Why we are writing about sound this month
Over the past year the questions reaching us about sound engineering have changed in character. Producers used to ask which mixing desk to buy. Now they more often ask why a room that looks finished still sounds wrong once the doors are closed and the presenters are seated. That shift has led us to rethink the order in which we do our audio work, and this note sets out what is different and why.
Sound engineering at showvary covers audio design for studios and live venues: microphones, mixing desks and monitoring. None of that is new. What has changed is the sequence. We used to draw up an equipment list early and test the room against it. We now test the room first and let the findings shape the list, which has saved several clients from buying kit that the space could never have served well.
I am writing as the person who designs the studios, so the layout side of this is close to me. Sound and floor plan cannot be separated, and the changes below are as much about talking to the audio side sooner as about anything technical.
A listening survey before any equipment list
Our audio work now begins with a listening survey. Daniel Whitcombe visits the room, or the venue, with a small set of speakers and a measurement microphone, and spends a few hours simply hearing it. He claps, talks from the planned presenter positions, and walks the audience area. Echo, flutter between parallel walls, air handling noise and traffic rumble all show up in this one visit.
The survey ends with a short written note rather than a long report. It names what the room does to sound, which problems treatment can solve and which ones need a different position for the desk or the talent. Clients tell us this note is the first document in a project that every department can read and agree with, because it describes what people can hear for themselves.
Only after that do we talk about microphones and desks. A cardioid microphone behaves very differently in a bare room than in a treated one, and the survey tells us which situation we are really planning for.
- Clap and speech tests from each presenter position
- A walk through the audience or guest area
- Notes on air handling and outside noise
- A short written summary, not a long report
Choosing microphones for the room you actually have
Microphone choice follows from the survey. In a lively room, close-placed directional microphones keep the voice clear and leave less of the room in the signal. In a well-treated studio there is more freedom, and the decision turns on how the presenters work: seated at a desk, standing at a lectern, or moving about a set.
We advise clients to audition two or three options with their own voices before ordering. A microphone that suits one presenter can make another sound thin or sibilant, and no specification sheet will tell you that. This costs an afternoon and often prevents a replacement purchase a month later.
For live events the same thinking applies on a larger scale. Handheld, headset and lectern microphones each have a place, and the venue's size and the amount of stage monitoring decide how much gain you can use before feedback begins. We plan that margin deliberately instead of discovering it during the soundcheck.
Mixing desks: matching the desk to the crew
A mixing desk should suit the people who will operate it. A compact digital desk with saved scenes suits a studio where the same programme runs each week and the operator is also doing other jobs. A larger desk with more physical faders suits a live venue where an engineer wants hands-on control during a fast, unpredictable show.
We ask who will run the desk, how often, and what training they have before we recommend anything. A desk that is technically excellent but intimidating to the regular operator leads to everything being left on default settings, which wastes most of what was paid for.
Routing matters as much as the desk itself. We document where each input comes from and where each output goes, in plain language, so that a new operator can follow the signal without calling us. This document is handed over with every installation and is the item clients refer back to most.
- Saved scenes for repeating studio programmes
- Physical faders for fast live work
- A plain-language routing document handed over at the end
Monitoring decisions made early
Monitoring is the part of a sound system most often left until the end, and the part most often regretted. If the people mixing cannot trust what they hear, every other decision is made on poor information. We now settle monitoring early: where the speakers go, how far from the walls, and what level of headphone provision the crew needs.
In a studio control room, speaker placement is also a layout question, which is why Oliver-style floor plans and audio notes are produced together. Moving a desk by half a metre after cabling is expensive; moving it on paper costs nothing.
For live work, stage monitoring decides how much the performers can hear of themselves and each other. We discuss this with the production team in advance, including whether in-ear monitors are realistic for the budget, so the choice is not rushed during setup.
What to prepare before you contact us
If you are planning audio work this autumn or in the new year, a few pieces of information speed things up. A rough plan of the room or venue, even a hand sketch with measurements, is the most useful. A list of who will speak or perform, and in what arrangement, tells us how many microphones and monitor mixes to think about.
Tell us also who will operate the system day to day, and what they are comfortable with. Add any known problems, such as a noisy ventilation unit or a neighbouring tenant. None of this needs to be polished.
Enquiries come through the contact page. We reply with questions first and a written quotation after, so you see what is proposed and what it includes before anything is agreed.
The main change in our sound work is simple: listen first, choose equipment second. A short survey of the room, an honest match between desk and operator, and monitoring settled early have made projects calmer and purchases more accurate. If you have a studio or venue where the sound is not behaving, send us a sketch and a few notes through the contact page, and we will tell you plainly what we would look at first.