Sound Masking

The term sound masking suggests “covering or concealing” sound in an environment so logically you would think the best way to achieve that is to reduce back ground noise. However, the opposite is the truth behind sound masking. With sound masking noise is introduced in the environment to “mask” unwanted or disruptive environmental noises. For sound masking to be effective not any sound will do. Two criteria for sound masking are randomness and bandwidth. First, the sound needs to be random that is, it does not transmit any useful information to the human. Second, it needs to be wideband.

With sound masking there is increased privacy and productivity in the work environment. On the one privacy is increased as employees or guest can speak without their conversations being understood by other nearby listeners. On the other hand productivity is increased as employees can concentrate on their job instead of being distracted by the conversations of others.

A sound masking system generally consists of a sound source, an amplifier an equalizer and most importantly loudspeakers.

Stetron has a range of loudspeakers suitable for sound masking applications. Two recent additions to the family of sound masking speakers are the D0050004NR412WER and the D4242008NR10WER. Some distinct benefits of these speakers for sound masking applications are:

• Wide bandwidth which translates to less signal processing
• Large power handling capability
• Small foot print for unobtrusive placement
• Low profile
• Controlled frequency response for less equalization
• High output SPL so less amplification is needed

Contact Stetron today for a free consultation to discuss the audio needs for your project. Our engineering and sales teams look forward to speaking with you!