by Andrew Bellavia
Phone in hand, I press the start button. After a moment of silence, my ears are caressed by a gentle passage performed by the New York Philharmonic. In the background, I can hear pages turning and small rustling noises. I can perceive the width of the stage and where orchestra sections are located. It sounds like the Philharmonic is in my library, playing just for me.
I am not streaming a hi-res recording. I am at a live rehearsal in David Geffen Hall, and I am in the farthest seat from the stage. I am listening to Auracast. It’s going to be a great night.
The Road to Readiness
Miranda Hoffner
The path to that night was a long time coming. Miranda Hoffner, Director of Accessibility at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, explained that both the HLAA chapter in New York and composer Richard Einhorn had been advising them for a long time on hearing issues, training their front-of-house staff, and educating them on Auracast.
It was Richard’s composition that was performed at GN Hearing’s initial trial back in November 2024. At that time, commercial Auracast equipment was not even available, and the ReSound app was still in beta. Even so, the promise of Auracast for enhancing the concert-going experience was obvious, as I wrote at the time. Miranda and her team began educating themselves on Auracast and its implementation.
GN Hearing has been an early supporter of Auracast technology in hearing care, including its integration into ReSound hearing aids beginning with the launch of ReSound Nexia in 2024.
Rudy Rodriguez, Technical Director for the event production team, had spent the last several years working hard to squeeze the best possible sound quality out of their existing hearing loop. Early on, he told Miranda, “I think there’s ways we can make [the loop] incrementally better, but in terms of it sounding crisp and clear, it’s never going to be that way. The hearing loop technology is just not that.”
Rudy and Miranda wanted something better for all their patrons. The earlier Auracast trial pointed the way.
Up and Running in No Time
Fast forward to March of this year. Jill Mecklenburger, AuD, Megan Quilter, AuD, and Gregoire Yeche, AuD — R&D Audiologists at GN Hearing — had been collaborating with Miranda and others at Lincoln Center on a professional installation. The stars aligned, and I was invited to bring my Listen Tech Auri demo kit for a pro-level trial.
The Auri transmitter was placed behind the acoustic panels in the ceiling above the stage. Photo credit: Author
The first test would be when the venue was empty. We discussed potential locations for the transmitter and settled on a spot above the stage, behind the acoustic panels where audio feeds and the internal network already existed. The ideal location would have been closer to the center of the hall, but this was most convenient for the trial.
Stereo audio was delivered from the sound studio, and the transmitter was accessed via the venue’s network. I set the transmitter power, audio input level, and blocked out the channels being used by their WiFi system to prevent interference.
It was surprising how easy the installation was, even in a venue like David Geffen Hall, thanks to Rudy and the stagehands. As Rudy described it afterward, “We were set up in like 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and we had blocked out four hours just in case anything went wrong,” adding, “and you still had time to scan the frequencies and cut out the ones where our WiFi is, which would make our IT team cry a happy tear.”
We piped in pre-recorded music to check the sound and signal quality throughout the hall. Everything performed well, with no interference and the weakest signal level in the house falling on the edge between “good” and “fair.”
One Chance to Get It Right
The trial having succeeded with flying colors, Jill and Megan finalized plans with Lincoln Center for a one night live concert experience with invited guests scattered among regular patrons. The date was set for April 8.
Because Philharmonic concerts are purely acoustic, without amplification or speakers, we chose to check the Auracast sound during the dress rehearsal that morning. That would leave little time to correct any issues. It was make or break.
Above the stage there is an excellent array of overhead microphones used to provide sound for the free listening area in the entrance lobby, record concerts for sale, and support the hearing loop. That turned out to be a key advantage. Given the subtlety and complexity of classical music, high-quality microphones properly placed are essential, especially when there isn’t a mixer or amplifier to correct imbalances.
It took about a half hour to get the audio levels just right. The final settings called for sufficient volume to perceive the softest passages, with automatic gain control (AGC) enabled to prevent the loudest passages from overloading the system. Gregoire Yeche, AuD, who is also a part-time recording engineer, was a tremendous help. While I sat at my computer listening and making adjustments, he was in the seats texting his impressions. Together, we got it just right.
Rudy Rodriguez
What I didn’t realize right away was that several members of the production and technical staff were also listening through the Auri receivers. Rudy told me that “all my colleagues are teams-ing me like, ‘This sounds awesome!’”
As Miranda put it, “I forgot that I was listening to an assistive tech receiver. It felt as though I was very much in the room listening to the music, which is really cool.” Rudy added that “it felt like you were not only in the room 100%, but it almost feels like you’re on stage with the musicians, as opposed to just in a chair.”
The microphone array combined with Auracast sound quality delivered a truly excellent listening experience.
Show Time
Lincoln Center graciously gave GN a table to greet guests, who were primarily local hearing aid wearers fitted with ReSound Vivia devices if they didn’t already have Auracast-capable hearing technology. For those who were not wearing hearing devices, we had Auri receivers available, along with Sennheiser earbuds provided by the Bluetooth SIG. Richard Einhorn was there, along with several key opinion leaders and members of the media.
Holly Cohen
I also tried the hearing loop, and it was fine for what it was intended to do. But there was a low-level hiss perceptible during the quietest passages. The music’s upper registers were beyond the loop’s bandwidth, reducing the quality of the stream. As a mono transmission, the width of the performance collapsed and the feeling of a live performance was diminished.
For those accustomed to using the loop, it was certainly better than nothing. But the true value of Auracast became clear. Any person — whether hearing impaired or not — could sit in the back row and experience the same intimacy as someone seated near the front.
Striving for Excellence
Lincoln Center is deeply committed to creating an inclusive listening experience. People can walk in off the street and sit in the main lobby seating area to watch and listen. They offer “choose what you pay” programs and audio-described performances. Most importantly, they want everyone to enjoy concerts to the greatest extent possible.
As Miranda explained, “We want people with hearing loss to be able to sit next to people that they love that don’t have hearing loss and have an equitable experience. So we really deeply care about everyone being able to access the arts.”
Rudy was equally thoughtful, taking seriously his role in trying “to make use of a growing number of technological options that are accommodating people who perceive the world differently.”
With Auracast, their goals are more attainable than ever.
About the Author
Andrew Bellavia is the Founder of AuraFuturity. He has experience in international sales, marketing, product management, and general management. Audio has been both of abiding interest and a market he served professionally in these roles. Andrew has been deeply embedded in the hearables space since the beginning and is recognized as a thought leader in the convergence of hearables and hearing health. He has been a strong advocate for hearing care innovation and accessibility, work made more personal when he faced his own hearing loss and sought treatment. All these skills and experiences are brought to bear at AuraFuturity, providing go-to-market, branding, and content services to the dynamic and growing hearables and hearing health spaces.
Featured image credit: Merkle’s Commercial Photography, Inc.
