Meyer Sound

Meyer Sound Laboratories

Type	Professional Audio Manufacturer
Industry	Professional Audio
Founded	1979
Headquarters	Berkeley, CA, United States
Key people	John & Helen Meyer, Founders
Products	Loudspeakers, Digital Audio Systems, Audio Analysis Tools
Number of employees	Around 300 (2015)
Website	www.meyersound.com

Meyer Sound Laboratories is an American company based in Berkeley, California that manufactures self-powered loudspeakers, multichannel audio show control systems, electroacoustic architecture, and audio analysis tools for the professional sound reinforcement, fixed installation, and sound recording industries.

The company’s emphasis on research and measurement has resulted in the issuance of dozens of patents, including for the now-standard trapezoidal loudspeaker cabinet shape. Meyer Sound has pioneered other technologies that have become standard in the audio industry, including: processor-controlled loudspeaker systems, self-powered loudspeakers, curvilinear arraying, cardioid subwoofers, and source independent measurement.

Meyer Sound has consistently involved itself with advanced research beyond that connected to immediate product development, sometimes in conjunction with arms of the University of California, Berkeley. Some of this research has resulted in unusual products such as their parabolic sound beam and sound field synthesis loudspeakers. Other projects, such as the spherical loudspeaker research underway by Meyer Sound and CNMAT (Center for New Music and Audio Technologies) at UC Berkeley are still in the stage of pure research.

Some symphony halls and performing arts facilities utilize Meyer Sound products, such as the rehearsal area at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Svetlanov Hall in Moscow, Russia, and the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Meyer Sound's Constellation acoustic system is used to manage outdoor sound at the New World Center in Miami, Florida, which is the headquarters for the New World Symphony.

In 1979, John and Helen Meyer established Meyer Sound to produce reliable high-fidelity products for sound reinforcement professionals. Meyer Sound’s first product was the ACD/John Meyer studio monitor, based on a design Meyer developed while heading the acoustics laboratory at the Institute for Advanced Musical Studies in Switzerland. Prior to the founding of Meyer Sound, the Meyers started a relatively short-lived company named Glyph, which in part provided large speakers that were four to eight feet in diameter. However, bands were unable to bring the gigantic speakers with them when they traveled. Prior to this, John Meyer developed a sound system named "Glyph", which used said large loudspeakers. During this time period, Meyer was also involved in developing and constructing custom mixing consoles.