Sound ambience in the shopping arcade improved

Enjoying a snack during your lunch break, looking for clothes or running a quick errand: shopping malls have become an integral part of the city. It's good when music lifts your mood. In one shopping mall, however, the sound of the background music was problematic. A test proves: background music sounds better with the HDSX box.

The operator of the City Passage wants to provide its customers with a good atmosphere. To achieve this, music is played in the corridors. Music is intended to lift the mood as soon as you enter the center. The music program is not random, but is individually put together by a streaming service provider. And yet complaints from tenants and visitors have been increasing recently. Apparently it is difficult to find the right volume. In normal operation, the music is set so that it is not annoying, but can still be heard. Visitors can rarely tell what music is being played, but they can certainly hear fragments of the music. If a quiet song is played, it sometimes seems as if the system is turned off.

This becomes a problem at lunchtime at the latest: when the number of visitors increases at lunchtime and the background volume increases, the music can no longer be heard. So the well-known problem with playing background music is also evident in this shopping arcade.

We are trying to get this problem under control with the HDSX box. The first effect after installation: the music is easy to understand throughout. We can reliably adjust the volume so that the music is heard in all gears, but is never perceived as too dominant. Spontaneous impression: a stable sound ambience. The music program currently plays Bosssanova rhythms with whispered vocal elements - rather reserved. And yet all sound elements can be heard well. The music is perceived as a whole, even in the quiet parts. If the song dynamics increase, the HDSX box adjusts the volume in real time, it is not too loud for the listener - everything sounds good in all phases of the song.

For lunch we go to a pizzeria and experience the atmosphere as the customers do. When we enter the passage, the music is perceived as pleasant. The livelier the activity in the City Passage becomes, the more the noise level increases. And yet: the stable volume means that the music remains audible. We ask the center manager about her impression. And the answer is clear: yes, the music can now be heard well despite the large number of visitors without being annoying. And even after the big rush, the music is perceived as pleasant.

This test installation also provides proof: The HDSX box creates an ideal sound ambience for background music. This means that music is perceived as pleasant and not as a nuisance. The quality of the background music from the streaming service provider is only perceived through the HDSX box and the center operator's goal is achieved.