Industrial Standards for AV

The Pursuit of Great Sound

For most of us working in the audio industry, everything we do ultimately comes down to one thing — creating great sound.

That goal is what drives us to keep improving, learning, and pushing ourselves further. We attend trainings, watch YouTube tutorials, and read books — all to chase better sound.

👉What It Takes to Make Great Sound

There are two key ingredients for great sound:

First, artistic sensitivity — the ability to understand and interpret music. Some are born with it, others develop it over time. This is why mixing, at its core, is often considered an artistic process.

Second, technical understanding — knowing the engineering behind the sound. This is what we often call “the standard.” From the source to the audience’s ears, every part of the signal chain needs proper amplification and processing. Only then can your artistic intent truly be heard.

👉The Role of Industrial Standards

Most of the gear we use for amplification and processing is designed based on international industrial standards. That means devices are built to work within specific ranges that ensure proper performance. Much of what we do — and have done for decades — is already guided by these established standards.

In our experience, systems that follow these standards tend to work reliably and sound great. On the other hand, systems that ignore or fail to meet those standards often face issues — or simply don’t sound as good.

👉How to Approach These Standards

As the AV industry evolves and intersects with more technologies, the range of applicable standards is growing. It’s becoming more important than ever to understand a broader set of them.

Below are links to key standard organizations where you can explore official documents. If you're looking for something specific, a quick Google search often leads to useful insights.

Yes — the documents can be technical, dense, and not always easy to read. But if standards are part of our reality, they're worth the effort.

👉 Links to International Industrial Standards

* AVIXA (Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association): https://www.avixa.org/standards

* AES (Audio Engineering Society): https://www.aes.org/standards/

* SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers): https://www.smpte.org/standards

* ISO (International Organization for Standardization): https://www.iso.org/standards.html

* ANSI (American National Standards Institute): https://www.ansi.org/standards

* IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission): https://www.iec.ch/standards

* IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): https://standards.ieee.org/

* VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association): https://vesa.org/standards/

* HDMI Licensing Administrator, Inc.: https://www.hdmi.org/spec

* HDBaseT Alliance: https://hdbaset.org/resources

* ITU (International Telecommunication Union): https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/publications/Pages/default.aspx

* ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute): https://www.etsi.org/standards

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