approximately what it would cost for a plumber or electrician or other skilled trade in that area that’s about right. If it’s significantly lower than that, buyer beware. That is not a very experienced operator and may cause challenges on your show. If it’s a super simple show with a super tight budget, maybe it’s OK. If there’s any type of complexity with cues and stingers and walk on and playoffs, I might be looking for somebody a little more experienced. If they are charging several times what that would look like for other skilled technicians in the area, that would be excessive in my opinion.

Now I would look to see if there are enough people and if there are specialist in each seat or department. This will again depend on the scope of your event.

Let’s Make a event scenario for our discussion today so we can have some actionable data. We have the three basic departments of Audio, Video and Lighting, in a hotel ballroom for several hundred people. I would expect there to be multiple technicians in each of those departments. That might look something like:

A1
A2

LD or L1
L2 or Master Electrician (not to be confused with the master electrician that will be handling the event power more on that later)

V1 or TD
LED or Video Tech
And possibly one or two more people in each department, depending on the complexity of our couple hundred person ballroom event.

Now you can put together a reasonable scope and starting price.

Here on the West Coast of the United States, all of those trades are north of $100 per hour. Electricians, plumbers, auto mechanic, Audio Engineer, Lighting Designer. Skilled trades are roughly the same cost across industries.

So, for easy math let’s say there are two people per department, three departments operating on a 10 hour day. That’s going to be a base cost of $6000 to crew the event. Assuming there is no overtime or double time. (You ARE minding your business right?) Don’t let your schedule or scope creep too much or it will cost you big money.

Now, you can factor in logistics, trucking, delivery whatever they call it, which is again going to be another person driving probably an hour or more each way in a box truck. That probably ranges from several hundred to maybe $1000 round-trip in town.

Great $7K baseline cost for our event so far. Simple enough.

Step 2 - Onto the gear or equipment. Which, if I’m being candid is the least exciting and in my opinion, far less important than the people operating it. But, having the correct tools for your people to do their jobs is important. No necessarily in brand name, but in type and scope.

Since we’re an audio company, I can talk specifically about that. But, there will be similarities with other departments.

Ask each of the people that submitted a quote or proposal to also send along their PA design.

We have the ability to computer model the speakers in the room you’re going to be in at the proposal phase. Kinda like Amazon’s “view in your room” feature, but not as slick for the customer since we are not Amazon. Haha They should be able to send you a PDF or JPEG picture of their design from their software though. If they cannot do that, they are simply guessing as to how your show might go or what it might sound like. I’d move on if I were in your shoes. You’re reputation and career are on the line and leaving it up to a strangers guess doesn’t seem like a reasonable gamble.

Before you freak and worry about the “Tech Stuff”, You don’t actually need to understand how to read it in depth, the first step is just sorting out the people that aren’t going to do a good job for you and cannot do this first basic step of Event Audio. Which is, see if what I’m selling my client is actually going to work for my client! Pretty straightforward, right? You pay them to do a job and they do that job to the best of their ability? It’s not rocket science. ��

Great, so now you’ve disqualified one or more potential vendors or partners or whatever the cute current term is. I bet those remaining quotes are much closer in price than the initial batch you got aren’t they?

The whole time you’re going through this process you’re constantly keeping in mind. What is the scope of my event and how important is this in my event. If the AV is absolutely mission critical, treat it as such and budget for it. If it’s a side note, or a background or maybe nobody really cares, again treat it as such and budget for that. No need to buy a Bentley when a Kia will do type of thing…..Now, I would speculate that the quotes/proposals that are left look more alike than different. The brand names of speakers will be different, but we already determined usually we don’t care about that. What we do care about is what type of speakers they are. Eg, Compact Line Array, 12” Point source speaker etc. THAT will have a very different use case, outcome and budget for you.

Here’s a real world example for our few hundred person ballroom event:

Company A has spec’d 4 boxes of a premium brand 12” point source speaker (This might look like x12, 12xt, X40, UPJ, M4 etc) for this event as L/R mains and L/R outfits on standard 6’ tall tripod stands to cover our ballroom. So, these premium speakers are actually only going to cover 30% of our attendees and the other 70% are saying they can’t hear. Not good!

Company B has spec’d 6 boxes of a middle of the road compact line array as 3/Side on tripod stands, but these stands could also go up to 10’ tall…. (This might look like HDL6a, HDL26A, T4) This allows them to design a 1Far/2Mid/3Close approach to the speakers and get them above the heads of the attendees. Now the design you requested from them looks VERY even and covers 100% of your audience. No complaints, nobody getting BLASTED in the front row so the back row can hear. Perfect!

And the price to you is roughly the same. Which would you choose?

