DSM Hear Us Now – T-Loop Technology

Posted on January 19th, 2014

DSM Hear Us Now!™
Dallas Summer Musicals Launches T-Loop Technology at the Music Hall at Fair Park!

DSM is the first entertainment venue in Dallas to implement this exciting hearing assist system.

          (December 16, 2013 – Dallas, TX)  Dallas Summer Musicals (DSM) is the first live entertainment venue in Dallas to implement T Loop technology, the newest system for hearing assistance, at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

T Loop is a technology which transmits the sound from the stage electro-magnetically.   The electromagnetic signal is then picked up by the telecoil, or Tcoil, in the hearing aid or cochlear implant.

“This will bring the better quality of T Loop to our patrons who have T Loop on their hearing aids,” said Michael A. Jenkins, President and Managing Director, DSM.  “Part of our overall technology approach goes beyond T Loop by providing DSM’s Hear Us Now!™  sound enhancements to all hearing assist users, not just T Loop users. This ongoing effort encompasses not only the T Loop technology, but everything we’ve done to enhance the sound experience for everyone as well as additional dedicated processing for all hearing assist users.”
Barry Epstein, honorary co-chair of Curtain Call 2014 with his wife, Paddy, is a member of the DSM 2013 Executive Committee, a longtime DSM supporter and is the go-to expert on the sound system improvements at the Music Hall at Fair Park. Barry is the recipient of an Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award, and in 2011, named a Distinguished Alumnus from Purdue University and has served as chairman of Purdue University’s Computer and Electrical Engineering Advisory Board.  His bio is attached.

“Over the past few years we have dramatically improved the sound and acoustics hearing system for everyone, not just the hard of hearing,” Barry said. “Additional improvements for the hearing assist systems have included syllable by syllable volume adjustment, enhancing the balance between music components and voice and we have added electronics to compensate for the building acoustics effect on hearing assist users. These are concepts not consistently used. We have done tremendous research to see what the advancements are that we can provide our hearing assist users. We have done them all.”

DSM has better headsets especially suited for these new features. The headsets are high powered enough they could be used in the place of a hearing aid.

Bud Porter, a former DSM Chairman of the Board, experienced the T Loop system first-hand at a recent performance.  In a testimonial letter, he said, “The Dallas Summer Musicals T Loop system electronically transmits pure stage sound directly into the electronics of a user’s hearing aid.  The electronic transmission directly into a hearing aid eliminates the typical acoustic problems (echoes, reverberation, noise) of conventional approaches.  Then, since a hearing aid is customized to each user’s special hearing needs, this same custom tuning tailors the stage sound to achieve the best possible result.  And, the results are fantastic.  I can’t tell you how much more I enjoyed the show! I would like to share the good news of this new technology with as many people as possible so they can experience the same new pleasure that I am.”

With the T Loop implementation, DSM is the first and only theater in Dallas to join the elite ranks of the Helen Beaumont Theater and Gershwin Theater, both in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

DSM Special Events and Community Outreach Media Contact:
Sharon Adams
ACPR
972.773.9289
Adamscomm1@aol.com

DSM Contact: Kate Finley
Director of Development
214-413-3961
kfinley@dallassummermusicals.org