Soundfield

Unfamiliar with Soundfield? See answers to the questions we usually hear

PC Werth Soundfield is a wonderfully simple technology: easy to install and operate, economical in daily use and effective from the start.

Q. What does PC Werth Soundfield do?

A. It takes a teacher’s voice, via a wireless microphone, enhances speech frequencies for better comprehension, amplifies and distributes the sound to carefully located speakers around a classroom. It delivers the teacher’s voice clearly, at a comfortable level, to all pupils wherever they are seated in the room.

Q. What are the components of a PC Werth Soundfield system?

A. In a fixed system we install a Soundfield base-station, cabling and four or more wall- or ceiling-mounted speakers. The teacher wears a light wireless microphone. Pupils can be given an optional pass-around microphone for interactive lessons. In a portable FrontRow To Go system the base-station is combined with two speakers in a self-contained mains/rechargeable unit for use anywhere.

Q. Why do we need a PC Werth Soundfield system?

A. The level of a teacher’s voice perceived by a child depends on where the teacher and child are positioned. Without Soundfield, the children near the teacher hear well, whilst those further away can struggle because they receive a greatly reduced ‘signal’. In addition, background noise around the child combined with reverberation makes speech perception difficult. A PC Werth Soundfield system cuts straight through the barriers to clear communication; delivering a comfortable, comprehensible voice signal every time.

Q. What are the long-term effects of a poor acoustic environment without PC Werth Soundfield to help?

A. Noisy conditions produce a number of effects in a learning environment: reduced speech intelligibility; lack of concentration; long-term noise-stress in children and staff; rowdier behaviour; poor motivation of pupils and less willingness to work hard; vocal strain for teachers; slower language development; reduced inclusion for hearing-impaired children.

Q. What are the long-term benefits of a PC Werth Soundfield installation in each classroom?

A Higher test scores and improved academic performance. A calmer class atmosphere makes a lesson more enjoyable and productive – with much less stress for everyone. Teachers suffer much less voice strain – so feel better, take fewer sick days off and achieve more. Almost without exception children perform better in quiet classrooms enhanced by a PC Werth Soundfield system.

Q. Will a PC Werth Soundfield system help with classroom control?

A. Yes. Research shows that poor behaviour in class can be the result of poor listening, as a result of immature hearing and language skills, ear infections, etc. So it follows naturally that a system designed to deliver the optimum listening environment can improve behaviour. If children are more engaged with their lessons and can hear their teacher better, with fewer repetitons of instructions, they suffer less from boredom, stress and misunderstandings.

Q. Who benefits from PC Werth Soundfield?

A. Everyone! Children love it because it makes everything the teacher says much easier to hear, making learning easier and more fulfilling. All children feel included in the class activities. Teachers love it because it increases comprehension levels, reduces voice strain and makes classes much easier to manage. Schools love it because academic results and test scores go up measurably, whilst the academic ‘atmosphere’ improves. Schools and LEA’s also love it because reduced levels of vocal and general stress mean lower replacement staffing costs and much less disruption to the curriculum through sick leave. Parents love Soundfield because it gives their children the optimum environment to learn and develop – not just academically but also in their language, social and mental skills.

Q. Isn’t Soundfield just for hearing-impaired pupils?

A. No. True, Soundfield is often introduced to schools to support access for a hearing impaired child, at which it excels of course. But early studies of Soundfield systems soon showed that all children within a class benefited enormously. Because no child’s hearing develops fully until their teen years, they aren’t as good at hearing and listening as adults – you could say that all children are hearing-impaired to a certain degree until they grow up.
Remember also that all children can suffer from temporary serious hearing impairment – through colds, glue ear and throat infections. So, studies have shown that whole-class scores in tests improve, in a measurable way, when a Soundfield system is used as a standard tool for teaching.