AVLAdmin, Author at AVL Designs, Inc.

Making University of Buffalo’s Townsend Hall Quiet

Townsend Hall on the University of Buffalo campus in Buffalo NY is a turn of the century historic building, a wood and brick construction edifice. It has charm but is not the most inviting place when it comes to making renovations.

In a recent conversion, there was a need to add air conditioning and expanded office capabilities. Unfortunately, the only place to add the mechanical system was going to have to be in an attic above executive offices.

The design scope was simple in concept: keep the HVAC quiet and provide high levels of privacy office-to-office. Execution was going to be a bit more challenging. The HVAC unit is large – 22’ X 7’- and, as such, noisy. Isolation needed to be significant to keep the HVAC from creating low frequency noise and vibration throughout the upper floor.

Our first recommendation involved vibration isolators with concrete – the structure would not support the weight.

We opted for a spring-isolated drywall ceiling system below the attic with a high CAC ACT ceiling below. We were able to support thin multilayer flooring system in the attic, with the mechanical systems floated off the floor on new steel supports. Critical path silencers and double wall duct were used to keep breakout noise under control.

Office privacy was achieved with medium STC vibration isolated walls. Combined with the floating ceiling, this is what is known as a “room within a room” concept.

Throughout the construction process many field issues arose, as is often the case with old buildings. As layers of structure were exposed, challenges to the design required issuing details to solve what would be violations of the vibration isolation. The architectural project manager was very careful to let us know as changes occurred and we were able to say ahead of problems.

Some education was needed for the contractors as we found vibration contact violations were being introduced in the construction by various trades. These problems were caught and corrected. The various contractors did not fully understand the floating ceiling and that it must float. The ceiling’s small movement damps the low frequency noise. Spring clips touching metal, drywall touching building steel etc cannot be allowed. Once apprised of these issues, they quickly corrected the conditions and turned out a good final product.

At the end of the project, we received what in our industry is the best compliment. They said commissioning tests were not going to be required because it was so quiet that everyone was happy.

More about this project @ SWBR Architects => Townsend Hall Renovations

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St. Bonaventure University Field House

In 2019, AVL Designs Inc. started on a project to renovate the basketball arena sound systems of St. Bonaventure University. There was a bit of a delay on the project, which picked back up in 2021. The systems are now complete and being commissioned.

The purpose of the renovation was to improve sound intelligibility for game announcing plus other room uses such as graduation ceremonies and events containing musical content. Danley Sound Labs Inc. and Fulcrum Acoustic LLC. loudspeakers were chosen for their phase coherence, moderate cost, and high SPL capability.

Combinations of SH 96i, SH 69i, CX1226, GH60, and DBH 218 subwoofers were selected to cover the various venue orientations. Power is provided by Danley DNA Amplifiers. Midas M 32 consoles are utilized for the arena, as well as on-air video systems. Sennheiser wireless systems are coupled with Neve Portico 5045 processors to provide high gain before feedback operation. QSC Core 500i processors are used to provide DSP and control processing.

Box suites are served by Ashly Audio Pema amplifiers with DSP, and JBL Control series ceiling speakers.

After a long C-19 delay, The Bonnies are finally getting their new system which will be used for their games in the very near future.

Lakeshore Middle School

The Lakeshore Middle school auditorium has not been updated in many years. All of the stage rigging is dead-hung due to challenging overhead conditions and lack of stage height. The district wanted to have some moving sets over the stage but the overall rigging was “creatively” installed and not up to safety standards.

AVL Designs Inc.’s first task was to design new stage rigging which would be up to current standards and with as many moving pipes as possible. AVL utilized ETC FlyPipes to accomplish this task. A self-climbing package hoist allowed us to provide a safe, moving solution.

The control of lighting and studio was in the balcony, which is not a great location for running a show, so a new control booth was included on the main floor to allow the audio and lighting crew to experience the show from the audience’s perspective.

New AV systems included main speakers with over and under balcony delays to fill shadowed areas. A new digital console, wireless microphones, projector and screen, and controls were also included.

