HilcrRWise Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Is there such a thing as a device that sits between an audio source and a speaker that can monitor the sound level in a room and increase/decrease the volume of the audio source if the backgound noise in the room increases/decreases. We have a digital signage system with a TV and external speaker in our school dining room, during most of the day the sound level needs to be fairly quiet but when the kids come in for lunch the sound is completely drowned out. Currently one of the school technicians have to be called out several times each dinner time, with a step ladder, to turn the speaker volume up manually, which is anoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mervaka Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 coming from a PA point of view here, people will always try to talk over any background noise, including your signage system. I don't personally know of any "magic boxes" like you describe, but someone might. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 There are (or at least were) such systems, as I've been involved with fitting them in airports & such places. The tricky part is getting the system set up so that it does not react to its own sound:1 Music volume gets louder, system thinks there's more people in the place and turns the music up. Goto 1 Any system that can get round that problem and do this job well will be quite complex and thus expensive. For your school though, what about getting a remote for the TV or fitting a volume control where it's easy to get to (although possibly in a locked box) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Hope-Streeter Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 <br />Is there such a thing as a device that sits between an audio source and a speaker that can monitor the sound level in a room and increase/decrease the volume of the audio source if the backgound noise in the room increases/decreases.<br /><br />We have a digital signage system with a TV and external speaker in our school dining room, during most of the day the sound level needs to be fairly quiet but when the kids come in for lunch the sound is completely drowned out. Currently one of the school technicians have to be called out several times each dinner time, with a step ladder, to turn the speaker volume up manually, which is anoying.<br /> When I was involved in installations, the standard piece of equipment for this purpose was made by Symetrix. I think it was called a 571, but they've probably updated the range since then. They worked very well if properly set up. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmatthill Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Could you not purchase a cheap amp and connect it the to TV and have the amp connected to a simple timer plug that comes on at start of dinner time and goes off when dinner time ends ?? During the quiet times when the amp is OFF you could use the TV`s built in speaker set at low level ??? Crude but effective option... Whole thing would cost under £50 I reckon Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Not a cheap solution but Allen & Heaths iDR series of boxes has ambient noise compensation. However, some form of remote volume control or cheap powered speaker looks to be a better solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmatthill Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Not a cheap solution but Allen & Heaths iDR series of boxes has ambient noise compensation. However, some form of remote volume control or cheap powered speaker looks to be a better solution. ill 2nd that , a powered speaker and a timer unit ,,, Cheap but effective :P Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Owen Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Yamahas DME Series of System Controllers have an Ambient Noise Compensation facility which adjusts the volume of the system in response to the input of an RTA mic out in the room. No idea how it knows what is ambient noise and what is amplified music but as with most other Yamaha products "it does what it says on the tin". However, considering your looking at at least five figures for a DME with the relevant YAGI cards, I'd be rather inclined to go with the timer idea myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 ill 2nd that , a powered speaker and a timer unit ,,, Cheap but effective :POr if you want to make it a bit 'intelligent, why not use a PIR instead of a timer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyP1955 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Among myriad other things, I think the Rane RPM series can do this. (Much to my dismay - cause I have one too many any need to sell one) the RPM88 (8 in 8 out) has been selling on eBay for $350 lately (which is extra stupid cheap for this box - the $850 I paid was cheap). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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