Auracast at Marriott Theatre — Audience Reactions and a Behind the Scenes Look

Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, and welcome to This Week in Hearing from the Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire, Illinois, northwest of Chicago. The Marriott Theater has been in operation for about 50 years. It’s a well-known theater regionally. When I was a kid, my parents would take us here for the children’s shows. Now I’m here for something completely different, to celebrate the launch of Auracast. Like they did at the Sydney Opera House launch, ReSound invited people with and without hearing loss to enjoy the show and experience Auracast for the very first time. We’re gonna hear impressions from them tonight. In some ways, the Sydney Opera House launch was seminal because it’s a world-class music venue. However, I think in other ways, the Marriott Theatre choosing Auracast is even more important. In Chicago, there are hundreds of such theaters. Theater’s very popular in Chicago area, and the Marriott is showing how adding Auracast can improve the experience for a whole new class of people, including those who may not even have hearing aids. We’ll hear from theater personnel on how the installation went and why they chose Auracast on top of their loop.

Speaker 2: … and anyway, it was great. And like Marianne, the music was… I felt like I could hear like, from a long time ago. I thought it was awesome. And I could hear most of the words that were being said and/or the lyrics. So it was a real wonderful, positive experience for me. I’m so happy to have been invited.

Speaker 3: We invited a few dozen people who wear hearing aids and their partners or guests who might have normal hearing, and they can all experience this technology because we have earbuds and headsets for people with normal hearing as well.

Speaker 4: I am extremely happy that the Marriott has installed this. I am a seasoned subscriber and this was obviously the first time that I had an opportunity to experience a performance with the, the Auracast and it was phenomenal.

Speaker 1: Well, thank you, Liz. I really appreciate you joining me. This is very exciting, the launch of Auracast at the Marriott Theater. Congratulations for that.

Speaker 5: Thanks. We’re very excited to launch this.

Speaker 1: Now, you’ve had a loop for some time. How long have you actually had the loop?

Speaker 5: We’ve had a loop for probably over a decade. We were one of the first in our area to get that system at that time.

Speaker 1: And how was the reception when you installed the loop way back then?

Speaker 5: We were super excited to get it. It was, you know, one of the newer technologies helping our patrons to be able to hear everything in the space was huge for us. So we were really, really excited to get that.

Speaker 1: So you were really forward-thinking back then, because if you go back to that time period, 10 or 20 years, loops were very rare. Most people are using radio-based FM systems. And so many people are embarrassed to go ask for the receiver, but here they could just direct tap in if they had a, you know, a compatible hearing right, with the T-coil hearing aid. So it was very exciting at that time. You were very forward-thinking. And of course, now you’ve repeated it. You’ve gone to the next level, retaining the loop, but reaching an entire new audience with Auracast. What led you to decide to employ Auracast on top of your loop? How did you view it?

Speaker 5: Well, it was just a great opportunity to just, you know, advance technology to make it easier for our patrons to connect to a system that’ll allow them to help hear the music and the show live in the space.

Speaker 4: You can hear the performers a lot better, the distinct speech.

Speaker 1: Well, one of the really cool things about Auracast is that there’s so many different kinds of earbuds that work with it now too. And so, I, I really like it and I’m really happy that you installed it on top of the loop as well so that people who don’t wear hearing aids can also take advantage of the system.

Speaker 5: Yeah, I think a lot of people will be really excited that this will be available to them. And yeah, like you said, all different devices that can connect, it’ll be very nice and easier hopefully for people to connect.

Speaker 1: Well, as a person who has hearing loss in addition to being in this industry, I very much appreciate how the Marriott approaches this. And I think it makes good business sense too, because the more people who have a better experience, the more likely they are to come. So thank you and congratulations again.

Speaker 5: Yeah. Thank you.

Speaker 6: It’s actually a new birth. It really is coming back into what you used to experience normally. And I honestly It’s encouraged me now to attend things and listen to music, you know, with this technology when it’s available because it’s like, here it is. Okay. Here it is.

Speaker 1: Thanks a lot for joining me, John. I know you’ve got a show to set up for, so I really appreciate you spending a little bit of time with me.

Speaker 7: Absolutely.

Speaker 1: Let’s talk about the process by which you installed Auracast. Now, you were interested at, very early stage and you did some experimentation in the beginning. Like, what drove you to do that in the first place? What made you think of doing it?

Speaker 7: So we had a patron approach us approach me at the end of one of our shows. And as you know, hearing aid technology involves… evolves quite quickly nowadays. Someone asked us, “Do you guys support Auracast at all?” And we said, “Ma’am, I gotta be honest with you, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” And she said, “Well, you should look into that.”And so, lo and behold, I end my day, I go home, I eat my dinner, and then I go ahead and look it up, and I see that this is the future without a shadow of a doubt. Did some brief research, looked at a potential solution for us, brought into the space, and just to see what everyone’s talking about really and discovered, oh my gosh, this is, this is it. This is where the future and where it belongs right here. Then I got into communication with you actually, after you approached me by email after a show and told me, “John, you can actually do a whole lot better than what you got.” And I said, “I can’t believe that, so let’s work together and figure that out for ourselves.” And then lo and behold, we got the very lovely ListenTECH transmitter and like clockwork, it’s now the absolute standard for us here moving forward.

