Roger™ SoundField
Overview

The Roger SoundField is a classroom amplification system featuring high sound performance combined with plug-and-play simplicity.
The Roger SoundField is a classroom amplification system featuring high sound performance combined with plug-and-play simplicity.
Lively discussions and interactions between teachers and students are vital for effective learning. However, classroom acoustics are usually less than ideal and teachers are often speaking to students from a distance when they teach. This means that a child’s daily learning environment comes with many listening challenges.
Fortunately with Roger SoundField, these challenges can be easily overcome. Roger SoundField effectively distributes sound from the teacher, students and other sound sources throughout the entire classroom. The Mainstream Amplification Resource Room Study (MARRS) revealed that soundfield systems decrease background noise and help children pay attention, hear and understand the teacher better. It also reported improvements in reading and language scores for thousands of students in classrooms that use soundfield technology.1
In order to understand speech in noisy classrooms, children require a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Roger SoundField significantly boosts a young student’s chance for academic success by providing an improved acoustic environment for listening and learning.
Offering best-ever speech-in-noise improvements for normal hearing children of up to 28% at 65 dBA of noise and 50% at 70 dBA over no soundfield, Roger SoundField is in a class of its own.2
Noisy classrooms can result in teachers suffering from vocal strain – leading to poor vocal health in the long term and increased cost due to teacher absences.3,4 A survey in the UK by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People revealed that 59% of schools reported teaching days being lost due to vocal strain.5 A recent study in Brazil showed that using Roger SoundField in a classroom, for just one period of the school day, was enough to improve dry throat symptoms, voice quality, fatigue while talking and vocal strain in teachers.6 The risk of longer-term vocal health problems is also lower and because teachers need to repeat themselves less often, there’s more time in class to cover lesson material. Students being able to hear and respond to instructions better has not only shown improvements in academic performances7 but in-class discipline is also easier to maintain.8
Schools perform better financially too, thanks to reduced teacher absenteeism due to voice loss – and reduced replacement-teacher costs.9
Roger systems transmit sound digitally and automatically alternate frequencies to eliminate potential interference with existing Wi-Fi or Bluetooth networks.
One of two microphones can be chosen for the Roger SoundField. The Roger SF Touchscreen Mic continuously estimates the surrounding noise and automatically optimizes the volume, ensuring that speech remains loud and clear for everyone. Additionally, the Roger Touchscreen Mic offers compatibility with hearing instruments and personal Roger receivers.
What’s more, it’s simple to set up. Just plug in, turn on and let learning begin.
Multimedia devices used in classrooms (e.g. TVs, MP3 players, smartboards, laptops and tablets) can easily be connected to the Roger Multimedia Hub, which wirelessly transmits to Roger DigiMaster loudspeaker. When used in a network, the audio mixing feature in the Roger Multimedia Hub allows a teacher’s voice to be heard simultaneously with an audio signal.
Regardless of the size, Roger SoundField delivers crystal-clear sound to an entire room, making listening, focusing and learning easier.
This exciting and easy to use wireless teacher microphone is the core component of the Roger for Education portfolio.
An intuitive new user interface, this simple-to-use microphone can be combined with one or more Roger Pass-around microphones and transmits exclusively to Roger DigiMaster loudspeakers for the entire class.
This microphone is designed to enhance classroom discussions so that not only teachers, but all students are heard clearly. It is the optimal size for kids and teens.
The DigiMaster 5000 is a standalone unit that contains 12 individual mini loudspeakers, all housed in a robust aluminium frame. It produces high-quality sound for...
For larger classrooms, lecture halls, and auditoriums, the DigiMaster 7000 features 15 individual high-quality mini loud speakers. It can be combined with another unit to...
The DigiMaster X receiver can be plugged into an existing soundfield system to ensure every listener enjoys Roger-quality speech understanding. Classes can be recorded by...
This versatile transmitter used in a Roger network features audio mixing which allows a teacher’s voice to be heard simultaneously with an audio signal.
1 The Use of Sound Field Amplification of the Teacher’s Voice In the Regular Education Classroom – A Summary of Studies. THE MARRS Project: Mainstream Amplification Resource Room Study. Retrieved from http://www.classroomhearing.org/research/marrsStudy.html, accessed March 12th, 2018
2 Wolfe, J., Morais, M., Neumann, S., Schafer, E., Mülder, H., Wells., N., John, A. & Hudson, M. (2013). Evaluation of Speech Recognition with Personal FM and Classroom Audio Distribution Systems. Journal of Educational Audiology, 19, 65-79.
3 Sapir, S., Keidar, A., & Mathers-Schmidt, B. (1993). Vocal attrition in teachers: survey findings. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 28(2), 177–185. https://doi.org/10.3109/13682829309041465
4 Sliwinska-Kowalska, M., Niebudek-Bogusz, E., Fiszer, M., Los-Spychalska, T., Kotylo, P., Sznurowska-Przygocka, B., & Modrzewska, M. (2006). The Prevalence and Risk Factors for Occupational Voice Disorders in Teachers. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 58(2), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.1159/000089610
5 Dickinson, J. (2016, April 16). World Voice Day: How to protect your most important teaching tool. Retreived from https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/world-voice-day-how-protect-your-most-important-teaching-tool
6 Cruz, A. D. da, Silvério, K. C. A., Ribeiro, V. V. & Jacob, R. T. de S. (2016). Dynamic soundfield system impact on the teacher’s voice: case report. Revista CEFAC, 18(5), 1260–1270.
7 Simberg, S. (2004). Prevalence of vocal symptoms and voice disorders among teacher students and teachers and a model of early intervention. (Thesis), University of Helsinki. Retrieved from http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/kay/fonet/vk/simberg/prevalen.pdf
8 Cutiva, L. C. C. (2013). Voice Disorders in Teachers and Their Associations with Work-Related Factors: A Systematic Review. Journal of Communication Disorders, 46(2), 143–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2013.01.001
9Van Houtte, E., Claeys, S., Wuyts, F., & Van Lierde, K. (2011). The Impact of Voice Disorders Among Teachers: Vocal Complaints, Treatment-Seeking Behavior, Knowledge of Vocal Care, and Voice-Related Absenteeism. Journal of Voice, 25(5), 570–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2010.04.008