Assistive Listening Solutions

Soundboard equipment overlooking house of worship sanctuary with lights on but no audience

How Loud Is Loud Enough?

The battle is almost as old as the church sound system. It has always baffled me that the pipe organ can be played at 100dB, but that when the band plays at 100dB, it’s often “too loud.” We’re not here today to define how loud is “loud enough” or “too loud” for the acoustic volume of your worship service, but to help figure out how much difference there should be between what your congregation hears from the main sound system and what the congregation hears from the monitor speakers, instruments, and amplifiers on the platform, in order to hear the sound system with acceptable clarity.

People sitting listening to a speaker in a conference room

Talking To Architects About Windows & Cables

The new Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Centreville, VA has a lot of windows and a lot of cable. The windows are by design, to channel the blessings of the church to the outside community, according to KCPCs pastor.

Access to Airlines Are We There Yet?

The Hearing Loss Association participated in the US Department of Transportations’ (DOT) forum on the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), “Working Together to Improve Air Travel for Passengers with Disabilities” January 11, 2011. We joined members of the disability community, the domestic and foreign airline representatives, and staff from DOT, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the US Department of Justice. In short, the room was filled with people interested in access to air travel for people with disabilities taking time out of their busy schedules for the two-day forum.

Group of people sitting as an audience with an older gentleman in a dress shirt and a tie, wearing a headset and holding an assistive listening receiver in his hand

Provide Assistive Listening Systems

Provide Assistive Listening Systems (ALS) for your congregation and let people know that they’re available.

AVL Systems Design A Winner With Listen Wireless Audio Distribution

When Mustang Public Schools of Oklahoma called us here at AVL Systems Design to bid on their audio systems for the renovation of the football stadium, I knew I had a competitive advantage over all the other companies bidding.

Red and white striped box of yellow movie theater popcorn with two red admit one tickets tucked inside

HLAA Working For You: Movie Captioning

After the Golden Globe nominations were announced, I was intrigued by one of the films nominated: “The King’s Speech.” I thought I’d treat my family to a captioned showing of a first run film during the holidays. So, I visited the website http://www.captionfish.com/ to see if a theater nearby had a captioned showing. Well, much to my dismay not only did I fail to find either an open or closed captioned showing, I found that the movie has not been captioned at all for theatrical release. So much for my holiday treat for the family.

The view of a church sanctuary with a large cross on the wall behind a pulpit with two flags on either side, empty pews, and vaulted ceilings

The Joys Of A Carefully Planned Sound System

A good sound system does not just happen! It requires careful consideration, professional evaluation, proper planning and an ongoing relationship with a trusted sound system professional.

HLAA Turns 31!

Every year at this time, we commemorate the anniversary of our organization. In 1979, Founder Howard E. Rocky Stone founded the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) as Self Help for Hard of Hearing People.

Room with long rectangular tables and green classroom-style chairs behind them with a podium at the front of the room.

The Battle For Better Hearing

It is a common misnomer that adding audio to a room will make others in the room hear “better”. While the sound pressure level (SPL) is increased, it does not necessarily make the audio more intelligible especially the human voice and a live microphone. In the past few years, companies have invested heavily in research and development to make the learning environment audibly better. Often times, the nemesis of an intelligible environment are feedback and reverberation. I want to touch on a few items of focus that will make the audio learning experience more enjoyable and give you a few challenges/techniques for improving intelligibility within your room.

Five young adult men all dressed in black with their hands up to their ears as if they're trying to hear better

Take That Line Up To Support Hear The World Campaign

Ambassador for Hear the World: Take That, photographed by Bryan Adams holding the Hear the Worldpose – with one hand cupped behind their ear to convey conscious hearing.