As a number of you will no doubt agree, when looking to add audio playback to an outdoor space, one of the first tasks is also one of the most important. That is, to reset and recalibrate the client’s expectations. Many people’s idea of outdoor audio will be defined by the act of moving a Bluetooth speaker out of the house, plonking it down on a table in the garden and pressing play on their phone. With the performance bar set at such a low level, there is huge scope for raising your clients’ eyebrows, improving their entertainment options and having them gladly increasing their proposed installation budgets.

The wide choice of products now available allows us to design systems that offer a wide range of performance; from incredibly smooth and open-sounding background music, distributed at appropriate volume levels around the client’s outdoor space, to all the way up to installations that can emulate Glastonbury’s main stage system - should that be the desired result! Only a tiny minority of people will have experienced the levels of fidelity and scale of output that is possible outside. The majority are unlikely to have any reason to even envision what is possible.

Hence, demonstrations become invaluable. We can enthuse about how well systems perform until we’re blue in the face, but it’s nigh-on impossible to truly imagine how amazing things can sound – especially when the commonly-perceived benchmark for home outdoor audio is so low.

If the performance bar for what can be achieved is raised substantially, clients become much more engaged with possibilities that relate to their lives. Investments in outdoor spaces can be massive; people love the idea of entertaining into the evening: drinks parties, barbeques, pool parties, private DJs and even outdoor cinemas. All of these, and more, are possible – but only if the client feels it’s worthwhile. A real-world experience can unlock resistance, not just to the financial outlay, but also to the potential upheaval of having work carried out.

As distributors with demonstration systems at our HQ, here at DbM we’re more than happy to host such an experience, or we can team up with you for a site visit to set-up a simple demo for the client to hear.

While audio considerations are front and centre, it’s essential not to underestimate the part played by the control aspects of an installation. With the potential performance we have on tap (i.e. VAST!), controlling how and where audio is directed can make or break the success of a system. By hearing the system out in the elements, your client will appreciate how many speakers and subwoofers may be needed to get even coverage across their spaces, and how we can zone off areas of the property, minimising noise spill. Seeing visually-discrete products ‘in the flesh’ is the best evidence that the system can remain acceptably unobtrusive. Such a meeting provides a great opportunity to understand how the client plans to use their spaces. A few simple questions are likely to unlock information vital to shaping the plans.

“What a stunning space you have. I guess you have lots of friends and family over for parties, don’t you?”
The answer to this can tell you so much. If they say they do, it tells us that we should aim to provide SPLs high enough to accommodate that type of entertainment. If we know they are going to party, let’s design a system that will exceed their expectations.

If, on the other hand, you discover that the main use of the space is for the client and their family to unwind and relax after a week of work, we can acoustically-profile the space to help design a solution that delivers rich, full-range sound at suitably serene, background levels. By ensuring there are no annoying audio hot-spots or dead zones, we can provide carefully-controlled sound coverage over the whole area.

In addition to covering audio performance and control options, a meeting with the client is also a great opportunity to understand how the outdoor space is maintained. Where possible, it can be advantageous to bring the groundskeeping team into the discussions at an early stage. Their input can make a huge difference in how the system is installed. Being sympathetic to the planting scheme, understanding maintenance challenges and, in some instances, even utilising that team to deploy products, can earn the ‘buy-in’ of everyone involved. They all must live with the system, so having everyone on-board is a real step to achieving an installation that does the best job from day one, and continues to keep everyone happy for a long time to come.

Visually discrete products with controlled dispersion and DSP amplification, in-person demonstrations and design service support, all contribute to ensuring you get great audio coverage, high-quality aesthetic design and SPLs to meet your clients’ needs. Get in touch with DbM to find out more about delivering a system that your clients will LOVE.