Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Sound in Common House

[Glen Ecklund (glen.ecklund]

At Arboretum Cohousing ("Arbco") in Madison, WI USA, we started with a
stereo on a cart, with a single wireless mic.
A member later bought a rechargeable loudspeaker, with 2 mics. It hasn't
been as reliable, but is handy for its portability.

More recently, a climate organization I do AV for, which meets at Arbco,
bought a set of 4 wireless mics, because it's often handy to have more than
one mic.
I will note that, with a loudspeaker in a large room, it's best to keep it
away from the closest people. Otherwise, you can't make it loud enough for
the farthest people without making it too loud for the closest people.
Unless you have additional speakers closer to the back.

I have added more equipment for Zoom meetings. For Zoom, I have the
microphone system feeding a speaker which provides sound both to the people
in the room, and to my laptop's microphone, which feeds the sound to remote
Zoom participants. Sound from remote participants is routed from my
laptop's headphone jack to another speaker, so that people in the room can
hear them.

Also, people need to be trained to use a microphone. Someone shared, "It's
a water bottle, not an ice cream cone." Meaning, point it at your mouth.
Don't hold it vertically in front of you.

I understand that Bluetooth mics would be undesirable, because there can be
a slight delay. The mics below are a different wireless technology, with no
noticeable delay.

Here is our current set of 4 mics, not currently available. Two hand-held
mics, and two mics that can be clipped on the lapel or used as headsets.
They aren't sensitive enough as lapel mics, unless the person consistently
talks loudly. The headset hoop is very cheap, so when they are set up as
headset mics, they are a little tricky to position, but they work well
otherwise. I post this as a starting point, if someone wants to find
something similar. This system has a separate volume control for each mic,
which is useful, if someone is stationed at it.
https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-Handholds-Transmitter-Bodypacks-Conference/dp/B07JXZ6WW4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Our large common house dining room is big enough to seat over 100 people if
the tables are removed. Here are two sound bars (speakers with built-in
amplifiers) that have worked adequately, when people are quiet.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C14C2YMX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFW3NK8S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use a 1/8" (3.5 mm) audio cable with a 1/4" adapter to connect the
microphone receiver to the sound bar. Other equipment might need a
different cable.

Good luck.

*Glen Ecklund*
711 S. Orchard St., #303
Madison, WI 53715


On Wed, Jun 19, 2024 at 7:25 PM David Entin <davidhentin [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> We are facing difficulty in hearing in our Common House.  Any ideas
> cohousing communities have used to improve sound in their Common House?
>  David Entin, Rocky Hill Cohousing, Northampton, MA
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