Our Story
SoundAround began with a simple observation.
​
During the pandemic, founder Jay Berget was selling home audio systems to retail customers and noticed a recurring problem. Music enthusiasts were investing thousands of dollars in amplifiers and speakers, yet very few understood how much the room itself shapes what we hear.
​
In most listening environments, reflections from walls and ceilings make up the majority of the sound reaching a listener’s ears. Without proper acoustic treatment, even the best equipment can produce a blurred or distorted musical image.
​
Acoustic treatment products existed, but the information surrounding them was often confusing, overly technical, or driven primarily by sales. Many people didn’t just want products. They wanted someone who could evaluate their space, design an effective solution, and install it properly.
​
To make that process easier, Jay began capturing 360° images of listening environments so he could study the walls and ceilings while designing acoustic treatments. That exploration led him to LiDAR scanning, a technology he had previously encountered while working with virtual tours in property management.
​
He purchased the newly released Matterport Pro3 camera and began scanning spaces for local realtors and event venues.
​
At the same time, Jay continued working as a live sound engineer throughout Central Virginia. This work provided a front-row view of the challenges involved in producing events. Many venues were not designed with live music or clear communication as a priority. Event hosts are often not professional planners, and planners frequently lack the technical information needed to prepare production teams in advance.
As a result, technicians and vendors regularly arrive on site with complex equipment and limited knowledge of the spaces they will encounter.
​
Over time, it became clear that these challenges were connected.
​
Acoustics, live production, venue design, and spatial documentation are all pieces of the same puzzle.
Today, SoundAround begins with LiDAR scanning as the foundation for understanding and improving event environments. By capturing precise spatial data of venues, SoundAround helps operators, planners, and production teams better understand how people move through spaces, how sound behaves within them, and how environments can be optimized for real-world use.
​
We experience sound and emotion through the environments around us. SoundAround exists to help venues understand those environments and shape them intentionally, improving both the technical performance of a space and the experience of everyone inside it.
Meet the Founder
Jay Berget
Jay Berget grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin, where his interests ranged widely across hockey, music, foreign languages, and the arts. Drawn to understanding how things work and seeing the bigger picture, he often gravitated toward roles that required a different perspective, playing goalie and catcher in sports, writing and directing videos and plays for class projects, recording original music at home, and starting a lawn-mowing business while performing cover songs at local coffee shops.
​
He graduated early from high school to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned a degree in German and European Studies after spending a year studying abroad in Freiburg, Germany.
Before founding SoundAround, Jay worked in auto parts, property management, retail sales, and a variety of service roles. These experiences exposed him to a wide range of industries and environments, but working for himself ultimately proved to be the most natural fit.
​
Jay moved to Charlottesville, Virginia in 2016 and later married Erin Palombi, whom he first met ten years earlier while living in the same student housing during their time in Freiburg. They now have a young daughter who keeps the household moving at lightning speed.
​
Outside of work, Jay enjoys meeting new people and learning about different cultures through food, music, and art. When he returns home, he often picks up a guitar and starts thinking about how those new ideas might come together.
More about SoundAround
Learn about our mission, vision, and values.