Rave Pubs Interview with Lou Mannarino, Founder & Audio Designer of 1 SOUND

rAVe [PUBS]: Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do at 1 Sound.

LOU MANNARINO: My life’s career as an audio engineer for artists from Paul McCartney and Jay-Z to working with the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, amongst many other experiences, has led me to create 1 Sound. We started 1 Sound after I created my first loudspeaker, the Panorama featuring Mono + Stereo Technology. 1 SOUND has enabled me to create the loudspeakers I have been dreaming about over my past 40 year-plus career in audio.

rAVe [PUBS]: How does your company approach product development and innovation to ensure your audio solutions remain at the forefront of technology?

LM: For us, I approach everything with a true sense of “What is it like for the people in the field?” — the audio designers, live engineers, installers, architects and even the people who work in the venues and need to clean around the loudspeakers! We are not driven by being at the forefront of technology, we are driven by audio professionals and their needs in their work, and by our passion for audio and creating the best outcome for a human-centered experience.

Having lived it and getting to prioritize our clients’ experiences, we take that into consideration when we make new loudspeakers. Each speaker design starts with an idea to solve a need and from there, we develop thinking in the mindset of the users and how they will experience this loudspeaker. And of course, the sound and build quality of each loudspeaker is paramount in making sure the loudspeaker performs with premium clarity and fits into what now can be considered as 1 SOUND’s signature sound.

rAVe [PUBS]: In what ways do you prioritize user experience and ease of integration for ProAV professionals when designing your audio equipment?

LM: As I mentioned, it is huge for us to keep in mind the user experience of every person that will come in contact with a 1 SOUND loudspeaker and also with 1 Sound as a brand. Our accessories sometimes take longer to design and get right than a loudspeaker, because we aim to make installations easier for the person on the ladder.

A huge value of 1 SOUND for audio professionals is our Custom Shop and the fact that we listen to our customers. We have had a time or two where an integrator comes to us with a problem saying, “Hey, the wall that I was going to mount the speakers to is actually all glass. What do I do?”.  And we responded by designing and producing custom rigging accessories for their project in a week’s time. That story is actually how we ended up adding a new accessory to our catalog! So we mean it when we tell people that we want to hear your pain points or needs when it comes to audio integration and we will respond.

rAVe [PUBS]: What is the greatest challenge audio professionals currently face and why?

LM: Each day, audio is changing to be completely integrated with IT — audio amplifiers, running audio chain, using Dante and specific other devices. In terms of integrating in the global landscape and audio over IP, seasoned audio engineers and audio-over-IP specialists have pain points, particularly with the needs of audio engineers with respect to dynamic range and the criteria of a sound guy who has to implement both live shows, whether in a permanent install or not in a permanent install. So there’s a disconnect between live sound and audio-over-IP. Although it appears that they have merged currently, they have not merged seamlessly. And it seems to be the weakest link in our industry’s consistent delivery of audience expectations.

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rAVe [PUBS]: In your opinion, what is the number one trend shaping the future of pro audio right now and how is 1 Sound positioned to capitalize on this trend?

LM: We believe a current trend is thinking about noise pollution, how a loudspeaker reacts in an environment, etc. We are trying to help with rooms that may not be acoustically treated or rooms that are not optimally treated. 1 SOUND specializes in noise pollution that loudspeakers create by their own deployment. We naturally have a focus on designing products that specialize in their coherency and what it does both on- and off-axis.

Another idea we are focusing on is how to integrate audio into a landscape in a meaningful way across industries. We feel there is a disconnect between architectural engineers and audio designers and manufacturers that we are not necessarily communicating on the same level. We do our best to foster communication between all the stakeholders when we can. We do this also by offering a Custom Shop Concierge service as a way for architectural or interior designers to feel more comfortable and more heard when it comes to integrating audio into their designing.

rAVe [PUBS]: What are some new audio initiatives or innovations coming up from 1 Sound?

LM: 1 SOUND has already positioned itself in responding to the market by having custom almost everything — literally in a week to two weeks’ time. We have set our whole infrastructure to accommodate the needs of the industry and architects. That is something that we have already instituted.

Our new initiative is to have a more robust communication network between us and our dealers so we can have a consistent ability to train and educate around — not just our products, but audio designing and even design criteria. We also aim to be able to do this more fluidly and positively with ever-changing audio integrators, engineers and audio-over-IP companies. Our goal is to help bridge this divide through hands-on communication and training.

rAVe [PUBS]: Anything else you’d like to add?

LM: We are very excited about two new loudspeakers that we have just released. One of which is a game-changer as it is a new take on a point source installation loudspeaker. The Level L38 is a flush-mounted, full range 3-way loudspeaker that has a rotatable progressive horn and passive cardioid behavior. The L38 sounds clear and impactful with a full bandwidth down to 65 hz. It has a max SPL of 130 dB so we are excited to see it performing in theaters as under balcony loudspeakers or in hospitality applications or high-energy lounges for example. This is a discreet loudspeaker that can blend into a wall and perform as a system capable of higher SPL. The Level in addition to our new Cardioid Monitor CM38 are our two new loudspeakers that we are excited to see people gravitating towards.

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