Sound Masking System Components

Sound Masking System Components

Watch the following video presentation to get a quick overview of all key features and functionalities making our sound masking system the most advanced on the market… and the right one for your office.

  System Highlights

  • Network-ready decentralized sound masking system
  • Designed with simplicity, flexibility and scalability in mind
  • Exceeds the requirements of LEED-V4 Acoustic Performance related to sound masking systems
  • Uses high-efficiency amplifiers and electrical components to minimize energy consumption
  • Delivers unrivaled sound masking quality in any type of office layout
 

Sound Masking Tailored to Your Office Environment

No office space is too big or too small to integrate sound masking. Whatever your project size or complexity, we’ll provide you with the right combination of controllers, loudspeakers, volume control hardware accessories and management tools. The resulting sound masking system will be perfectly tailored to your office environment, consistently delivering greater speech privacy and unrivaled acoustic comfort.

Sound Masking Controllers

Our sound masking controllers include all key components required to generate high quality masking sound and achieve optimal speech privacy in any office environment. They can be installed in the plenum space above the ceiling tiles or rack-mounted in your electrical/server room. Controllers can be combined with one another, allowing high flexibility and scalability in the design of either very small or very large sound masking systems. They can be connected over a wired or wireless network, enabling you to easily manage them from wherever you are.

All controllers integrate two of Soft dB’s patented innovations: real-time adaptive volume adjustment based on ambient noise levels in the room, and automated calibration process that guarantees the best sound masking spectra in any acoustic environment.

Because environmental sustainability matters, all our controllers are designed to keep energy consumption at a bare minimum. They can be put in sleep mode at night, reducing the energy consumption to zero. What’s more, they all integrate safely with your fire alarm systems, your paging and background music systems, as well as Crestron building management systems.

Office spaces dynamic and flexible

ML12 Plenum-Mount 2-Channel Controller

The ML12-2ch is a plenum-mounted controller with a compact form factor ideal for decentralized sound masking systems. It has 2 output channels capable of powering up to 6 speakers each, for a total of 12 speakers. Each channel has its own independent equalizer making it possible to control two separate masking zones independently from one another. What’s more, the ML12 has 2 dedicated auxiliary inputs to integrate your existing paging/background music programs. 

ML24 Plenum-Mount 4-Channel Controller

The ML24-4ch is a plenum-mounted controller with a compact form factor ideal for decentralized sound masking systems. It has 4 output channels capable of powering up to 6 speakers each, for a total of 24 speakers. Each channel has its own independent equalizer making it possible to control four separate masking zones independently from one another. What’s more, the ML24 has enough power and 4 inputs to integrate your paging/background music programs.

ML48 Plenum-Mount 8-Channel Controller

The ML48-8ch is a plenum-mounted controller with a compact form factor ideal for decentralized sound masking systems. It has 8 output channels capable of powering up to 6 speakers each, for a total of 48 speakers. Each channel has its own independent equalizer making it possible to control eight separate masking zones independently from one another. The ML48 has plenty of power and 4 auxiliary inputs to integrate your paging/background music programs.

RL96 Rack-Mount 8-Channel Controller

The RL96 is a rack-mount sound masking controller that delivers a whole new level of acoustic performance in a sleek 1U compact footprint. Specially tailored to office spaces above 5000 square feet, this powerful controller has 8 output channels capable of powering up to 12 speakers each, for a total of 96 speakers. Each channel has its own independent equalizer making it possible to control eight separate masking zones independently from one another. Many controller units can be networked together to achieve large, highly flexible sound masking installations across one or multiple office floors. The RL96 controller also comes with a built-in touch screen interface that gives you the convenience to quickly adjust both sound masking and paging/background music volume on the spot, as well as choose from a selection of preset equalizer settings for each zone.

RLCTL2 Rack-Mount 8-Channel Controller

The RLCTL2 is essentially a RL96 controller but without amplifying power of its own. It’s therefore meant to be paired with an external power amplifier of your choice. The RLCTL2 lets you take full advantage of every feature the RL96 has to offer, including the networking capability and built-in touchscreen for quick volume or equalization adjustments, while giving you the ability to drive a lot more loudspeakers with a single power amplifying unit. With the right amount of external amplifying power, the RLCTL2 can drive up to 75 loudspeakers per channel. That’s a total of 600 loudspeakers driven by a single controller unit.