THAT is why we need the PA design, it’s a pretty picture that describes the ingredients list of a quote that most AV companies sent.

Here are the 2 PA predictions so you can see what I’m on about. Fig1 is Company A, Fig2 is Company B. The more red, the better.

Is the "One Stop AV Shop" right for your events?

sean@audioengineersnw.com (Sean Walker) — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 06:28:57 GMT

Do you use "One Stop Shops" Thinking they are easier for your events?

Well, you're not alone! For years now in corporate events and meetings we have had the "AV" companies that say they make it easy for us by being a one stop shop. The other option being dedicated Audio, Lighting and Video companies. Let's look at some Pros and Cons of each so you can decide what works best for your events.

Option 1 - The AV Company - "One Stop Shop"

Pros:

Super convenient that it's one call for your events AV needs.
They have Audio, Video, Lighting and sometimes staging/P&D too.
Seems like it's all there right?

Cons:

Typically there is a lack of skilled labor for each department or position. Remember the time you got a "Good One"?
Typically not providing enough equipment to get the job done properly, as the expertise isn't there in each department..
Tech Difficulties at almost every turn. Remember the time the CEO was on stage and their mic didn't work?
Jack of all trades, master of none

Option 2 - Dedicated Solutions

Pros:

Specialists at their craft. Dedicated to just the one craft, so they have a much deeper knowledge base from which to design, consult, create and problem solve from.
Dedicated team of specialists for your event per department that can prevent most problems and solve any problems on site quickly.
Dedicated solutions have the training and techs to provide the right spec of equipment and trained pro techs for your event to be it's best.

Cons:

More calls or emails to multiple vendors to secure and then coordinate AV.
Uncertainty on if they are a "Good One". I mean how do you tell? Sometimes the devil you know feels safer than the one you don't. See our "How to choose a corporate audio partner" article.

Nerd Alert! We made the top 20 articles on PSW for 2024!

sean@audioengineersnw.com (Sean Walker) — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 06:16:08 GMT

Here is an article written by our good friend and trusted Systems Engineer Michael Lawrence about the 50,000 person show we did in Seattle for the 4th of July!

https://www.prosoundweb.com/14-saturday-in-the-park-detailing-a-far-ranging-system-approach-for-a-popular-annual-event/

How to choose a Corporate Audio Partner

sean@audioengineersnw.com (Sean Walker) — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 05:55:02 GMT

Choosing a Corporate Audio Partner can be hard. Here's how to make it easy!

If you are feeling overwhelmed with all this "Technology", or afraid of all things audio at your events, this well help big time!

Here's the secret. Ask each audio company for their prediction file! Yep, it's that easy.

What's a prediction file you ask?

Well, with today's technology we are blessed. All audio companies can computer model each venue for accurate predictions of how much PA you actually need and also where you need it for even audience coverage. Even audience coverage is how you get compliments instead of complaints. We can overlay our prediction on your room drawings (Like the picture above) so you can see how seating, stage placement and design choices affect your audio coverage. Ultimately affecting your complaint/compliment ratio. More even coverage = more compliments and less complaints.

If you come across an audio company that can't/doesn't make them, won't share it with you or says you don't need it....RUN!!!!! Cross them off the list and never call them again. They are just guessing at what might be needed or worse just selling you what they want to sell you, not what you actually need. We didn't spend all this time, energy and stress for a guess! We want it to be right!

Why sending RFP's to Corporate Audio Vendors is costing you MILLIONS!

sean@audioengineersnw.com (Sean Walker) — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 05:17:07 GMT

We have all seen these documents shared as the "Right" way to get quotes for your audio.

They are costing you millions of dollars over your career and here's why.

The specs are NEVER accurate. Ever.

Every RFP that has ever come across my desk asks for 1/4 of the audio gear that is actually needed for a successful show. That then gets passed around to every audio company in town and they all race to the bottom on pricing trying to get the gig. Let me ask you a serious question. Is your event and career going to be safe in the hands of the lowest bidder with 1/4 the information they need to execute a successful show?

Most RPS's omit the venue information

The venue is one of the most critical pieces of information we audio companies need! We can design the entire audio system in the computer based on the venue to ensure you have even coverage for more compliments and less complaints. How are we going to give you an accurate design or proposal if we don't know the location or scope of the show? Backyard? Ballroom? Stadium? VERY different requirements and prices....

We are here to create stunning events

12 line items on a document do not create stunning events. People do!

Clients don't rehire you for "It was OK". They don't up the budget for "No problems". Clients throw big budgets at STUNNING Events. Experiences that make them question "How the hell did they do that?" Wanna know how they did it? They asked what was possible and ran with it!

