# Separate Axis directional audio sensitivity from detection timing

> Tune Axis directional-audio threshold and dwell separately. The documented dwell is time before another sound can be detected, not evidence that a sound persisted for that duration.

- Canonical URL: https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/separate-axis-directional-audio-sensitivity-from-detection-timing/
- Publisher: Detection Systems & Engineering (DSE Security)
- Author: DSE Security Editorial Team
- Published: 2026-10-29T19:50:00+00:00
- Modified: 2026-10-29T19:50:08+00:00
- Last reviewed by DSE: 2026-10-29
- Resource type: Guide
- DSE priority: Advisory
- Topics: Video Surveillance
- Reading time: 3 minutes

## What you need to know

Tune Axis directional-audio threshold and dwell separately. The documented dwell is time before another sound can be detected, not evidence that a sound persisted for that duration.

## Potentially affected

Axis products exposing the documented Directional audio detection API interface; confirm actual device, hardware and software applicability before applying the proposed checks.

## DSE recommendation

DSE recommends testing threshold selection and repeated-sound timing independently before enabling an operational response.

## Article

Bottom line: Review sensitivity and the interval before another detection as separate controls. Use an authorized two-sound exercise to examine repeat-detection behavior instead of assuming that dwell is a requirement for one sound to persist.

## Source fact: documented behavior

Axis’s [Directional audio detection API](https://developer.axis.com/vapix/device-configuration/directional-audio-detection-api/) describes detectionThreshold as a sensitivity threshold in decibels.

The dwellTime property is defined as the minimum number of seconds before detection of a new sound.

The audioEvents entity provides up to 1,000 recent audio events, and its reported angles are relative to the detecting unit’s mechanical housing.

## What the source does not establish

Do not treat the settings as a detection guarantee for every acoustic scene. Do not reinterpret the dwell definition as a confirmation period for sustained noise or as a geographic bearing. Confirm the exact device and interface support, and keep PTZ calibration and response behavior outside this sensitivity exercise.

## Applicability questions

- Which sounds should the authorized test distinguish from ordinary background activity?

- What threshold and dwell values are currently configured?

- How closely spaced might relevant repeated sounds be?

- Who approves the acoustic test, observation location and handling of event data?

## DSE recommendation: controlled next steps

The following steps are DSE recommendations based on the cited source.

DSE recommends testing threshold selection and repeated-sound timing independently before enabling an operational response.

- Record the actual configuration and the intended acoustic task with the responsible operator. Choose harmless permitted test sounds and an appropriate observation area. Keep any recording or personal-data question with the site owner; an event review need not become unrestricted audio capture. Define which observations will count as a detected event and which will remain unexplained.

- Use a proposed sensitivity comparison with the same approved sound and controlled conditions while changing only a supported threshold value. Retain the configured value and event observations for each case. Avoid copying the documentation’s sample value as a universal setting. Restore the approved value before moving to the separate timing exercise.

- For the timing case, plan two permitted sounds with documented spacing and repeat with another approved spacing around the intended dwell interval. Record the input times and resulting events without inventing an expected detection rate. Compare the outcome with the configured interval before another detection. Keep any PTZ movement or signaling action disabled or independently controlled during this exercise.

## Verification and evidence

Retain device/software identity, settings, test-sound description, observation conditions and timestamped event results. Preserve the timing of both inputs even if only one event is observed. Ask a reviewer to distinguish sensitivity, repeat timing and any separate location or response requirement.

Include a desk case in which an operator proposes increasing dwell to prove that a sound lasted longer. Require the reviewer to identify that unsupported interpretation before implementation. These are proposed checks; no sound test, detection performance or location accuracy has been measured for this article.

## Official references

- [Directional audio detection API](https://developer.axis.com/vapix/device-configuration/directional-audio-detection-api/) — Axis Communications; official VAPIX documentation.

Source review completed October 29, 2026. Recheck the official documentation and the deployed device’s capabilities before changing production settings.

## Primary reference

- Name: Axis Communications — Directional audio detection API
- Authority: Axis Communications
- URL: https://developer.axis.com/vapix/device-configuration/directional-audio-detection-api/
- Source publication date: Not stated by the source

## Citation and use

Preferred citation: “Separate Axis directional audio sensitivity from detection timing,” DSE Security, https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/separate-axis-directional-audio-sensitivity-from-detection-timing/
Publishing principles: https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/dse-updates-editorial-methodology/
Usage and citation policy: https://update.dsesecurity.com/usage/
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