Apex sound limiting specified for Guanabanas bar and restaurant

Florida-based outdoor bar and restaurant Guanabanas has recently employed a combination of Apex Hera and Argos sound limiting in order to ensure that local residents are not offended by the venue’s noise levels.

The open-air waterfront venue features a live stage to provide entertainment for its customers, which could potentially cause problems for local residents, as the venue’s Matt Cahur explained: “Residents will complain to the police if levels are too loud. We chose the Hera/Argos combination because the Argos limiter does a great job of limiting the sound levels to the threshold set on the Hera.

“Because the Hera uses a microphone to record the sound levels at the stage and records it in a data log, we use that log as proof that we were running at the levels permitted by the local authorities. That way, if there is a complaint, we have proof that we were at or below the allowable levels.”

The Hera unit is also designed to detect and log any attempts at system tampering, for example, disconnection of the microphone. The logs can then be consulted by any user, either directly from the Hera’s front panel or saved to a computer and printed out. Hera is also built to offer two logic outputs that can be used to control external devices or mains cut-off if a certain threshold is being exceeded.

Meanwhile, the Hera unit is complemented by the Argos sound leveller, which is designed to prevent the audio system from producing excessive levels without producing audible artefacts.

“There are not too many other units that I have found have this ability to log data and limit the sound in such a transparent way,” said Cahur. “Handheld sound metres can data log, but not in this particular manner in conjunction with the limiter.

“The system works well. We had to replace the microphone, due to wear and tear, but especially when you consider the units are out in the elements, they work very well.”

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