Here's a better alternative to an RFP. Video call your trusted audio company and make a design with them. Together you will create something extraordinary! Your client and their attendees with thank you. If you don't have a trusted audio company that is knocking it out of the park for you 100% of the time, check out our article about "How to choose a Corporate Audio Partner"

Most companies talk about their speaker brand. Do I care?

sean@audioengineersnw.com (Sean Walker) — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 23:56:52 GMT

Kara, Panther, GSL, KSL, XSL, HDL, Leopard Oh My!

So often when you talk to audio companies, they are OBSESSED with whatever brand of speaker they happen to have purchased. All claiming it's the best and that the others aren't as good. Well, you know what? They are right! Well, kinda. Almost all speakers made today from any brand that you have heard of are just fine. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, NONE of them are perfect. Also, there is SOOOOOO much more that goes into making your show sound good than just the speakers.

But for some reason all they want to talk about is their speakers. Well what about you? What about your event? Do you or you attendees care what name is on the speakers? NO! Not even a little. What you care about is that the show is flawless and that you look like a super star to your client or boss.

So, when you are getting bids from audio companies, don't let them get you excited about the new speakers they just bought and need to pay for. You make them get on board with customer service. Do they have a prediction file for your room/venue? Can they work with your budget? Do they have any experience with the type of event you are doing? All FAR more important questions than make and model of speaker.

The Best Audio Company in Seattle!

sean@audioengineersnw.com (Sean Walker) — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 23:56:27 GMT

The Best Seattle Audio Companies!

You need audio for your event and a quick google search has turned up several options, but how do you know if they are any good? Are they a good fit for my event? Do they understand my specific needs? How about some insider information to help you?

Here is our top Seattle area Audio companies in each category .

Large Concerts/Arenas - Carlson Audio - Seattle, WA

https://www.carlson-audio.com/

Carlson does an exceptional job with large scale concerts, Large scale music festivals, etc. If you need a rock show for 20K people these are your guys.

Graduations/Academic/Installs - Morgan Sound - Lynnwood, WA

https://www.morgansound.com/

Morgan Sound are the kings of graduations. They have it down to a science! If you need that at any scale, they will do an excellent job! They also have a pretty good install department if you need something more permanent.

Coms/Wireless - Guerrilla Audio - Mount Lake Terrace, WA

https://www.guerillaudio.com/

Guerrilla have forgotten more about COM's and Wireless in the last 5 minuets than most other vendors will ever know! If you have a very complicated COM or Wireless challenge, they are the only game in town.

How much does Corporate AV Cost?

sean@audioengineersnw.com (Sean Walker) — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 23:55:47 GMT

What does corporate AV costs?

What drives corporate AV costs up?

In corporate AV there are a few major things that dramatically affect the overall price of your event. Here are the top 2 things that will get you every time.

1 - Venue Selection & Size

If you are used to small shows of 100-200 people and are planning your first medium show of 500-1000 people you may be shocked by the jump in AV quotes/proposals you receive. Wait till you do your first 10,000 person show........The reason for that is because in AV, the venue size has a DRAMATIC effect on the amount of PA/Lighting, LED or Screens sizes needed for even coverage of the space. Speakers are like flashlights, they are bright up close and get darker as you get farther away. So, if you want a large space to sound the same everywhere (which you should! Nobody want's complaints that attendee's can't hear) you need a LOT more PA to accomplish that task. Same with lights and Video Wall......Small room small screen, large room large screen...

Typically speaking the speakers on tripod stands that are so common on smaller shows are effective out to about 50' or so from the speaker. So, if you have a 100, 150, 200' deep room, you need more speakers. Now, you can't just go slapping speakers on stands every 50' in the middle of your ballroom, your client will freak out! Out come the line array's and rigging to fly the appropriate amount of speakers and possible delay systems to maintain even coverage of the space so all attendee's have the same experience.

Now with properly deployed line arrays (We'll get there too!) you have effectively doubled your even coverage distance to about 100'. Nice! Most hotel ballrooms are in the 100 - 150' range and 20+' of that is used up for backstage A2 land (where the presenters get mic'd up) and the stage itself. You can typically get even coverage without needing delays in a room that size. But, those line arrays are going to be hangs of 6-8 boxes each to accomplish that, hence the higher price.

2 - Schedule!

AV companies bill based on a 10 hour day.........10 hours and 1 minuet from good morning how are you, that tech is in OT which is typically 1.5x time. That adds up quick, especially as there are more techs on the show! At the 12 hour mark they are in double time. Obviously it's 2x their hourly rate. Holy cow that adds up SUPER fast!

So, when you are making you master production schedule (You ARE making a master production schedule aren't you?) keep this in mind and save you and the client thousands!

What drives corporate AV costs down?

