AES Visits Shure's Performance Listening Center

Designer Russ Berger addresses group, details genesis of studio and theatre’s features


NILES, IL, June 7, 2007— Almost 70 members of the AES visited Shure’s Performance Listening Center (PLC) to tour the facility and hear Russ Berger, the room’s designer, reveal back-story details about the multipurpose studio’s three-year design and construction process.

 

“Internal acoustics were a top priority here at the PLC,” Berger told the group. “Working within that framework, our goal was to provide a visually appealing space that sounded natural. Parameters that had a direct impact on the acoustics of the room included its dimensions, volumetric relations, and surface finishes.”

 

Officially opened in 2005 as a central component of an ambitious expansion plan bringing an additional 65,000 square feet to Shure world headquarters here in suburban Chicago, the PLC is used to conduct critical listening tests, evaluate product prototypes, and as a space for demonstrations, training, recording sessions, and rehearsals. The room features an evaluation studio and control room, plus a 14-seat critical listening theatre.

 

Berger pointed out to the AES members that the PLC’s bamboo flooring and glass fiber ceiling panels are examples of the dual-purpose materials he chose for their aesthetics and acoustical properties. Located in close proximity to Shure’s tooling and model shops as well as railroad tracks that run adjacent to the building, the PLC was, according to Berger, especially a challenge in terms of noise control.

 

“To overcome external noise and achieve absolute isolation, the PLC had to be designed as a ‘room within a room’,” Berger explained.  “The floors are literally detached from the main structure. The entire facility is on floating slabs and wall framing.”

 

Large enough to accommodate a small band, full drum kit, and baby grand piano, the PLC’s main room is complemented by an isolation booth and control room, which houses recording and playback gear as well as the engineer's and producer's desks. With monitoring provided by three ATC SCM 50 ASL active enclosures falling under the guidance of a Grace Designs m906 5.1 controller, the control room eschews a traditional mixing surface in favor of computer-based functionality incorporating Sony Vegas 6, Sound Forge 8, Steinberg Nuendo 3.1, and Wavelab 5 software. Recording hardware includes a pair of Prism Sound ADA-8Xr eight-channel digital-to-analog converters with Firewire, as well as two Grace Designs m802 eight-channel microphone preamps with remote control, all of which resides in a portable rolling rack.

 

“Hearing Russ Berger speak about his goals for the PLC and the design challenges that his firm faced was very interesting,” said Chicago AES Chair Charles King. “Many of the AES members present had seen the PLC before, but hearing Russ Berger talk about his experiences in the room firsthand provided invaluable insight you can’t get anywhere else.” 

 

Shure has been a sustaining member of AES since 1973, and very active with the local Chicago chapter.

 

About Russ Berger Design Group
Russ Berger Design Group (RBDG) is a design and consulting firm that combines expertise in acoustics, architecture and interiors to create technical environments and buildings for recording studios, broadcast facilities, creative production spaces and home theaters.

 

About AES
The Audio Engineering Society, now in its fifth decade, is the only professional society devoted exclusively to audio technology. Its membership of leading engineers, scientists and other authorities has increased dramatically throughout the world, greatly boosting the society's stature and that of its members in a truly symbiotic relationship.


The AES serves its members, the industry and the public by stimulating and facilitating advances in the constantly changing field of audio. It encourages and disseminates new developments through annual technical meetings and exhibitions of professional equipment, and through the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, the professional archival publication in the audio industry.


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