Russ Berger Design Group

What Russ Berger Design Group does

Russ Berger Design Group (RBDG) is a privately held architectural and acoustical design consulting firm founded in 1990 by Russ Berger in Dallas, Texas. The firm specializes in designing acoustically optimized environments for recording studios, broadcast facilities, houses of worship, higher-education technical learning spaces, corporate media centers, government facilities, and residential theaters. With a staff of 13 professional acousticians, architects, designers, and project managers — all of whom are musicians with practical industry experience — RBDG combines acoustics, architecture, electrical and mechanical engineering, and interior design under one integrated practice.

The firm's technical core is small-room acoustics, sound isolation, room geometry optimization, and technical infrastructure design for audio-critical spaces. RBDG was an early licensee of the Time-Energy-Frequency (TEF) measurement technique and has developed proprietary expertise in side-looking control room design, mass-airspace-mass partition optimization, and Dolby Atmos-certified studio and theater design. It has completed more than 4,000 projects worldwide, including landmark commissions such as the 200,000 sq ft NFL Films headquarters, the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the $35M Sweetwater headquarters, Lakewood Church, and Belmont University's Dolby Atmos theater.

RBDG generates revenue through project-based professional services engagements billed primarily on fixed-fee agreements during design, with hourly or time-and-materials billing during the construction administration phase. The firm targets enterprise and institutional clients through direct field sales and relationship-driven referrals, marketing its services via a comprehensive website, industry publication coverage, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and X. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and contracts typically span multi-year horizons from programming through final acoustic tuning. The company operates with no external institutional investors and is controlled by its founders.

Name

Russ Berger Design Group

Legal name

Russ Berger Design Group

Website

https://rbdg.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Russ Berger Design Group is a privately held Dallas-based architectural and acoustical consulting firm founded in 1990, specializing in custom design of recording studios, broadcast facilities, Dolby Atmos theaters, houses of worship, and higher-education technical spaces for enterprise and institutional clients worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Acoustics Consulting

NAICS

Architectural Services (541310), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

Keywords

• Acoustical design consulting
• Recording studio design
• Broadcast facility design
• Architectural acoustics services
• Dolby Atmos design

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Architectural and Acoustical Design Consulting: Project-based professional services for designing recording studios, broadcast facilities, entertainment venues, and technical spaces. They provide complete design services including site analysis, interior design, lighting, power and HVAC systems, wire management, budgeting, construction administration, and final testing and acoustic tuning. They establish fixed fee agreements for design work and hourly/time-and-materials billing during construction phases.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Russ Berger Design Group (RBDG) provides architectural and acoustical design consulting for recording studios, broadcast facilities, entertainment venues, houses of worship, universities, and corporate production spaces. They deliver complete design services spanning site analysis, interior design, lighting, power and HVAC systems, wire management, sound isolation, room geometry optimization, technical infrastructure, and final acoustic tuning and testing. Each engagement is a custom, project-based design consulting arrangement tailored to the client's specific audio and acoustic requirements.

Product overview

Russ Berger Design Group (RBDG) is a design and consulting firm — not a software product company — specializing in architectural and acoustical design for recording, broadcast, and entertainment facilities. The company does not offer a traditional software product, platform, or SaaS offering. Its portfolio of services spans eight project categories: Recording & Mastering, Television & Soundstage, Audio & Video Post-Production, College & University, Houses of Worship, Auditoriums & Classrooms, Private Theaters, and Radio Stations. Each project is a custom design engagement tailored to the client's specific audio and acoustic requirements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Recording & Mastering Studio Design

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 4,000 projects completed worldwide
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pelton Marsh Kinsella (PMK): PMK is a Dallas-based architectural and engineering firm specializing in acoustical design for performing arts, worship, education, and broadcast facilities. Its Dallas base and overlapping worship/education client base make it a particularly relevant local and category peer to RBDG.
• Threshold Acoustics: Threshold Acoustics is a Chicago-based acoustical consulting firm specializing in performing arts venues, concert halls, recording studios, and houses of worship. It competes directly with RBDG for higher-education and worship-facility design commissions across North America.
• Cerami & Associates: Cerami is a New York-based acoustical and technology consulting firm serving commercial, cultural, healthcare, and broadcast clients. Its specialty-consultant positioning and entertainment/cultural project mix make it a comparable niche peer to RBDG.
• Acoustic Distinctions: Acoustic Distinctions is an acoustical consulting firm specializing in recording studios, broadcast facilities, and home theaters. Its explicit focus on the recording/broadcast studio niche — RBDG's core market — places it as a direct competitor for studio and post-production facility design work.
• WSDG (Walters-Storyk Design Group): WSDG is the most directly comparable competitor: a specialty architectural and acoustical design firm focused on recording studios, broadcast facilities, and performance venues. Founded by John Storyk (who like Berger came out of the small-room acoustics tradition), WSDG competes for the same enterprise clients — labels, broadcasters, universities, and artists — making it the closest one-to-one peer to RBDG.
• Acoustics By Design: Acoustics By Design is a Michigan-based acoustical consulting firm providing design services for worship, education, commercial, and performance facilities. It overlaps with RBDG in higher-ed and worship project types and is a credible direct competitor for similar mid-size institutional commissions.
• Kirkegaard Associates: Kirkegaard is a U.S. acoustical consulting firm with deep experience in concert halls, theaters, recording facilities, and broadcast studios. Like RBDG, it serves cultural, educational, and entertainment clients, and competes for similar institutional and broadcast design work.

Broad incumbents

• Arup Acoustics: Arup is a global engineering consultancy with a well-established acoustics practice that designs concert halls, broadcast facilities, and performance spaces. While far broader than RBDG, Arup competes for large institutional, government, and entertainment venue commissions and represents the scale incumbent RBDG faces on bigger bids.
• ME Engineers: ME Engineers is a multi-discipline engineering firm with strong acoustics and AV design capabilities serving performing arts, sports, worship, and broadcast projects. As a larger, broader firm, it competes with RBDG for entertainment-venue and broadcast infrastructure commissions while offering bundled MEP services.
• Longman Lindsey (a Stantec company): Originally an independent acoustics consultancy, Longman Lindsey is now part of Stantec's global design practice. It competes with RBDG in performing arts, broadcast, and cultural facility acoustics, but operates at the scale of a major global AEC platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RBDGsolves
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@RussBergerDesignGroup-z8m/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/russ-berger-design-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/russbergerdesigngroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Russ Berger Design Group