Three spaces, three atmospheres, one building. At the bar you want a bit more energy in the evening, in the dining room guests need to be able to hear one another, and on the terrace you are competing with the traffic on the street. Yet many venues run all three off the same dial. Or worse still: off a phone hooked up to a little speaker behind the bar.
You can hear it as a guest. The music that sits nicely at the bar drowns out the conversation in the dining room. Turn it down for the dining room and the bar falls silent. Look, there is another way. And it need not be complicated.
One system, controlled zone by zone
The basics are simple. You install a single sound system for the whole venue and divide the premises into zones. Bar, dining room and terrace each become their own zone with their own settings.
In each zone you control two things independently: the volume and the source. So the dining room plays gentle background music at a sensible level, while the bar plays something else at the same time, a little louder. On the terrace you turn it up to rise above the traffic, without the guests inside being bothered by it.
And it all comes from one system. You do not need to buy separate sets that connect to nothing and have to be maintained individually.
Operating it without the hassle
An installation your staff do not understand simply will not get switched on in the evening. Or it stays on one setting for the whole shift, because nobody dares touch that one device in the meter cupboard.
That is why we put the controls on a touch panel on the wall, or in an app on the tablet behind the bar. Your member of staff taps the zone, slides the volume up or down, done. No cables, no little mixing desk, no manual.
You can set up presets in advance. A quiet setting for lunch, something livelier for dinner, a late setting for the end of the evening. One tap and the whole venue is right again. That saves your staff the hassle and you a lot of irritation at the tables.
Heard equally well everywhere
A mistake we often see: two big speakers by the entrance and nothing else. Then the guests at the front are stuck in the noise and the people at the back cannot hear a thing. You solve that with spread.
We mount several smaller speakers spread throughout the room, each at a lower volume. The result is even coverage. Everywhere in the venue the music arrives equally loud and equally soft. No dead spots, no table having to shout over the music.
That is the difference between music that works and music guests flee from. An even sound picture keeps the atmosphere calm and your guests at the table for longer.
DANTE and IP: install now, expand later
Under the bonnet we install the system over a network, using DANTE and IP. In plain terms: the audio runs over a single data cable instead of over dozens of separate audio cables throughout the building.
That has a practical advantage. Want to add a zone next year, a new room at the back or an extended terrace? Then you hook it onto the existing network, without us having to break open half the venue.
So you invest once in a foundation that grows with your business. No demolition work with every refurbishment.
What it gives you
The atmosphere is right in each zone. The bar buzzes, the dining room stays calm, the terrace rises above the street noise. Every spot gets the sound that suits it, at the right time of day.
Your staff no longer have to fiddle with a phone or an incomprehensible device. One tap on the panel and it is right. And guests who feel at ease stay longer and order more. Sound is not a detail in hospitality. It helps determine how long people stay.
Have your venue walked through
Every venue is laid out differently, and every space sounds different. Before we advise anything, we walk through your restaurant and listen to how each space sounds right now.
Do you have a venue in Rotterdam or elsewhere in the Randstad, or are you further afield in the country? We work throughout the Netherlands. Have us come round for a survey. Call 010-307 54 76 or email info@massivepro.nl, and we will look at your zones together.
Frequently asked questions
What are sound zones in a restaurant?
A zone is a defined part of your venue, such as the bar, the dining room or the terrace, that you can control separately. In each zone you set the volume and the music source independently of the rest, while everything comes from one system.
Can I really set the bar, dining room and terrace separately?
Yes. Each zone gets its own volume and its own source. So the bar plays a little louder and livelier while the dining room stays calm, and you turn the terrace up to rise above street noise.
Is a sound system like this easy for my staff to operate?
Yes. The controls sit on a touch panel on the wall or in an app on a tablet. Your member of staff picks the zone and adjusts the volume. You can set up presets for lunch, dinner and late in the evening.
Can I add a zone later?
Yes. Because we install the system over DANTE and IP, you hook a new zone onto the existing network without breaking open the venue. The system grows with your restaurant.
Do you also work outside Rotterdam?
Yes. We install our fixed AV systems throughout the Netherlands. Rotterdam and the Randstad are our home base, but we come out anywhere in the country for a survey.
Read also:
> What does a poor sound system cost your hospitality business?
> Why your new hospitality installation should be network-based