Audio that enhances the dining experience, not disrupts it
A restaurant has a peculiar sound problem. The conversation at the table needs to be clear. The music needs to create atmosphere without talking over the conversations. The terrace needs a different volume from the indoor restaurant. And when the bar is open with a livelier group there, that mustn’t spill over the diners.
We design fixed sound systems that address these layers. Not one pair of speakers hung up high, but a considered system with even coverage, multi-zone audio and atmosphere that adapts to the rhythm of the day.
What we tackle in a restaurant
Speech intelligibility and acoustics Glass walls, hard floors and high ceilings cause echo. Eating becomes less enjoyable, people talk louder to make themselves heard, and your head gets busier and busier. We measure the acoustics beforehand and advise on panels or sound-absorbing ceiling tiles that solve the problem.
Even sound distribution No dead spots, no noisy places right under a speaker. More speakers, each one smaller, in exactly the right place. Guests shouldn’t notice a speaker is there, but the music should sound just as good everywhere.
Multi-zone audio The dining room, terrace, lounge and bar each get their own zone. Different music, different volume, and automatically different volume at different times of day. The terrace can be loud in the afternoon and soft in the evening, while the indoor restaurant stays constant.
Simple control for your team A touch panel at the bar or in the kitchen with scenes: “Lunch”, “Dinner”, “Busy evening”, “After-hours”. One tap. No dials, no technical pop-ups. Your staff don’t need to be sound engineers.
Restaurants where we've worked
- De Heeren hospitality group: De Heeren van Slydegt and De Heeren aan de Lek
- Ter Marsch Restaurant in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Utrecht
- BIRD Rotterdam: restaurant and club area
- Aqua Asia Rotterdam
- Brasserie Jules WTC Rotterdam
- Kunstfabriek Groothandelsgebouw Rotterdam: event space with a restaurant function
What a typical restaurant system costs
A fixed multi-zone installation, for example for the dining room, terrace and bar, starts at around €3,000. The price depends on your space and what you want, such as the number of zones, acoustic work and the controls.
For a specific guide price based on your venue: request a free site visit.
What the Oxford researcher says
Charles Spence of Oxford University has spent years researching what sound and acoustics do to the guest experience in restaurants. The short version: guests give food higher ratings, stay longer and order more when the audio and acoustics are right. Poor acoustics do the opposite. For a restaurant this isn’t a detail, it’s revenue.
Frequently asked questions
A simple 2- or 3-zone installation is finished in 2 to 4 days. With acoustic work and new cabling, allow 1 to 2 weeks. We prefer to work outside opening hours or during quiet periods (Sunday-Monday) so you don’t have to close.
Yes. That’s exactly what multi-zone audio is for. Each zone can have its own Spotify account, Soundtrack Your Brand playlist or other source. Volume per zone, scenes for each part of the day.
For commercial use of music you need a BUMA/Stemra licence. Soundtrack Your Brand and similar business streaming services arrange this as standard, Spotify Personal does not. We’ll advise on what suits your situation.
Yes. Acoustics are often the problem, not the installation. We measure the space for reverberation time and frequency response, and advise on acoustic panels, baffles or ceiling solutions that suit your interior. Guests often barely notice them, but it immediately feels different.
With DANTE-based installations, expanding is simple. Adding a new zone means running a cable to the switch and configuring it in software. No complete refit. Read more about DANTE.
Yes, it’s sorted in 15 to 30 minutes. Preprogrammed scenes for the standard parts of the day. The controls are so simple that a trainee can do it on their first day.
Yes. We work for restaurants throughout the Netherlands, in Europe and in the Caribbean.
For the most part, yes. AUDAC components are modular and can be reconfigured for new scene programming and controls. The speakers, amplifiers and cabling stay. We only adjust the programming of the scenes and the music sources.