Eric Ong talks about how the Shure MXA920 takes the manufacturer’s excellent ceiling microphone offering to a whole new level and arms its partners with the flexibility and versatility they require for modern deployments.
Certain products just resonate with the market and the Shure MXA910 ceiling microphone was one of them. If you have been paying any attention to the way the AV industry has progressed in Asia Pacific over the last few years, you will know that the product had become a staple of corporate and education deployments. Not content to rest on its laurels, Shure has launched the next iteration of the ceiling microphone in the shape of the MXA920.
Eric Ong, Director of Sales for Southeast Asia, Shure, says: “The MXA910 was really a perfect fit for the market at the perfect time and I can safely say that it was a very successful product for Shure. It was well received by the market and we’re very proud of how quickly it was adopted by the end users. But at Shure, we were not just content to stop there. We’ve continued to stay engaged with the market, having conversations with our partners and users and using that feedback to improve our technology. We wanted to continue to be relevant and meet the changing demands of our customer, which leads us to the next generation of Shure MXA920.”
Ong elaborates: “One of the key points and feedback that we received, was the fact that our partners wanted flexibility. Meeting spaces are changing and becoming more customised to user needs and that means our partners needed more scalability of application and more flexibility. And this was in both directions, they wanted more options to create more premium meeting experiences as well as something that was simpler, easier, and faster to deploy when complexity was low.”
The MXA920 seeks to address all the aforementioned needs and requirements. Ong details: “While the ‘New Automatic Coverage’ technology simplifies deployment; the Dynamic and Dedicated Coverage Areas capture only the talkers you want, in multiple areas of the room, while avoiding areas you don’t want to cover. In addition, the ‘Next Generation Array Architecture’ enhances directional pick-up, provides improved intelligibility and clarity with more natural speech. These instantly deliver more flexibility and customisation as you can tailor the MXA920 for the meeting space in greater detail.”
He continues: “We’ve incorporated an onboard IntelliMix DSP which includes the processing needed for AEC and noise reduction. This allows for greater tuning and refinement of how the MXA920 performs in a space. And lastly, we have enhanced setup, making it simpler to the point that we can actually provide full room coverage and superior audio capture right out of the box, meaning that the MXA920 comes with plug and play setup.”
The MXA920 will be available for purchase at the same price point as the MXA910. But will integrators need to invest time to learn how to deploy the MXA920?
Ong answers: “To be honest, the best features of the MXA910 are retained in the MXA920. Of course, it is a new product, but it requires minimal training to get up to speed. We are really looking forward to placing the MXA920 in the hands of our partners and seeing the value that they create for end users when it is deployed.”
The MXA920 is available in two form factors (Square and Round) that support design integration into even the most sophisticated facilities and meeting spaces.