Are ceiling microphones better than table microphones for large boardrooms?
For boardrooms with 12 or more seats, ceiling microphone arrays typically beat table microphones on aesthetics, coverage and cable management. Table mics still win in a few specific room conditions, but the default choice for modern executive boardrooms is a ceiling array driven by beam-steering DSP.
From the floor. The hidden cost on a ceiling array job is the HVAC survey before you mount one. We have walked into boardrooms with a linear diffuser running directly above the table line; a Shure MXA920 sat in that airflow picks up the air movement as a constant low rumble and AEC cannot pull it back. The cure is either moving the array two tiles off the diffuser or replacing the diffuser with a perforated one. Find out at design stage, not at commissioning. — David Corker, Technical Sales Director
| Factor | Ceiling array | Table microphones |
|---|---|---|
| Typical hardware | Shure MXA920, Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2, Biamp Parle TCM-X | Shure MXN5W, Sennheiser TCT2 boundary, Audio-Technica ES boundary |
| Coverage model | 1 unit per 6 to 8 person zone | 1 mic per 2 to 3 people |
| Approx installed cost per zone | £4,000 to £6,000 | £1,500 to £2,500, multiplied by zones |
| Aesthetics | Invisible, ceiling-mounted | Visible on the table, cable holes in the surface |
| Cable management | One feed per array | Floor boxes, table grommets, hidden conduit |
| Pickup pattern | Beam-steering, adapts to occupied seats | Fixed pickup near each unit |
| Sensitivity to ceiling height | Up to about 4m works well | Insensitive to ceiling height |
| Sensitivity to HVAC noise | Higher (closer to ceiling diffusers) | Lower (closer to talkers) |
| Reconfigurable furniture | Works regardless of table layout | Needs re-running cables if table changes |
For a typical 20-seat boardroom, two or three ceiling array tiles will cover the room cleanly, with no clutter on a polished veneer table. Major hardware options include the Shure MXA920 (square array, automatic coverage map), Sennheiser TCC2 (round array, dynamic beam steering) and the Biamp Parle TCM-X series (rectangular array, tight integration with Biamp Tesira DSP).
Both approaches need a DSP for acoustic echo cancellation, gain shaping and noise suppression. Q-SYS, Biamp Tesira and ClearOne Converge are the common choices; without DSP, even a premium ceiling array will sound poor on a Teams or Zoom call.
When table microphones win:
- Thick acoustic ceiling tiles that absorb energy before it reaches a ceiling mic
- Very high ceilings (above 4m), where ceiling pickup degrades and table mics keep the talker close
- Heavy HVAC noise close to the ceiling plane, where a ceiling mic sits inside the noise field
- Security-sensitive rooms where ceiling penetrations or wireless RF are restricted
For most boardrooms in modern offices (2.7 to 3.5m ceilings, standard suspended ceiling, modest HVAC noise), the ceiling array gives a cleaner room, lower lifecycle cost and better remote-participant audio.
Quick reference: ceiling arrays (Shure MXA920, Sennheiser TCC2, Biamp Parle) win for 12+ seat boardrooms on aesthetics + coverage; table mics win for >4m ceilings, very absorbent ceilings, heavy HVAC noise or no-penetration policies; both need DSP (Q-SYS, Biamp, ClearOne).
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