{"id":2620,"date":"2020-05-07T16:47:33","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T23:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qsc.com\/systems\/2020\/05\/07\/four-myths-that-cause-bad-sound\/"},"modified":"2022-07-13T06:39:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T13:39:48","slug":"four-myths-that-cause-bad-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qsc.com\/systems\/in\/2020\/05\/07\/four-myths-that-cause-bad-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Myths that Cause Bad Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1992, Syn-Aud-Con co-founder and audio industry legend Don Davis wrote an article (which later became a book) titled, \u201cIf Bad Sound Were Fatal, Audio Would Be the Leading Cause of Death<\/a>.\u201d While it hasn\u2019t killed me yet, I\u2019ve certainly been hurt more than once in public spaces, where it was evident that proper attention wasn\u2019t given to the audio experience. Although the pain subsides, as an audio professional for over 30 years, I still find it extremely irritating, especially in venues such as my local movie theatre. Just ask my wife; moviegoing with me is not always as enjoyable an experience as it could be. What baffles me is that almost 30 years later, Don Davis\u2019 observation still has a ring of truth to it, even in some movie theatres today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all know what it takes to create good sound in a movie theatre.  The best practices have been established and refined over decades. The Lucasfilm\/THX program, launched by George Lucas and Tomlinson Holman in 1983, was a huge leap forward in this effort. Other groups like SMPTE, AMPAS, Dolby, and others have contributed to a body of knowledge that clearly defines the steps necessary to achieve great sound in the cinema. So, if we (as an industry) know how to do it, why do so many theatres still sound less than optimal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason is that there are still many myths about what it takes to achieve high quality sound.  Here are four of them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. We don\u2019t know how.<\/li>
  2. It\u2019s too expensive.<\/li>
  3. It doesn\u2019t really matter anyway.<\/li>
  4. It\u2019s too hard.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    As with most myths, none of these are real. The first one only indicates that one hasn\u2019t looked for the answers or consulted the right authority. The knowledge exists. Re-read paragraph two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Number 2, \u201cit\u2019s too expensive\u201d probably means that the \u201cright\u201d authority was wrong. Good sound does not have to cost a fortune if the correct practices are followed, and the optimal technologies and products are specified for a given auditorium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter anyway\u201d simply expresses poor business judgment. It says that one doesn\u2019t care about the experience they create for their patrons. In the cinema business, like any service business, the quality of the customer journey is the sum of experiences from the lobby to the recliner and back. If you don\u2019t pay attention to every step of the way, you are not providing the best possible experience \u2013 and your competition probably knows it, leaving you vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    As a remedy to \u201cIt\u2019s too hard,\u201d about five years ago QSC compiled as many of the best practices and industry standards that we could find, combined them with over 125 years of collective experience of our staff and created the QSC Certified Theatre Program<\/a>.  The result is a free theatrical exhibition standards program based on a set of guidelines intended to promote best practices in cinema design and overall presentation quality.  When a theatre meets these guidelines, we deem it to be a \u201cQSC Certified Theatre,\u201d and there exists a complete marketing program that helps the theatre and QSC to promote the site as such. It lets patrons know that proper attention was given to creating the best possible moviegoing experience, guided by many years of expertise and backed by the reputation of one of the audio industry\u2019s leading manufacturers.  Chances are, most cinema patrons have experienced QSC sound not only in movie theatres but also in nightclubs, concert venues, sports arenas, cruise ships, airports, meeting rooms, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    None of the guidelines of the QSC Certified Theatre Program are costly or difficult to follow, especially in new construction projects. It\u2019s always easier and less expensive to build a theatre right from the ground up than it is to correct mistakes in existing rooms. The only hard and fast criterion is, not surprisingly, the audio signal chain must be all QSC equipment, from the processor to the amplifiers and loudspeakers. It\u2019s not just business self-interest. It\u2019s the only way to ensure that the audio system will perform flawlessly together and provide the best quality sound possible.  We know this because we design our products to work together, as \u201cnative\u201d components in a common, well-conceived Ecosystem. We sometimes call this idea \u201cSystemSynergy\u201d because the performance of the combined components is greater than would be possible with a collection of parts that were not designed to work together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Look for an upcoming webinar featuring Barry Ferrell, which details a prescription for getting good sound in the cinema.  There\u2019s a cure after all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In 1992, Syn-Aud-Con co-founder and audio industry legend Don Davis wrote an article (which later became a book) titled, \u201cIf Bad Sound Were Fatal, Audio Would Be the Leading Cause of Death.\u201d While it hasn\u2019t killed me yet, I\u2019ve certainly been hurt more than once in public spaces, where it was evident that proper attention … Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nFour Myths that Cause Bad Sound - Q-SYS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qsc.com\/systems\/in\/2020\/05\/07\/four-myths-that-cause-bad-sound\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four Myths that Cause Bad Sound - 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