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Top 25 directional speaker questions we are frequently asked. |
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1. Where would I use directional speakers?2. How loud are Dakota Audio Focused Speaker Arrays?3. Have you had any reports of Dakota Audio Directional Speakers causing headaches with long term exposure?4. What are Dakota Audio focused sound arrays and how do they work?5. Do Dakota Audio focused sound arrays use ultrasonic or Hypersonic(R) beam technology?
6. Dakota Audio Arrays have good frequency response, but what does directional audio do for me?7. Are Dakota Audio sound patterns adjustable?8. What is an offset focused sound pattern and when would I need it?9. Can one Focused Sound Array provide all of these patterns?10. What are the mounting options for Dakota Audio directional speaker arrays?11. What are the options with Dakota Audio speakers in regards to mounting height?12. How close together can the Focused Audio Arrays be mounted?13. Dakota Audio arrays look thin, why are they all that small?14. Why do you offer such a wide variety of sizes in your directional speakers?15. Is black the only color Dakota Audio speaker arrays come in?16. Do you ever manufacture your focused audio arrays in OEM or custom configurations?17. How do Dakota Audio Focused Sound Arrays compare with other directional speaker solutions?18. Is sound quality really important in focused audio?19. How can I hear a Dakota Audio Focused Audio Array?20. Does Dakota Audio make a weatherproof version of the Focused Audio Array?21. How are Dakota Audio Arrays powered?22. What kind of Audio input do I need for Dakota Audio Focused Speakers?23. Does Dakota Audio have any Focused Audio solutions for Kiosks or Digital Signage?24. How can I get pricing for Dakota Audio Focused Arrays?
25. Why
don't you have more pictures of Dakota Audio installations?
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1. WHERE WOULD I USE DIRECTIONAL SPEAKERS? Directional
Audio speakers are being used in Retail - Out of Home Advertising,
Digital Signage, and Kiosks or anywhere you may have an interactive
appliance where you would want to contain an audio signal to a given
area. Dakota Audio designs and builds several different focused
speaker arrays for almost every application imaginable. 2. HOW LOUD ARE DAKOTA AUDIO FOCUSED SPEAKER ARRAYS? Due to safety considerations, since our arrays are often used in retail areas where children are present, we limit the maximum output to approximately 90 dB in the target area. Please check out the individual product pages for more information. if you desire a specific speaker to able to produce a louder signal than 90 decibels please contact us for a custom design. No, our arrays do not emit any audio signal or high frequency radiation
other than the sound you hear. 4. WHAT ARE DAKOTA AUDIO FOCUSED SOUND ARRAYS AND HOW DO THEY WORK? Dakota Audio directional speakers are an array of many small loudspeakers designed to control the delivery of sound (What are Dakota Audio Focused Arrays?). By strictly controlling the launch time from each speaker, all speakers act together in concert at the target location whereas at any other location sounds arrive totally out of step with each other. The precise term for this effect is correlation (How do Dakota Audio Focused Arrays work?). In the target area, the correlation is high, outside that location the correlation is low. To learn more about
Focused Sound Technology
please visit our technical documentation page. 5. DO DAKOTA AUDIO FOCUSED SPEAKER ARRAYS USE ULTRASONIC OR HYPERSONIC® TECHNOLOGY? No, our arrays use proven loudspeaker technology to provide low distortion, full range, directional audio signal. While opinions vary on the long term effects of ultrasonic solutions almost all agree that the two primary issues with these solutions revolve around poor sound quality and an inability to stop the beam of sound from bouncing around a room - like shining a spotlight in a room full of mirrors - which is one of the issues with ultrasonic speakers: they may be directional when the sound leaves the speaker but upon encountering the first even remotely reflective surface, that surface becomes a normal speaker that you might have in your home - filling the room with sound.
Noise pollution is becoming more and more important as technological solutions to everyday communications become more prevalent. Now that directional audio has transcended the novelty stage, customers are looking for long term solutions that primarily need to sound good and not take away from the overall experience with a visually unappealing appearance. Typical focused sound arrays give a reduction in volume of over 20 dB as one
steps from the target zone to the untargeted area just a few feet away.
