It's 2012—Time for Intelligible Audio in Public Spaces

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Welcome to a world where you can clearly hear your flight announcement without having to sift through distortion and ambient noise; where a soundtrack becomes part of an immersive museum experience and not a distraction; where you can indulge in your favorite jazz music at a local lounge just as you were in a studio.

Audio system integrations from hospitality to conferencing to public facilities are faced with a diverse set of challenges: power, wiring, aesthetics, acoustics of the room, regional building code, among others.

In commercial installations where audio intelligibility is imperative, our recently expanded series of low-voltage solutions offers an easier and more economical way to implement externally powered loudspeakers that are linear and low profile. This product line now includes three new 48V, DC-powered systems: the UPM-1XP and UPJunior-XP VariO loudspeakers, and the UMS-1XP subwoofer.

Learn about the vision behind Meyer Sound's low-voltage products, practical advantages of these systems, and Class 2 wiring and its implications as revealed in this interview by Luke Jenks, product manager for loudspeaker products, and John Monitto, director of technical support worldwide.

=Luke Jenks (left); John Monitto (right)

Jenks: It started in the late 1990s, when sound designer Jonathan Deans presented John Meyer with a challenge to put high SPL and high definition audio for the Parade in the Sky spectacle in Las Vegas. There was no room to put standard self-powered loudspeakers, and a normal 70-volt system would not work because Jonathan needed the zone control and audio fidelity for both live and pre-recorded music. The result was the 48V HM-1 loudspeaker, which, at the time, was the only self-powered loudspeaker to run at 48 volts.

Then we moved on to the four-inch-square, remotely powered MM-4, which was also driven by the request of a customer, Bill Fontana, who needed an extremely compact and sonically accurate loudspeaker for a soundscape at the Lyon, France tramway.

The family has just gotten bigger with two slightly larger UPM-1XP and UPJunior-XP loudspeakers and UMS-1XP subwoofer for projects with higher SPL requirements.

MM-4XP at Berlin's MADE © Nils Krüger

2. What are Meyer Sound's low-voltage solutions?

Jenks: Our low-voltage product line is developed for installations where running AC to loudspeaker locations is not convenient, but you still want our system linearity and predictability. This family of compact products meets extremely high audio quality demands with a remote rack-mount power supply to route DC power and balanced audio to loudspeakers with single, composite cables. Our systems meet Class 2 requirements and are RMS-capable, meaning users can monitor the health of their loudspeakers any time from a Window-based laptop.

Applications that benefit from these advantages are cruise ships, nightclubs, bars, retail outlets, art exhibits, airports, and other spaces where intelligibility is critical: conference rooms, boardrooms, education facilities etc.

3. The MM-4 was introduced in 1999. What has continued to motivate Meyer Sound to invest in its low-voltage options?

UMS-1XP, UPM-1XP, and UPJunior-XP

Monitto: We have tolerated bad audio from the 70V systems in airports and other public address systems for so many years now. Typically those systems are very fatiguing to listen to, and can only keep our attention for so long before we get distracted.

With the popularity of video conferencing and other multimedia presentations, we have longer exposure to sound systems in meetings rooms. As the demand for quality audio continues to spread beyond dedicated concert spaces, the high peak power and linearity in our low-voltage loudspeakers are essential for sonic clarity and intelligibility, making them a great tool for handling a variety of programming materials with ease, even in environments with significant background noise.

4. What is Class 2 wiring?

Monitto: Class 2 is the type of wiring for use inside wall and ceiling structures and is typically used for fire alarms, telephones, and security sensors. For commercial buildings, most regional codes in the US dictate AC to be put inside conduit but this requirement does not apply to this class of wiring. Meyer Sound 48V loudspeakers use DC power and meet Class 2 wiring criteria, so integrators don't need to run conduit to every loudspeaker location, saving installation time and costs.

MM-4XP at Houston Improv Comedy Club

5. Besides their small footprint, what makes these products flexible to use?

Monitto: For an immerse surround experience where the loudspeakers need to be addressed independently, it's very simple to access each element or parallel the input signals to multiple loudspeakers using a simple switch on the back panel of the power supply.

Re-matrixing the systems is also quite straightforward. Museums with portable partitions can change the zoning of installed loudspeakers on the external power supply. To lower the volume of a single loudspeaker, you can attenuate at the rack, without touching what may be installed up in the air. For other applications, the MM-4XPV has volume control at the top.

6. What's next?

Monitto: Our low-voltage products provide the tools to deliver high-quality audio. Now the industry needs to get the input sources in better shape, moving away from MP3 or other over-compressed sources. Then it'll be a win for everybody.

Jenks: Not every project requires a DC-powered product. Some buildings are equipped with AC for audio. For the ones that do need DC, this growing family of loudspeakers gives the clarity and control that their 70V competition cannot offer. We're excited to expand our options for consultants and integrators working in these environments.

January, 2012

UPJunior-XP

UPM-1XP

UMS-1XP

Press Release

Meyer Sound Expands Low-Voltage Product Line with Three New Loudspeakers

Video

Luke Jenks and John Monitto on low-voltage