New technology models sound from church blueprints

Would you like to know how a sound system will sound in your church before you purchase it?
   
Would it help if that presentation came with a money-back guarantee? Now, Alabama Baptists have this option.
   
Last year, SoundCom LLC, a commercial sound company in Hoover, became the only sound company in Alabama and one of less than 50 companies in the United States that is certified to offer a new technology called Bose Modeler.
   
This technology has revolutionized the sound reinforcement system selection process, according to company representatives.
   
Through a virtual reality program similar to flight simulation software, SoundCom can model the proposed sound of suggested audio system to such an accurate degree that they guarantee your system will sound as good as or better than what you hear or your money back, according to Quincy McLean, systems manager for SoundCom.
“A lot of the frustration that people have with sound systems is that they don’t know what it is going to sound like in their new facility until it is built,” said McLean.
   
“Bose has to review all of the sound systems designs that we do in the Modeler before they will certify it.
   
“What is great about this is instead of getting a sound system designed by someone that has done 20–30 systems, they are getting someone who has done hundreds.”
   
Using blueprints and surface information from a proposed facility or measurements from an existing building and a 3-D computer-aided design program, SoundCom models the room. Using the model, SoundCom then tests the speakers to figure out what the room will actually sound like with the proposed system.
   
Once the system is designed, customers can use a piece of revolutionary hardware called an auditioner to actually test the sound of the room before the system is installed.
   
“The auditioner is a very special set of speakers that you actually put your chin into and the speakers are right next to you,” McLean said.
   
“(The auditioner) actually plays you back the sound of the system in the room at one given point. I can see what it sounds like in the front row, back row or a special seat in the room. Sound is different at different points in the room and it actually shows you that.”
   
During the auditioning process, church leaders can provide samples from their worship services. Through this service, they can hear how their pastor’s voice or choir’s singing will sound in the proposed room.
   
“We also can see if there are going to be problems with the acoustics in the room,” McLean noted. “If there is a destructive echo in the room coming from certain surfaces, we can recommend a change in the surface or suggest that the church treat (it) with certain acoustic treatments. We then can show them the difference in the sounds of the room on the auditioner.”
   
Once a service offered solely through Bose with a hefty fee, this service is provided free to SoundCom clients as a part of their estimating process.
   
The only requirement for the money-back guarantee is that the church purchase Bose speakers with the system.
   
Any additional products needed can be purchaced from other audio companies.
   
Although Bose speakers typically cost more than other brands, McLean has found that the overall system cost is usually less because the sound contractors don’t have to overestimate the needs of their customers.
  
“I don’t have to design for as much margin of error because the error is pretty low,” McLean added. “That usually trades off the expense difference that Bose are a little more expensive than other speakers.”
   
Another benefit this program offers to churches is the ability to see how the proposed sound system will look aesthetically in the facility.
   
“We are very proud to offer it because we think it will help our customers make good decisions and that’s what it is all about,” McLean stated.
   
“I couldn’t show them why they need to put acoustic treatments on their back walls or cushions on their pews or carpet on their floors without the system.
   
“We want the customer ultimately to be very happy with their decisions in the end.”