By varying the design of the array and the timing of the speakers,
different patterns and focal lengths may be obtained. No
directional audio solution is perfect, therefore the laws of physics as
they apply to acoustical
environments should always be considered. We can provide a standard tight focal point in front of the array,
broaden it out for a few individuals, or larger yet for a
small group. We can make the pattern tighter in one direction than the
other, giving an oval pattern, or even an offset pattern. Some of
the speaker arrays Dakota Audio manufactures are preset at the factory
and others include a user control panel. Please
visit our Products
Page and Technical Documentation area for product
specific patterns as well as whitepapers on everything from
Focused Sound Technology
to Exhibit Acoustics. 8. WHAT’S AN OFFSET FOCUSED SOUND PATTERN AND WHEN WOULD I NEED IT? We can provide arrays that project the sound sideways at an angle to the array. The angle that the sound is projected can be adjusted from straight out from the array to almost 90 degrees to the side. The projected sound can be focused to a tight point or broader to cover more people. Offset focused sound patterns are useful when you are
installing an audio device into a post construction environment.
Invariably the audio is needed where an obstruction already lies.
Dakota Audio is experienced at developing solutions based on our
customers needs. Offset focused sound patterns are just one
example of our commitment to our customers. 9. CAN ONE FOCUSED SOUND ARRAY PROVIDE ALL OF THESE PATTERNS? It could but it would get rather expensive. Instead, we design arrays
for specific patterns. Please see our
Products area for
more information. 10. WHAT ARE THE MOUNTING OPTIONS FOR DAKOTA AUDIO DIRECTIONAL SPEAKER ARRAYS? Dakota Audio directional speakers are thin, lightweight and have several mount points enabling them to be implemented in a wide variety of configurations. The overhead arrays are suspended from thin aircraft cables. They can also be mounted under grates in the floor, either right under the listener, or in the floor near the display with the sound projected sideways to the listener. Our Floor Speaker is less than an inch thin (for a post construction version include the grill which brings it to one inch thick) Our Mini
Speaker Arrays are frequently mounted above and or below Plasma and LCD
screens and in kiosks. They can also be mounted in a wall
near or under the display with the sound offset to suit the situation.
We have several different speaker models not yet listed on our website,
so be sure to contact us with your requirements. We have likely
encountered a scenario similar to yours in the past and have a speaker
to suit your needs. 11. WHAT MOUNTING HEIGHT OPTIONS EXIST WITH DAKOTA AUDIO ARRAYS? Dakota Audio
Speaker arrays can be mounted overhead, underfoot, at eye level and in
ways we haven't imagined yet. The
array can be mounted anywhere from a couple of feet overhead of the listener to 14 feet in the air. In some versions, the focal length is
electronically adjustable for both mounting height and the coverage
area. 12. HOW CLOSE TOGETHER CAN DAKOTA AUDIO FOCUSED ARRAYS BE MOUNTED? In the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, there are a number of
our arrays mounted 12 feet high in a small area with some just a few inches
apart. There is some sound bleed between exhibits but not an
objectionable amount. This is a rather extreme example and we do not
recommend it, but it can work under the right conditions. 13. DAKOTA AUDIO ARRAYS ARE REALLY THIN. WHY ARE THEY SO SMALL? The standard overhead array is 3
inches thick by 36 inches square. The other
arrays just get smaller and/or thinner from there. Dakota Audio
believes you should not have to see what you hear and the best solution
is one that is virtually invisible. That being said, a thin
speaker that does not sound good is worthless - so we ensure that through
our wide variety of speaker arrays that there is one device that has the
right look and sound quality for your needs. 14. WHY DOES DAKOTA AUDIO OFFER SUCH A WIDE VARIETY OF DIRECTIONAL SPEAKERS? Dakota Audio is experienced at developing solutions based on the needs of our customers. Over the last fourteen years we have identified a few standard configurations that work for most applications. Occasionally we receive requests for a custom application. Please contact us with any such requests, we would be happy to discuss them with you.