Speaker 1: And, you know, it’s funny because you’d mentioned I wrote to you about the whole thing, and like, to be perfectly fair, it’s not entirely clear, right? what is out there is very new at the time.

Speaker 7: Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1: Kudos for you responding to a patron’s request. You’re actually in very good company because when I went to the launch at the Sydney Opera House I asked one of the people there why did they install Auracast also on top of a loop.

Speaker 7: Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: And they told me the same thing. They said that our patrons were asking about it. And so, again, kudos for taking that patron input and going forward with it.

Speaker 7: Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: And how is the setup today? You know, how many transmitters do you have? Where are they located? Tell me about it.

Speaker 7: So currently, we have one transmitter that covers the entirety of the theater space. It also extends to both of our lobbies our entryway, our minibar area, our box office, and partway to our restrooms. And so patrons have the ability to leave the vicinity of the theater, where they previously couldn’t, and still be a part of the performance in some tangible way, which is super critical for folks that don’t necessarily have control over their situation. They can still be a part of the moment without being present for it.

Speaker 1: Very nice. And it, and it’s worth pointing out that where the transmitter is, is on the wall opposite the lobby

Speaker 7: Absolutely.

Speaker 1: so the backside of the transmitter is covering your lobby very well.

Speaker 7: Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. And if, you know, if we wanted to, it’s just add another one, add another one from our coverage zone around, and if we really want to, we can. And you click on that, and you’re in. And then you can adjust the the volume of range and you can adjust whether you’re just hearing the the Auracast or whether you’re hearing Auracast plus the surrounding sound. And it’s it’s all extremely easy.

Speaker 1: How hard was it to install?

Speaker 7: Dirt easy, I’ll tell you what. Briefly read over the manual to make sure I wasn’t crazy wired up an XLR, wired up POE, and then lit right up. Was able to interface with it, double check some settings, do some configuration, and like clockwork, it was up and running.

Speaker 1: So I know it’s, you’ve had it running for two, three weeks now before the formal launch in conjunction with the show. Have you had any patron feedback in that short interval?

Speaker 7: No one’s approached me yet, but right after the show is over, I’m usually right up on this deck cleaning up. But the hope is that someone will stop me soon and yell at my face, “This is amazing! Absolutely amazing! Please, do more, do more!” So I’m waiting for that experience happen, and I’m sure it will.

Speaker 6: I got my Cochlear implant 11 years ago, and from that time on music has been flat. Piano, flat. And I told Debbie, I hadn’t connected to the ReSound yet, and she was asked, she she was doing her thing. It’s like… “On.” I said, I don’t get it. I don’t hear it yet.” But then when I connected to Auracast, then said, “Oh, there it is.” This is the first time that I attended a performance where the beat of music was normal, the music sounded I could cry. I mean, it’s like, okay, I’ve arrived now.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 6: … I’m going forward.

Speaker 1: You know, especially now you have the signs up, people know about it, and of course, at at the party, the premier party after this, because thanks to GN ReSound, we’ve got a group of people here to try it in a theater, local Chicago people, for the first time.

Speaker 7: Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1: So I’m sure you’re gonna get lots of feedback after tonight.

Speaker 7: I can’t wait.

Speaker 1: and hopefully, you continue to build a patron base of people who appreciate you having that new technology.

Speaker 7: Oh, yeah. that is what we’re known for, being ahead of the curve, being the best sounding theater in Chicago, and we’re gonna keep maintaining that.

Speaker 1: Well, thank you very much. As I told Liz, I really appreciate the fact that you guys have done it because I’ve gone to a few Auracast facilities before, and the experience is really, really good and it just makes the show that much more enjoyable. So thank you.

Speaker 7: Absolutely. Thank you very much.

Speaker 1: And thank you, Liz, as well.

Speaker 3: Well, it’s so exciting because the Marriott Lincolnshire Theater is the first entertainment venue in the whole Chicago area and one of the first in the country. So I’m really hoping this will be a catalyst for other theaters. You know, Chicago has a great theater district and wonderful theaters and but most of their assistive listening systems are very old and outdated and not very good technology or sound quality. So hopefully, all the other theaters are going to see that the Marriott has it and make the decision that they want to go ahead and get up to date and get on board with this technology.

Speaker 8: So if I was gonna go on an evening out and had my choice of going to some place that had Auracast and some place that didn’t, I would definitely choose the place that had Auracast. Definitely.