Audio-Technica ATUC-50 Digital Discussion System Chosen for City Council Chamber in Tallmadge Township, Michigan

STOW, OH, August 20, 2018 — Tallmadge Township, a suburb on the west side of Grand Rapids, Michigan, needed a new conference system for its Township Hall (the old one consisted of a single microphone and a cassette recorder). Over the process of updating its 1980s technology to the 21st century, they found that the number of options was overwhelming, so they established their key criteria: the new conference system had to sound great, be easy to use, and be nearly invisible, keeping the Township’s meeting chamber uncluttered, all at a cost-effective price. KVO Communications, an AV systems integrator in Grand Rapids, knew exactly the right solution: an ATUC-50 discussion system from Audio-Technica, a leading innovator in transducer technology for over 50 years. The ATUC-50 features easy-to-use, plug-and-play functionality producing reliable, clear and intelligible 24-bit/48kHz uncompressed digital audio. The system significantly increases meeting efficiency and effectiveness, with natural-sounding voice reproduction and a 12-band feedback suppressor that enables higher volume levels.

“This was the perfect solution for this application,” says Luke Engelsma, Project Manager and Sales Engineer for KVO Communications, which installed the system in May. “They had their criteria for sound quality and aesthetics, and the Audio-Technica ATUC-50 meets all of those requirements easily. And it also brings a level of ease of use that’s better than any other we’ve seen.”

The ATUC-50 is remarkably simple to use — Engelsma says they were able to program it so that any user can start the system with a single switch. Operating modes, such as Free Talk mode, Request to Talk mode, Full Remote mode, and various override settings, were preprogrammed by the integrator, as were settings for mic gain and mic EQ settings for each individual discussion unit. The control unit can also be programmed to work via Web Remote Control with an iPad, as it was in this installation, allowing any user to log in wirelessly to the system’s web interface allowing full parameter access and control from most third-party control systems. Installation was simple and straightforward, connecting each of the nine stations and nine ATUC-50IU integration units with a daisy-chain of Cat-6 cable, all mounted under the table, so only the ATUC-M58H microphone and its incorporated LED indicator light are visible.

“We liked the fact that the ATUC-50 gives us a number of options for installation that allows us to customize it exactly to each application’s specific needs,” says Engelsma, noting the ATUC-50’s flexibility to choose the inputs and outputs best suited for a particular installation, and a flexible feature set that includes a mic input, speaker output, headphone output, control input (Talk On, Vol. Up, Vol. Down, Channel Select), LED status output and GPIO. But it also provided Tallmadge Township with everything they sought in a new conference system: outstanding sonic quality, ultimate ease of use, and virtual invisibility. “They’re thrilled with it,” says Engelsma, who also installed an Audio-Technica System 10 PRO wireless microphone system there, for portable sound reinforcement needs. “They got exactly the solution they were looking for and at the price they wanted to pay.”

For more information, please visit www.audio-technica.com.