Thinking about a professional sound system? Here’s how to get started.

“Which factors should you take into account when installing a commercial audio system?” Tunify asked Raf at Biamp. The American company creates audio-visual solutions for various industries.

Raf: “In a retail environment, an audio installation essentially has four tasks: to do the music justice, to filter out ambient noise, to make employees' lives easier and to provide customers with the ultimate shopping experience. Those are the four things to keep in mind when choosing your commercial sound system. How you achieve those objectives really depends on your specific situation.”

Objective 1: To make the right sound stand out

Raf: “Have you ever felt annoyed because you couldn’t figure out what was being said through the subway speakers? You don't want that to happen in your store. In an environment where voices don't travel well, service announcements and song lyrics become unintelligible. As a result, you listen more intensively, which is tiring for your brain. With a perfectly tuned audio system, you don't have to make an effort to understand everything. An additional bonus is that doing the music justice increases your chances of influencing your customer’s sentiment and purchasing behaviour. That’s why I recommend having your audio installation tuned by a professional.”

Objective 2: To filter out unwanted noise

Raf: “You know how you always have that one person in a restaurant who is talking too loudly? That doesn’t only impact your concentration but also your privacy. When you go out to eat somewhere without music, you hear everything being said around you, in addition to the sound of clinking glasses, falling cutlery and slamming doors. And there goes your relaxing dinner. The point I am trying to make is that being exposed to the wrong sounds can be quite tiring. Fortunately, there is a way to drown out this unwanted noise, not by turning up the volume but by using the right tones. This technique is called sound masking. It’s perfect for filtering out sounds in restaurants, but also in pharmacies, waiting rooms, meeting rooms, banks and in all other places where confidential conversations are taking place.”

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Objective 3: To make life easier for employees

Raf: “There’s no point in having a professional music installation if nobody knows how to use it. So choose a system that is easy to operate and make sure that the advanced features are hidden. Otherwise, you run the risk of someone accidentally ruining your carefully selected settings. You can also have additional control mechanisms put in place. For example, putting a sound limitation on your amplifier can prevent employees from turning up the volume too high and unknowingly annoying your neighbours. A professional music installation doesn't only benefit customers but also your employees. We often get compliments from them, like: 'These speakers aren't as exhausting as the previous ones.' And that is correct. We meticulously build up the sound and use the right frequencies. As a result, the sound doesn’t tire you, not even when you listen to it all day.”

Objective 4: To create the ultimate shopping experience for the customer

Raf: "The last and most important objective is, of course, to provide the ultimate shopping experience for your customers. The right music must be uniformly present everywhere, without peaks or dips in terms of volume. You can achieve that by optimally spreading your speakers. But you can go even further, for example, by making the volume adjustable per zone. Some of our supermarket customers do not place loudspeakers at the checkout so that customers and employees can understand each other well."

How exactly do you go about installing a sound system?

Raf: “At the start of any new project, we first visit the location. We draw up a floor plan of the store with all the right measurements and materials. For example, we check whether there are any large windows because a glass surface reflects the sound. We prepare an acoustic simulation and then decide on the equipment, speakers, and sound distribution. We provide the hardware and our partner Dobit installs the equipment because they also provide any digital screens. And then Tunify provides the perfect professional music.”

TunIT: the expertise of three partners combined

Raf: “We solidified our collaboration in an all-in solution called TunIT. In that package, we bundle all our expertise: personalized music from Tunify, an audio installation from Biamp and the professional service of Dobit. Great music doesn’t work if you have a lousy sound system, and a great sound system makes no sense without the right music. So together, we provide the ultimate sound solution.”