Learn
Practical guides from people who install and commission loops. Every article lists its sources and the date it was last reviewed.
What a hearing loop is, how it reaches the listener, and how it compares with other assistive listening systems.
A hearing loop turns a venue's audio into a magnetic field that telecoils in hearing aids and cochlear implant processors pick up directly. Here is how it works, what each part does and where loops serve listeners best.
Each assistive listening system serves listeners differently. A practical comparison for installers, including when a loop and Auracast work well together.
The step-by-step method, the layouts and the choices that decide how even the field is.
The whole design method in order, from the site visit to handover, with links to a guide for each step.
When a single perimeter loop cannot keep the field even, a phased array can. How arrays work, when to choose one, and how they are laid out and installed.
A loop's field does not stop at the wall. When that matters for neighboring loops, private rooms and the floors above and below, and the layouts and site checks that keep it in check.
Field strength is planned and measured where the listener's head is, not at the floor. The usual heights, what changes them, and how to measure at them.
What the building does to the loop, and what to find out on site before you design.
Metal in the building takes energy from the loop's field, most of all from the treble that carries consonants. What causes it, how to spot it and how to plan for it.
What to look at, measure and ask on the site visit, so the loop design starts from what is really in the building.
Drivers, conductors and the numbers that decide whether the high frequencies hold up.
A driver needs enough current to reach the field strength and enough voltage to hold that current at high frequencies. How to work out both, with a worked example.
The conductor decides how a loop is installed more than how it performs. Where round wire and copper tape each fit, what they do to the driver's load, and why the feeder matters.
IEC 60118-4 in our own words, and how an installed loop is measured and recorded.
The numbers behind loop design, in our own words: the 400 mA/m reference, the ±3 dB band across the listening area and the 100 Hz to 5 kHz frequency-response target, with worked examples.
Commissioning is where the installed loop is measured, adjusted and written up for the venue. The steps in the order most installers work, with example readings and what belongs in the record.
We write for the person who has to make the loop work: the installer, the integrator and the consultant who specifies it.
Plan it before the wire goes down
Hearing Loop Designer lays out the loop, models field strength and frequency response, plans for metal loss and sizes the driver. Installed performance is confirmed by commissioning.