5 Ways to Improve Your Audio Quality in 2025

Jordan Elgie • November 19, 2024

Essential Tips to Enhance Your Audio Experience – From Training to Equipment Upgrades

The beginning of a new year often feels like the right time to make some kind of commitment to improvement. Many of us set resolutions that focus on personal growth, but what if we expanded that mindset to our professional environments? If that environment happens to be a School or Church or any other organization that makes use of Pro Audio Equipment, perhaps enhancing your audio quality could make your list of resolutions for 2025! With a few tips, clean and clear sound can be within reach and can transform the experience of your audience or congregation. Here are five ways to improve your audio quality in 2025.

 

1. Training


When it comes to audio and PA systems, many organizations underutilize their equipment. The result is often less-than-ideal sound quality for the audience or congregation. Training ranks as #1 on our list because it's one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to improve the quality of your audio. With training from an experienced professional, you and your team can learn how to maximize the capabilities of the equipment you already have. This not only enhances the experience for your audience but also ensures that the investment in your audio system pays off!



How can Horizon help? We’re glad you asked. Horizon offers a variety of training options that are tailored to your needs. From free seminars with a range of industry professionals at Resource Stage, to customized on-site training session for your whole team, Horizon is here to help you get the most out of your system.

2. Microphone Selection



The right microphone can make all the difference in audio quality. Evaluate your current microphones: are they suitable for your environment and your application? Different uses call for different types of microphones. Perhaps it’s time to retire that microphone you got at that garage sale. Or perhaps that old road-worn workhouse just isn’t cutting it on the piano anymore. Or maybe it’s time to upgrade from a podium mic, to a wireless system with a discrete and low-profile head-set mic for your presenter or speaker?


Here at Horizon, we know there isn’t always a one-mic-fits-all solution. We work with top manufacturers of microphones at all price-points so we can offer our clients solutions that work. From industry standard microphones like the Shure Beta 58A  to the capable Shure QLXD  wireless microphone system, to the high-fidelity and super versatile 4099 instrument microphones from DPA, we will work with you to evaluate and meet your microphone needs!

3. Connectivity



One simple way to improve the function of any audio system is to expand its connectivity. Today, with more devices than ever, adding BlueTooth® just makes sense. The addition of BlueTooth® connectivity to an audio systems not only helps alleviate the need for a tangle of cables, but can also take the confusion out of connecting a tablet or smartphone.


For this task, we recommend the BT-Pro V2 from Radial Engineering. A Canadian manufacture, Radial is one of the most trusted and recognizable names in the Audio world. Their products are synonymous with good design, great quality and innovation. With a device from Radial you cant go wrong.

4. Acoustic Treatment



Acoustic treatment is often overlooked, yet it can profoundly impact your sound quality. Ever thought your venue or auditorium might sound a bit ‘echo-y’? Or have you ever had an attendee mention that they struggled to hear a presenter clearly? Room acoustics are the likely culprit. Acoustic treatment is far more than slapping a roll of foam egg-carton the back wall and hoping for the best. Modern solutions often consists of precise measurements and computer-modelled room evaluations. While it may seem really complicated, it helps by taking out the guess work in knowing if your room needs absorption, diffusion or bass control. By creating a more controlled acoustic environment, you can ensure that your audio is clearer and more enjoyable for everyone.


Let us help in taking the mystery and intrigue out of finding the right acoustic solutions for your space. Give us a call to arrange a consult with one of in-house professionals.

 

5. PA Adjustments and/or Upgrades


As technology evolves, so do the capabilities of PA systems. Take a moment to consider your current system: Is it performing as it should? Is it currently serving the needs of your organization? It’s not always the case, but there may come a time when your system’s age really begins to affect it’s performance, and an upgrade may be required. Like all technology, advancement is always taking place and manufacturers of pro audio equipment are constantly innovating and releasing great products at a variety of price points to stay current in a competitive market. New products often showcase cutting-edge features like better DSP (digital signal processing) and better energy-efficiency making upgrades an attractive option.


If you think your audio system might be showing it’s age, or is no longer serving the needs of your organization, we can help. At Horizon, we pride ourselves on focussing on the needs of our clients, and we’d love to work with you toward a solution that meets your needs.

Bonus: More Training


Training not only deserves the #1 spot, but also the bonus spot! Everyone knows, you can have a beautiful new car, but if don’t know how to drive properly, you’re likely to have a bumpy ride to work. Training can look like one-on-one or group sessions with a qualified professional, or it can look like workshops or free seminars. But whatever form it takes, training and education for you and your team is not only the most cost effective way to help achieve your audio quality goals, but it will also better equip you and your team to know when it is time to replace a microphone, upgrade an entire system or invest in acoustic treatment.


By applying some of these strategies, we’re confident that you can significantly enhance your audio quality in 2025 and beyond. The goal is to create an excellent experience for your audience or congregation and Horizon Solutions is here to help! Our focus is solutions and with services ranging from free training workshops and seminars to complete system design and installation, Horizon can be your partner in achieving your audio quality goals.

