Athens State University in Alabama recently outfitted nearly 30 classrooms with Nureva HDL300 audio conferencing systems, along with four Dual HDL300 systems for larger conference spaces. Like most colleges and universities across North America and around the world, Athens State needed to work quickly to retrofit classrooms and meeting spaces for a hybrid environment that allowed in-room and remote participants to easily be seen and heard, and to share content. Work began to add technology, such as webcams, large screen interactive displays, document cameras, and audio-conferencing systems—with audio being the biggest challenge. Decision makers at the university tested several systems, from inexpensive ceiling-mounted security microphones to expensive network-based systems.
The HDL300 system was tested in the university’s collaboration classroom alongside competing products, and the team was pleased by its microphone pickup and background noise reduction. Even with a loud projector fan just 12 inches from where the system was installed, it produced clean, hiss-free output at the remote end. Having adopted the HDL300 system, Athens State is now providing the full-room microphone coverage needed to meet the university’s in-class physical distancing requirements while enabling remote students to consistently hear every word and feel engaged in every class.
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The HDL300 is powered by Microphone Mist technology, which fills a room with thousands of virtual microphones that represent individual audio pickup points. Advanced processing power listens to each virtual microphone simultaneously and zeros in on the desirable sounds, optimizing them for clear conversations. For professors and lecturers, lapel and podium mics are never needed, giving them freedom from the constraints and potential complications of conventional audio-conferencing solutions. For IT and AV support staff, the system’s continuous autocalibration provides optimal performance no matter how the classroom is configured or how many times the configuration changes.
“Nureva’s noise elimination algorithm is vastly superior to all the other products we tested; it doesn’t pick up unwanted noise and voices are very clear from anywhere in the room,” said David Walker, Athens State University’s director, teaching and learning innovation services. “The HDL300 is the only system we’ve found that virtually eliminates processing and background fan noise. Other systems we tested also took all day to set up and required the purchase of additional equipment. But Nureva’s HDL300 system came with everything we needed, and the set up was just 20 minutes.”
