Hardwired Systems
Hardwired systems incorporate a direct wire link between the sound source and the coupler. Although the quality of the transmitted sound may be good, the fact that individual seats must be connected is so limiting that hard-wired systems are rarely used any more.
| INDUCTION LOOP | INFRARED | FM | |
| Sources of Signal Interference | wiring, computers, transformers, florescent lighting (less with 3-D mat); construction steel can cause erratic coverage | sunlight, incandescent, and florescent light, other IR devices | other FM transmitters |
| Spillover | yes (wire loop) or very little (3-D mat) | none through non-transparent materials | yes |
| Confidentiality of Transmission | low | high | low |
| Sound Quality | can be uneven (better with 3-D mats) | good | good but signal drift possible |
| User Convenience | listeners restricted to loop (or mat); may need to adjust seating position to improve reception (less with mat) | line of sight required between emitter and receivers | listeners have flexibility to move around; tunable receivers require adjustment by listener |
| Receivers | people with telecoil hearing aids need no receivers; receivers are compatible with all loop systems | can be tuned to the same channel or frequency for an entire building; compatible with most infrared emitters; broadest frequency response of wireless systems | each event must use a frequency pre-tuned or adjusted by the user |
| Maintenance | low | low | high |
| Integration with Public Address System | possible | easy | easy |
| Installation | can be complex in large areas (installation of wire loop) | can be complex in large areas (installation of emitters) | simple |
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