Same 2 things that drive them up! Venue selection and schedule. Pick a smaller or easier venue and shorten the schedule each day to fit in the 10 hours per day limit.

What makes some companies so expensive?

Quality

Not all AV quotes or proposals are apples to apples! How do you tell the good from the bad other than price?

One key thing you can do to ensure success is to ask for their prediction files and designs ! You don't need to know how to read them or understand them. What you are trying to discover here is does this person or company know what they are doing? This is a pass/fail question. If they don't have a prediction file for the show, they are winging it. Plain and simple. ALL audio systems made today that are worth a darn allow us to computer model the room or space it's going to be in and predict the outcome! How cool!!!! If a potential AV company doesn't have that or says they don't need it, RUN! RUN as fast and as far as you can! Anything they deploy will be a guess at best and you deserve better than a guess! If they do have a prediction file, ask them for a low variance design. This means you want the same sound in the whole venue. NOT stunning loud in the front and quiet in the back. I know this is new and seems like some nerd tech stuff, but SAY THAT WITH CONFIDENCE on your next call or email! We AV companies will sit up straight in our chairs and know we are talking to someone who knows what time it is! The higher quotes will usually have it and also be able to send it to you in PDF overlay-ed to your room so you can see what your results will be before you even step foot on site!

"Prep" & Pre-Production

The best companies "Prep" everything in the warehouse before it goes onto your show. All consoles programmed, all networks tested and functioning, all wireless coordinated for drop out free operation, EVERYTHING pre-built in the warehouse to ensure a flawless execution come show day. No surprises. That way when they arrive on site, it all clicks together like hi-tech legos in a few hours. The more pre pro you can do with the vendor after you have selected them, the happier everyone will be. Here is the place to go over the production schedule and try to save on OT and DT costs, ask about how many hands they need for the in and the out. Potentially saving you thousands in unforeseen costs or wasted expenses. For example if the vendor needs 4 hands for the in and the out but you ordered 8, you wasted money that could have been saved with a simple pre pro call.

What makes some companies so cheap?

The opposite of the expensive companies. No prep, hoping it will all work OK at the event. Often old and dated equipment. Less experienced techs that have never seen the gear before it's on site and have to try and "Make it work". No real plan and definitely no design or prediction to know how it's going to sound. They are guessing that it will be OK.

Where do our prices fall?

We are costly. Every show is unique, but our prices start at $10K USD for a small show and escalate quickly. This is intentional on our part. We don't like getting yelled at. We prefer having fun and being creative. Executing with precision gets us hot and bothered in a good way! Bring us your challenging, unique and crazy ideas and we will embrace you with open arms to deliver something incredible!

Is it really worth it?

Only you can answer that, because it's event specific and ultimately every event has a budget limit.

Here are some thoughts from some of the different types of events:

If the CEO steps out on stage and the mic doesn't work, everybody is likely fired. No matter how much money you saved on AV.

It's pretty hard to raise money for a non profit if the slides don't work or bidders can't hear the auctioneer to know when to raise their paddle.

With Great AV, the technology disappears and the impact, emotion and message are the focus of the event. With poor AV the AV "technical difficulties" are the focus of the event......

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Livestreaming Your Event

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 19:34:53 GMT

Poor Gain Structure and Failing to Monitor Audio Levels

Step 1 of making sure you are optimized for success is to ask the production team to calibrate their rigs to each other. To do this, the Audio Engineer will send a 1K sine tone at -18 DBFS to the video team. Don't worry if you have no idea what I'm saying, THEY DO! That should be adjusted on their end so that it is ALSO -18 DBFS on the video rig. The number of times that this has NOT been the case is all of them. lol. If this step is not completed properly it's akin to driving down the freeway in your car at full throttle with the brakes on to try and slow down to a regular speed. Madness! Continuously monitor audio levels throughout your event. Adjust as needed to maintain consistent sound quality.

Overlooking Soundcheck

Never skip soundcheck. Soundcheck is when you and the tech team get to test all equipment thoroughly under show conditions before going live. This helps identify and fix any issues before it's go time, ensuring everything runs smoothly during the event.

Poor Microphone Placement and Gain Structure

Microphone placement and gain structure is crucial. Same idea as above, but no tone this time. Position mics close enough to capture clear audio with as little background noise as possible, but far enough to avoid distortion. Test different placements during your soundcheck if need be, and be sure your speakers know where the microphones are so they stay on point come show time.

Neglecting Backup Plans

We cannot stress this enough, always have a backup plan for your event. Is the internet and or hosting service redundant? Is the redundant line with the same provider as the primary? If so, it's NOT redundant!

Trying to Wear too Many Hats

There is a limit of what you can ask of your tech team and have flawless results. Be sure to ask them if they have enough crew for the level of complication for the event.