rAVe’s Audio Symposium, powered by LAVNCH, brought together audio experts to discuss trends, challenges, and best practices in AV. Spanning five 30-minute panels, the event offered insights on everything from hybrid workspaces to immersive exhibitions. Here’s a recap of the discussions, but make sure to watch the event on demand here for all the details.

The first panel, moderated by Steph Beckett, featured David Danto, principal analyst at TalkingPointz, and Izzi Demara, marketing manager at RoomReady. The panel tackled common issues with audio intelligibility in hybrid workspaces, particularly how poor room design can hinder communication.

“Bringing in an integrator earlier in the design phase to help with that [room acoustics] could alleviate a lot of issues before they even truly become issues,” Demara said.

The discussion also touched on advancements in microphone technology and whether placement is still as critical as it once was. They concluded by advising decision-makers to prioritize speaker selection for optimal intelligibility in conference rooms.

The second panel, moderated by Megan A. Dutta, featured Bradford Benn, chief advisist at Advisist Group, Ethan Castro, chief technical officer at EDGE Sound Research, and Rebecca Erin Sullins, senior design engineer at Ampthink. The panel focused on how to make audio systems more accessible and inclusive in public and commercial spaces.

“Inclusivity means culture, religious practices, it means gender. All of these things that you are not normally going to think about and making the space welcoming for everyone,” Sullins said.

The discussion also highlighted the importance of incorporating technologies that accommodate translation needs and exploring multimodal solutions to meet diverse user requirements.

Moderated by Steph, the third panel featured Eric Horstmann, regional business development manager at Genelec, and Markus “Hossi” Hossack, sound supervisor at Berlin Stereo. The panel examined what makes immersive sound experiences effective in exhibition spaces and how technical design and creative vision must work together.

“For me, an effective immersive sound experience should always support the overall vision of the exhibition,” Hossack said.

The speakers stressed the importance of starting with a detailed floor plan and understanding the goals of the producers and directors. They also discussed designing soundscapes that engage visitors, whether they’re moving through structured paths or exploring open spaces.

The fourth panel was hosted by Megan, who was joined by Matt Scott, owner of Omega Audio Video, and Henry Clifford, CEO of Livewire. They explored best practices for balancing wired and wireless audio systems in smart homes.

“We almost find ourselves fighting a battle of when somebody thinks of a multi-room audio system right now they automatically think, ‘Oh, that’s putting a speaker on the countertop,’” said Scott.

Clifford offered advice on mitigating signal interference in connected homes, emphasizing the need to identify root causes of degradation to ensure reliable performance.

The final panel, also hosted by Megan, featured Mike Peña, sound engineer at Church Unlimited, Mac Johnson, market development manager at Point Source Audio, and Tony Price, chief revenue officer at Point Source Audio. The discussion focused on overcoming challenges in delivering quality audio for hybrid worship broadcasts.

“We had to start thinking broadcast-minded, and not just live. How is audio gonna translate over onto a laptop speaker,” said Peña.

Johnson highlighted the role of microphone placement and comfort in ensuring consistent audio quality:

“If a pastor or presenter is not comfortable with microphone placement, it doesn’t matter what it sounds like, it’s not going to be consistently placed, they’re going to be fidgeting with it,” he said.

Once again, make sure you watch the entire event on demand here, and stay tuned for future events!