Office spaces compact and manageable

CMS-II Compact Sound Masking System

The CMS-II is a complete sound masking system packed with advanced technologies yet very simple to use with its touch screen interface. Tailored for small and medium offices of approximately 5,000 ft² (465 m²) or less, the CMS-II provides optimum sound masking performance at a reasonable price. The CMS-II works with our complete range of sound masking speakers therefore allowing this full-featured system to be installed in virtually any type of office layout, regardless of ceiling type: open-plan offices, closed offices or conference rooms with exposed ceiling, dropped ceiling, radiant metal ceiling, or even raised access floors.

The CMS-II comes in two versions:

  • CMS-II 1-channel – 1 output channel capable of driving up to 12 loudspeakers.
  • CMS-II 2-channel – 2 output channels allowing you to have two independent sound masking zones covered by up to 12 loudspeakers each.

Sound Masking Speakers

Today’s office space comes in a variety of layouts from open plan concepts to closed offices and hybrid, activity-based workplace (ABW). The modern workspace integrates diverse interior design trends and materials such as exposed ceilings, movable glass walls, sliding doors, skylights, acoustic tiles or clouds, etc.. The right sound masking system needs to seamlessly and gracefully integrate with your existing infrastructures while providing optimal masking sound throughout the day. Having developed the widest selection of sound masking loudspeakers on the market is one of the many things enabling us to generate the optimal masking sound in an almost infinite number of office layouts.

SMS-STR Open Structure Loudspeaker

The SMS-STR loudspeaker is designed to generate the optimum masking sound for a variety of ceiling conditions. It’s typically used in open ceiling configuration but it can also be installed in the plenum space, suspended between the acoustical tiles and the deck. The SMS-STR loudspeaker is available with a Chicago Plenum option to meet City of Chicago Environmental Air (CCEA) regulations. This Chicago-approved version can be installed in any region where building code requires that electrical wires are run through metal conduit.

SMS-DIRECT Directional Loudspeaker

The SMS-DIRECT is a directional sound masking speaker mounted on a U-bracket. It is designed to generate the optimum masking sound for a variety of ceiling conditions. It’s typically used in plenum space in up-firing configuration but it can also be used in down-firing configuration when the plenum is very high.

SMS-SURF4 “Direct Field” Loudspeaker

The SMS-SURF4 is a compact sound masking speaker designed to be flush-mounted on ceiling tiles or drywall ceilings. It’s best suited for offices where the plenum height is limited or when paging/background music functionality is required. The SMS-SURF4 can be powered by a constant voltage amplifier unit of 25 or 70 Volts and many speaker units can be daisy chained to achieve large sound masking installations. The SMS-SURF4 loudspeaker is available with a Chicago Plenum option to meet City of Chicago Environmental Air (CCEA) regulations. This Chicago-approved version can be installed in any region where building code requires that electrical wires are run through metal conduit.

SMS-FLAT Compact Loudspeaker

The SMS-FLAT compact loudspeaker is designed to generate the optimum masking sound in tight spaces where more standard loudspeakers wouldn’t fit. Equipped with two drivers in dipole configuration, the SMS-FLAT delivers great acoustic performance in a very compact form factor.

SMS-HDN Hidden Loudspeaker

The SMS-HDN hidden speaker provides an innovative alternative to surface speakers to obtain uniform sound masking, clear paging and background music without any compromise on the esthetic of the ceiling. Hidden within the plenum, mounted to the back of suspended ceiling tiles or gypsum board drop ceilings, the SMS-HDN converts these surfaces into large sound masking loudspeakers that generate a remarkably diffuse and clear sound field that’s ideal for sound masking.

SMS-VIBX Vibration Loudspeaker

Hidden within the plenum and mounted to the back of suspended ceiling tiles or gypsum board drop ceilings, the SMS-VIBX sound masking speaker converts ceiling surfaces into large loudspeakers, providing an impressively diffuse and clear sound field. It provides an innovative alternative to surface speakers to obtain uniform sound masking without any compromise on the esthetic of the ceiling.

