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Birmingham Hippodrome is one of the UK’s leading presenting theatres. It welcomes over 600,000 audience members each year to musicals, dance, comedy and pantomime. The venue reaches a further 450,000 people through festivals, education and produced shows. It is also home to organisations including Birmingham Royal Ballet, FABRIC, One Dance UK and Dance Consortium.
With a mission to deliver extraordinary experiences and a vision to be at the heart of a world-class Birmingham cultural scene, the Hippodrome is committed to accessibility and inclusion. In 2025, the venue upgraded its assisted listening system by installing Auri™, powered by Ampetronic | Listen Technologies.
The Hippodrome’s previous assistive listening system suffered from poor audio quality, unreliable coverage and frequent maintenance issues. These problems reduced audio quality and increased maintenance costs. They also created reputational risks for the venue.
As part of a wider renovation and accessibility upgrade, the team sought a modern solution that would deliver consistent, high-quality audio, integrate with touring sound equipment and support both venue-provided receivers and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) use.
In July 2025, Birmingham Hippodrome installed Auri™, an Auracast™ broadcast audio solution from Ampetronic | Listen Technologies. The system delivers show feeds from touring sound equipment for all performances, as well as audio description for select shows. Users can choose which stream to listen to using either venue-provided Auri™ receivers or their own Auracast-enabled devices.
The team chose Auri™ for its high audio quality, low latency, Dante compatibility and ease of installation. The team now uses the system daily, improving reliability, coverage and accessibility.
Initial challenges around user familiarity and stream selection were addressed through staff training, clear documentation and careful naming of program streams. While it is still early for formal feedback, the venue has already seen a reduction in customer complaints and maintenance time.
The project was delivered in collaboration with Mike Cyprus at Ampetronic and Andy Elsegood at Sound of Music Ltd, who provided the initial recommendation and demonstration.
Since its installation, the Auri™ system has become an integral part of daily operations at Birmingham Hippodrome, significantly enhancing reliability, coverage, and overall accessibility. The venue has already noted a reduction in customer complaints and maintenance time, indicating a positive shift in user experience and operational efficiency.
