Loop Health Check visit: is your hearing loop still working?
A flat-fee visit for venues that already have a hearing loop: spot measurements, a short report, and a plan for adding Auracast™ broadcast audio. The fee is credited in full toward any repair or upgrade you book within 90 days.
What the visit is
In one to two hours on site, we take spot measurements of your hearing loop against IEC 60118-4 criteria at representative seats, check the feed, receivers and signs, and send you a short report with a plain verdict. You also get a plan, with a price range, for adding Auracast to the system you already have.
| Visit | Fee |
|---|---|
| Site visit or Loop Health Check visit | $500 |
| Annual check visit for past clients, per building | $500 |
| A first call and a look at your photos are free. One building, usually one or two looped rooms; more rooms or a longer trip are quoted before you book. | |
The visit is $500 within about an hour’s drive of Buffalo Grove, or anywhere on a day we’re already in your area; longer trips are quoted before you book. The full fee comes off the installation, repair or upgrade if you go ahead within 90 days, or within 180 days for grant-funded and board-approved projects when we agree it at booking. So if the visit leads to work, you haven’t paid twice.
Who it’s for
Any venue with a hearing loop, whoever installed it, and venues with aging FM or infrared systems.
- A loop that hasn’t been measured in years, or since it was installed
- Complaints about weak seats, buzzing, or “I can’t hear it anymore”
- New flooring, a new ceiling, new lighting or a sound system change since the loop went in
- Members, residents or patrons asking about Auracast
- FM or infrared systems near the end of their life
- Past clients due for a yearly check
Loop problems can go unnoticed for a long time, because people who can’t hear the loop often stop using it rather than complain. A short visit tells you where you stand.
What we do on site (about 1–2 hours)
- Loop wire
- Seat we measure
- Numbered stop (see list)
In plain English: we check the driver and feed, take readings at a handful of seats, measure the room’s own noise, listen, and count your receivers and signs.
- Driver and feed. We check the loop driver’s settings, status lights and output, and confirm the mixer is sending it a clean speech mix.
- Spot readings at representative seats. With a field-strength meter at listening height (about 4 ft seated), we read field strength against the IEC 60118-4 reference of 400 mA/m and the response at 100 Hz, 1 kHz and 5 kHz: front, middle, back, sides, and wherever people have complained.
- Background noise. With the loop off, we measure the magnetic hum the room itself makes, the noise a telecoil hears whether the loop is on or not.
- A listening check. We listen on a receiver in the seats, because a meter can’t tell you whether the feed sounds like clear speech.
- Signs and receivers. We count your loan receivers and neckloops against the 2010 ADA Standards for your seating, and check the signs. (You can work out your receiver count here.) For the Auracast plan, we note where a transmitter would mount and how it would get its audio.
A health check isn’t a commissioning
Spot readings show whether a system is healthy and where to look. A full commissioning maps the whole listening area and documents every reading. If you need that record, here’s how we commission a loop to IEC 60118-4.
What you receive
- A short report: the readings, a plain-language verdict, and any fixes, ranked by value.
- An Auracast add-on plan: a coverage sketch from BroadcastPlan Pro, our Auracast planning software, labeled as a model prediction; the equipment it would take; and a price range. As a guide, adding Auracast to a working loop costs from $2,500, with receivers extra if the ADA count needs them.
A healthy loop and Auracast work well together from the same audio feed, usually with no floor work. Read how adding Auracast to an existing loop works.
How scheduling works
- Photos first. Text or email pictures of the driver (front and back), the mixer or rack, the room, and any drawings or old reports. They tell us what to bring, and sometimes solve the problem before anyone travels.
- Region days. Most of our recent direct work has been in Wisconsin, from Madison to the Milwaukee suburbs, and in central Illinois. A day we’re already in your area puts us in your building on the same terms as a Chicago suburb. We’ll tell you when we’re next in your area. See where we work.
- Around your schedule. We work around services, meetings and performances. For part of the visit we need a quiet room and someone who can turn on the sound system.
What happens next
Your call. The report usually points to one of four outcomes: nothing, because the system is healthy; a small fix, such as a level reset or a reconnected feed; a repair we quote in writing; or an upgrade, such as adding Auracast. There’s no obligation and no pressure. If something is clearly wrong already, see what loop symptoms usually mean.
Questions about the health check visit
Do you check loops other companies installed?
Yes, any brand and any installer. We report what we measure plainly, without running anyone down. If the system is still under the original installer’s warranty, call them first; we’ll tell you if we think that’s the right move.
Is this a full IEC 60118-4 commissioning?
No. Commissioning maps field strength across the whole listening area and documents every reading against IEC 60118-4. The health check takes spot readings at representative seats, enough to tell whether the system is healthy and where any problem lies. If you need the full record, for a new system’s handover or your accessibility records, we offer commissioning as a separate service.
How long does the visit take, and what if we have several rooms?
About one to two hours on site for a typical room. The fee covers one building, usually one or two looped rooms. If you have more rooms, or a large phased array with two drivers, we quote the visit before you book, so you know the price before you pay. The short report and the Auracast plan follow by email after the visit.
What do we need to prepare?
Photos before the visit: the loop driver front and back, the mixer or rack, and the room. Any drawings or old test reports. On the day, access to the rack and someone who can turn the sound system on, a quiet room for part of the visit, and your loan receivers with their charger.
Can we have the loop checked every year?
Yes. Past clients can book an annual check visit, at $500 per building: spot measurements against IEC 60118-4 criteria, an Auracast walk test where there is one, and a receiver and battery check. Floors, ceilings, lighting and sound systems change around a loop, and a yearly check catches the effect before your listeners do.
Book a health check.
Tell us where the loop is and send a few photos of the driver and the room. You’ll hear back from David within 2 business days with the next region day near you.
- Photos and a description first, free
- We find the cause before anyone replaces anything
- Any brand, any installer