Volume Control Sensors & Accessories

At its most basic, a sound masking system is composed of loudspeakers, installed in a grid-like pattern in the ceiling or under raised access floors, and controllers that drive those loudspeakers’ output. But why settle for basic when your office space isn’t? Like most of today’s office spaces, yours is likely a dynamic environment where ambient noise and the amount of distractions vary constantly throughout the day. To be truly effective, sound masking must seamlessly increase as the office gets busier and become more subtle as things go quieter: our active volume control sensors make this possible. And to ensure optimal usability of your sound masking system, how about being able to manually adjust the volume in key office areas? We have touchscreen wall mounted control panels and volume knobs that make fine-tuning sound masking to your taste quick and easy.

SMS-CTP Centralized Control Panel

The SMS-CTP is a sleek, wall-mounted control panel that makes it easy to adjust the volume of individual zones within one or many sound masking systems, through its user-friendly, 7-inch touchscreen interface.

SMS-SEN Active Volume Control Sensor

Our networked sound masking system is the only one capable of automatically adjusting the masking volume based on the room’s ambient noise level which fluctuates unpredictably throughout the day. Installed in the office ceiling, our SMS-SEN active volume control sensors identify variations in ambient noise in real-time and, thanks to our advanced signal processing technology, enable our controllers to automatically adjust the masking volume based on the intensity of conversations and other noisy distractions across the office space.

SMS-SKVC Speaker Volume Control Knob

In some applications, it may be useful to have a volume control knob directly on the speaker line. The SMS-SKVC in-wall rotary volume control knob allows office users to quickly adjust the sound masking volume for each speaker line or for select subsections within a specific masking zone.

SMS-ZNVC Zone Volume Control Knob

The SMS-ZNVC in-wall rotary volume control knob can be connected to any of our sound masking controllers in order to enable office users to quickly adjust the masking volume, as well as background music or paging volume, for specific individual zones or groups of zones.

Management Software & Volume Control Applications

The perfect sound masking system not only provides more privacy and acoustic comfort for office workers.

With modern technology, the remote operation of the system is optimally managed through interactive controls and visually rich graphical interfaces. Being able to adjust the volume of sound masking and/or background music in a particular office space can be set for authorized users. Also, setting volume levels to automatically increase or decrease at the beginning or end of the day is a simple process.No matter how large or small the sound masking system is, it must be centrally and remotely manageable with all key components and parameters at your fingertips.

Sound Masking Project Manager Software

Do you like to keep it simple? We do. Our smartSMS-NET Project Manager Software integrates the design, zoning, calibration and day-to-day operation of your sound masking project in one convenient place. No matter how large and complex your sound masking installation, with our software our engineers are able to easily view, operate and adjust each, SMS-Net unit, sensor or group of speakers through a simple graphical user interface.

This full-featured software is compatible with Microsoft Windows-based computers, laptops and tablets and is designed to take advantage of the interactive touch screen (Touchscreen), making the management of a sound masking project even more intuitive.

  • Quickly adjust controllers, speakers, zones and wiring diagrams based on the new office layout
  • Perform periodic system monitoring and self-diagnostics
  • Lock down the project and convert it into a simple control panel for the authorized users for any volume adjustments.

Design your office layout

Our designer imports your office plan in PDF, JPG, BMP or PNG format, scales it, divides it into zones and visually builds your sound masking system by placing controllers, speakers, sensors, volume buttons, aux input and wiring diagram directly over your office layout. The software then analyzes each office zone for proper sound masking coverage.

Unique calibration of your entire system

All zones of your sound masking system are individually calibrated based on the sound masking spectrum chosen by the sound masking technician, taking into account the acoustic values and background noise level of each zone. This ensures that the masking sound is perfectly tuned per zone.

Volume adjustments by zone

After your project is locked, authorized users have limited access to basic volume control settings for masking and background music for specific office zones.

Mobile Volume Application

Carry your own volume control with you at all times. Our user-friendly mobile app makes it easy to adjust masking, paging and background music volume, for any specific zone within your office, straight from your Android or Apple smartphone.

 

USB Volume Control Application

Adjusting the sound masking, paging and background music volume of your smartSMS-NET system can be done by simply connecting any Soft dB controller to your computer’s USB port. The application automatically detects the connected controller and lets you control the volume using its user-friendly graphical interface.


Need Help With Your Sound Masking Project?

Our advanced sound masking technology will help you increase productivity in your workspace by reducing noisy distractions and providing opportunities for privacy and focus. A comfortable office positively impacts employee mood, drive and performance.