Directional speakers

Kitman

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Not sure if anyone has every had a play with Directional speakers before or knows much about them, but I have been looking into the posibility of using something like http://www.soundlazer.com/ or http://hypersound.com/products.php something like these.


It seems like it could be a good way to mount some speakers in your yard and Direct the sound exactly where you want it, so no more Radio broadcasting, which means no more having to worry about laws around broadcasting and as they are directional you wouldn't hear the music in your own house every night and if you mount them correctly it also won't be heard by the neighbours so no noise complaints, also you can sort of keep visitors where you want them out of your yard cause as soon as they come too far in the music would stop.


The only down side is that they have no or very little bass as they are using ultrasound to send out the sound signal which is too high for human ears to hear right up until the moment that they hit an object which helps to combine the ultrasound to produce the actual sound. Apparently this is also bad for your ears if you listen to it for too long lol.


Just something I was looking at and thought maybe someone out there had seen them around, maybe even had a play with some and can give some honest feedback, I did find some that were a reasonable price http://www.flattspeakers.com/index.php but then others were around the $5,000 mark, I am certainly not that keen.
 

AAH

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Having any directional speakers will limit the audience. If they are low volume directional speakers then all of the people in cars sitting in air conditioned comfort won't hear a thing when they look at the apparently randomly flashing lights. Having a low level of audio at the edge of your property will cater for walk ins while radio transmission really is the only way that the audio will be heard inside cars.
 

Kitman

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Generally when I go driving around looking at lights I tend to roll my windows down lol, only because I have tinted windows and I like to look at the lights with an undiluted view hahaha, however yes you are right some people would drive past without winding there windows down, however some people might also not bother to tune in to the station you are broadcasting on, too hard lol.


They could compliment each other that is for sure, have the radio broadcast and the directional speakers, however I have no idea how they even sound lol and if they would even be any good. Just something I was looking at, you know throw it against the wall see if it sticks kind of idea. It's how we sometimes come up with good ideas in this hobby / addiction.
 

fasteddy

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Music when it is heard in a car has a much greater effect due to the surround immersive sound they hear and so the experience is far greater than just having speakers, or directional speakers oat the front of the house.
If you have concern about laws on broadcasting then you can still broadcast and stay within the laws as long as you use a 10uW transmitter. There are also ways to extend this signal so it can get far enough if needed and still stay within the law.

But its very rare that anyone gets a visit from the men in black if they use their transmitter responsibly and only use it during shows, don't advertise or use offensive language and don't transmit for miles around or over any other stations. And if you did get a visit the worst you would get is to be told to comply, its only after you have been told and then don't comply that you may get into some trouble.

If you are that worried about music then dump the music altogether and just have great effects instead, because what's the use of spending all that effort sequencing to music to only get a very limited area where sound can be heard
 

Klanook

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Jan 31, 2012
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I have one of these.
They would not be appropriate for the audience to listen to the music your broadcast for your show.
They are extremely thin sounding, and quite unpleasant to listen to.
They are dangerous to if pointed directly at a person or animal.
They are designed to make the sound shift around bouncing off of wall- a job to which they are very well suited.
They also emit a constant high pitch wine which will dive any child, dog or sound technician with any hearing left mad.

Now if you were to attach one to a moving head light and use it in a halloween display making sound appear behind people or move around that could be a different story, but I would still want a relay turning them off between when sound cue played.

Hope this helps.
 

Kitman

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Hey Klanook,


Thanks for the response, I was hoping that someone had used or heard these types of speakers in operation and could give me an honest opinion of their use in a display.


I had read some of the points you were referring to especially being dangerous to people and animals for long periods of time. However wasn't aware that they constantly emit a high pitch noise that is audible to some people, was under the impression it was outside of normal human hearing.


I did read that they had no bass but it wasn't really explained how thin they sound, but by your comment they are really only good for speech and nothing else.


I will chalk this up to an idea that won't work and move along lol.


Thanks all for your comments. I am not too concerned with the laws lol and that wasn't the reason I was asking I just want everyone to be able to enjoy the show either driving or walking past and thought these would work as speakers in the front garden, but they won't so I will just go with normal outdoor speakers.
 

multicast

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Live in the country, where your nearest neighbor is more than 1km away, and just crank up the volume!! BOOM BOOM, its all about the bass.
 

AAH

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My nearest neighbour is 100m away so I crank up the bass somewhat. When the wind is right my music has been known to be heard nearly 1km away :D

From my understanding of directional speakers is that they modulate the audible audio onto an ultrasonic carrier frequency. It uses the physics of diffraction which means that higher frequencies don't radiate in all directions like low frequencies do.
 
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