Balancing Best Price and Best Service in AV Procurement: Is It Possible?

By Carl Lukings • November 19, 2024
When it comes to procurement for professional audio, lighting, and video services, is it possible to balance the “best price” and “best service”? We think it is! Below are some insights that may help you navigate this challenge. The Challenge of Price-Driven Procurement Many municipalities and organizations are required to purchase from the vendor offering the lowest price. But is this approach always the best? As taxpayers, we want assurance that public money is being spent appropriately, and that there’s no room for favouritism or backdoor deals. The intent is good, but in practice, this system often results in a “bare bones” solution. The theory behind it is to guard against preferential treatment or collusion, ensuring that public funds are used responsibly. However, focusing solely on the lowest price can often result in solutions that are less than ideal.

School Audio System Upgrades

By Duane Myers • October 8, 2024
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Dance at Home Floor Kit

By David Brown • July 29, 2020
It certainly has been different times dancing on Zoom for over 2 months. Now we are coming up on a new dance season. Everybody has different levels of confidence in returning to activities and that is perfectly fine. Some kids can not wait to get back in the studio. Some want to continue but would like to do so from home. Of course, depending on class size there may be a rotation where you spend two weeks in the studio and one week at home. Maybe you will dance in the studio like normal (with new physical distancing guidelines) but want to practice at home. With these new situations Rosco has made a kit version of their popular dance floor called the Marley Mat . The floor that is used in the Rosco Marley Mat is a lighter weight version of Adagio floor that we use in our studios. That makes it perfect for dancing at home for all types of dance including ballet, jazz, acro, lyrical and even tap . It will have the same feel and “speed” of the studio floor. Being a lighter weight material allows the floor to be rolled up when not in use and unrolled and used immediately. The Marley Mat kit can be purchased for $ 149.00 (price current as of July 2020) plus shipping and tax. The package comes with a 5’ 3” by 6’ section of black or grey floor, and a roll of tape that would allow you to lay down and tape the floor 5 times. Additional tape can be purchased. You can find and purchase the kit from StageStore at the following link. StageStore is a great supplier in Ontario of theatrical type products. https://www.stagestore.ca/product/rosco-marley-mat-kit/

Science Fiction in the Meeting Space

By Carl Lukings • July 27, 2020
Redefining the microphone for the meeting space

5 Tech Tips to help you return to church after Covid-19

By Carl Lukings • June 9, 2020
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How much wire goes into the audio video system of a world class theatre?

By Carl Lukings • May 25, 2020
Even with the proliferation of wireless systems, our entire industry runs on wire.  Miles, or should I say kilometres of wire. But the truth is that we use a lot less than we used to. Back in the 1980’s we didn’t have digital audio snakes or DMX cables for lighting. And every video line was a coax cable or multiple coax bound together. A simple audio snake could be an inch in diameter for just a couple dozen channels. But that was then. We’ve come a long way in the last 30-40 years, but we still run a lot of wire. It’s just different now. So, how much wire does go into a world class theatre? For the last six months Horizon Solutions’ crew has been pulling wire into the new Tom Patterson Theatre in Stratford, Ontario to support the new Audio and Video systems. There is a lot of wire there. To be clear this wire does not include the lighting systems, nor does it include the cables that plug from plates into the pieces of equipment. Those are a completely different story.

A better acoustic environment to better your mental health

By Carl Lukings • May 15, 2020
New Acoustic treatment in Chatham-based CMHA

Acoustic Treatment - From bath towels to glass wool

By Carl Lukings • April 29, 2020
As a kid we moved around a lot.  My parents liked the change and my father was often looking for a new challenge with his work in IT. One of the things I have always remembered whenever we moved into a new home was how the house felt so hollow with no furniture, justblank walls and floors. It was even more noticeable in an empty bathroom. I remember my brothers and I standing in an empty bathroom hollering at the top of our lungs, listening to the echo. Although I had very little interest in sound or audio at 12 years old, I understood something about acoustics. When the shower curtain and bath towels were hung, the bathroom quickly went from being a cavern to a small room. The principals haven't really changed much over the years. The fact is, some rooms, for numerous reasons, have acoustic characteristics that make them much more reverberant than others. Sometimes it's the hard uncovered surfaces. Or it could be a tin-pan ceiling. More often than not it's the physical dimensions of the room, allowing for some frequencies to reflect for a long period of time before diminishing. One way to determine and quantify the "issue frequencies" is to play a frequency sweep within the space and then record the playback with a microphone in the room. What this does is provide us the ability to "hear" and analyse how the different frequencies are responding in the space. Using a measurement referred to as the RT60 we are able to determine which frequencies and to what extent each frequency is a problem. From there, we're able to take that information and determine how much acoustic treatment is required to bring the RT60 reverberation time down to a reasonable level.
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