◦ Speakers by Danley

◦ Wireless by Shure

◦ Console by Soundcraft

◦ Projector by Panasonic

◦ Control by Crestron

Lighting was also in need of updates, as the existing Varilight dimming and control were failing. The decision was made to upgrade to all LED lighting. A new lighting console and control system by ETC was specified as well as LED fixtures from ETC and Phillips Showline.

*The completed project went on line in 2021 following some delays due to Covid.

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Audience mics in LARGE Spaces – VIDEO CONFERENCES

Picking up a large area with distant microphones naturally adds in the room sound (resonance) as well. Those who are in the room most likely think it sounds fine. Our brains process sound in a very sophisticated manner using both ears. But that is not how microphones work.

The way a mic works compared to how our ears work can make a video conference sound like a subway tunnel when the sound in the entire room is picked up. Solutions to the problem are abundant. Sorry to say, though, that none of them are inexpensive. The better solutions involve audio intelligence in the mics.

Good – Better – BEST!

So, you have a couple of choices when you get down to the idea of “good, better and best” in a room. If you want good audience participation without spending a lot of money, the users must be involved. If you want your video conferencing setup to be “plug and play,” then it isn’t going to be cheap.

Any mic used close– headset or handheld – primarily picks up the voice of the person speaking with little of the room sound added in. When distant mikes designed for conference rooms are used, they do not do well in larger spaces.. If the space has sound reinforcement, it is an even bigger problem. Unless you get a mike with AI (artificial intelligence) and DSP (Digital Signal Processing.)

LOW END SOLUTION

AUDIENCE Mics On Stands

Place handheld wireless microphones on mic stands in a few locations out in the room, gain structured to match what the presenter’s mic is doing. The audience mic is then automated so that it only activates when some gets close to it and is talking. Anyone with a question must walk up to a microphone. This system works reliably and is relatively simple.

PROS and CONS

Sounds Good. Doesn’t t pick up random noises like coughing, etc.
- Works with sound reinforcement used in the room.
- On the negative side, people must get up to talk.

HIGH END SOLUTION

NARROW BEAM, AUTO Steered array Mics – WITH Built-in Intelligence

All beam-formed microphones use an AI algorithm to decide who is talking. If everyone in the room is polite, this works well — kind of like a zoom call where everyone has learned to wait their turn. If too many people talk at once, even this AI solution will have some issues as the mics track to whatever sound is loudest at the moment.

Many beam-formed mics pick up too large a section of the room at once, making the room sound hollow. Some use narrow tracking beams that move, so that only a small amount of room energy is picked up and a maximum amount of the person they are supposed to pick up.

This type of solution can have limitations when you want to use loudspeakers within the room to amplify the presenter. You may run into problems in some spaces that are too large for the presenter to be heard without sound reinforcement. This is where a DSP and a presenter mike must also be included.

PROS and CONS

Pros
- The entire room can be picked up
- Can be used with sound reinforcement with the additions of DSP.
- Can sound pretty good and pick up an entire room
Cons
Cost – Mic plus DSP (digital sound processor) can be $$$ (Solutions that work well cost in the range of $ 15.00/sq ft covered or higher. (About $18 K for a 40 X 30 ft room).
- If a room is small enough that it does not need sound reinforcement, the DSP could be dropped.
- The entire room is picked up – no control over who can or cannot talk.
- Cost – Note* some mike solutions do not work with sound reinforcement for the presenter being used.
- Mics automatically catch sounds. So, someone coughing etc…. becomes an active sound source.

Other alternatives that can be utilized involve operator interfaces. Say, for instance, you have a control touch screen in the room and a presenter is speaking on their microphone. When they want the audience to say something, they would have to press a button for audience response. Pressing that button turns off the presenter’s mic and turns on the audience mic.

The audience mic would have a series of DSP tuning filters, which is another piece of hardware added to the system which will help with the reverberation and the sound quality of a more general pickup microphone. This would have to be selected by the person using the room. And if they forget to de-select it, then the microphone they are wearing will no longer be active. That is where you end up with a hollow sound in the background, picking up the whole room the whole time while the presenter’s mic is off.

Properly tuned a high-end system sounds like there is a sound man mixing the audio in the room, to the far side of the conference.