Speaker Delay Calculator

Free tool for fill speakers and delay stacks. No sign-up, nothing uploaded.

Sound travels slowly: about 343 m/s at 20 °C, or roughly 2.9 ms per metre. If a delay tower or fill speaker sits far from the main PA, the audience near it hears the tower first and the main system later, and the sound becomes smeared. Delaying the tower by the travel time makes the two arrive together. This is common at festivals and open-air shows, and in theatres with balcony speakers or front fills.

Distance from main speakers to delay speakers

Unit

Air temperature

Unit

Extra offset (ms)Optional. Adding 5 to 15 ms makes the sound seem to come from the main system.

—ms

Speed of sound = 331.3 + 0.606 × temperature (°C) m/s. Delay = distance ÷ speed of sound. Humidity and wind are ignored. Always confirm by ear and measurement in the room.

Made by Luca Martone, sound designer and live sound engineer based in Turin.