15. IS BLACK THE ONLY COLOR DAKOTA AUDIO SPEAKER ARRAYS COME IN?
Most of our speakers are powder
coated black. We offer a snap on washable fabric cover that is
available in black, white, and cream. Just about any
acoustically transparent fabric can be used. We do offer custom
fabric cover manufacturing but they are usually only cost effective when
ordering at 100 pieces. If you need fewer pieces than that you
could most likely produce them locally yourselves at a cost savings. 16. DO YOU EVER MANUFACTURE FOCUSED AUDIO ARRAYS IN OEM or CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS? A large portion of our business is designing and manufacturing OEM or custom speakers and amplifiers. Typically producing these units is only cost effective when ordering hundreds of units. As the leader in high quality directional speakers we have been asked to produce components for some of the biggest brands in the world whose needs include: theme parks, retail environments, high end sports bars, museum, corporate lobbies, and the biggest names in healthcare. We can manufacture custom arrays to just about any shape or size. There are some basic laws of physics involved here. The lower the frequency you need to control, the larger the sound source has to be.
17. HOW DO DAKOTA AUDIO FOCUSED ARRAYS COMPARE WITH OTHER DIRECTIONAL SPEAKER SOLUTIONS? The first thing that generally attracts our customers' attention is the appearance. Our thin, flat arrays, with their many mounting options, are very inconspicuous. As for performance, our customers tell us again and again that none of our competition can provide the pattern flexibility and sound quality that our steered arrays provide. Combine that with our five year warranty and you have a quality product that we are proud to stand behind. Contact us to try one out, in over 14 years we have had only a handful returned on our industry shattering 90 day money back guarantee.
After the novelty of being able to focus sound wears off, your listeners are going to walk away if you don't provide some compelling content. We believe that every listening experience should involve high quality audio and it shows in our products. We welcome side-by-side comparisons with any of our competitors. In dozens of comparisons, the customer has chosen our array over our competitors. In fact, one acoustic consultant told me that, in their demo room, not one of his customers ever even considered the others once they heard ours. Please visit our product page to learn more about our directional speakers and which models will be the best for your particular application.
We have several demonstration units available to loan to qualified customers. We also have scores of installations in public buildings in virtually every metropolitan area and clients that are happy to show off their Dakota Audio speakers. Finally, you can also visit us at tradeshows where we will be exhibiting. Contact us for details on any of these options.
Absolutely. We can provide several options, depending on the amount of
exposure to the elements and the sound quality required. 21. HOW ARE DAKOTA AUDIO ARRAYS POWERED? The arrays are provided with a UL rated wall transformer plug in power supply. The distance from the power supply to the array is not critical, contact us for details. They can also be centrally powered in situations were there are a number of arrays and you wish to avoid the expense of providing electrical power to the array locations.
The power amplifiers are built into the arrays. The input is designed to
accept just about any line level audio input, consumer to professional
levels and balanced or unbalanced outputs. They will work directly from
DVD and CD players, digital playback units, as well as more exotic
sources.
We offer a Mini-Array (MA-4) series, meant to be mounted directly
above and or below a video
display. The sound control is not quite as good as our larger arrays but
it is a lot better than a standard speaker and looks much better than a
dome hanging over the area. There are numerous other options
available, for instance why not put an array in the
Floor or down in the wasted space by
the listener’s knees and project the sound up? Contact us with your
ideas or requirements. 24. HOW CAN I GET PRICING FOR DAKOTA AUDIO FOCUSED ARRAYS? Naturally, the expense of a large number of high quality speakers and associated electronics is greater than a single speaker mounted in a dome. Contractors have told us that by the time they add a power amplifier (with the associated labor, rack, and mounting space), and other accessories necessary to emulate our directional speakers capabilities, our prices are actually lower than the competition. Please contact us for prices.
This is a disadvantage we have found to our arrays.
Under most conditions our
arrays aren't visible when installed. Most are very thin,
lightweight and unobtrusive, covered with non-reflective black
fabric, that it is difficult to get a decent picture of one installed in
most cases. In fact, it is often hard to spot them even when we know that
they are there. Please visit our Focused
Sound Image Gallery and the Product pages for product images. |
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Copyright 2008 Dakota Audio. All rights reserved. |
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