INDUSTRY & PRODUCT NEWS

iZotope Unveils RX 6 Audio Repair and Enhancement Software
iZotope unveiled the latest version of its award-winning audio repair and enhancement software, RX 6. This update includes new features and workflows that meet the needs of both musicians and post-production professionals. In RX 6, new features and workflows enable users to easily edit, repair, and restore musical performances, while post-production professionals can find new solutions to some of the once unsolvable issues in post-production today Read More


Lectrosonics Introduces the Duet Digital Wireless Monitor System with Dante Inputs
Lectrosonics announced the introduction of a new digital wireless monitor (IEM) system, the Duet. The new system consists of the M2T dual-stereo half-rack transmitter and M2R diversity belt pack receiver. The Duet covers UHF frequencies of 470-608 MHz in a single range, uses digital modulation for transmission, and can accept analog or Dante digital inputs. The new system is designed and developed with professional touring, installation, theater, filmmaking, and broadcast customers in mind.   Read More


V-MODA Unveils Forza Metallo Wireless Neckband Headphones with Innovative Ergonomic Design
V-MODA announced the availability of its new Forza Metallo Wireless neckband Bluetooth headphones. Designed by and for modern personal audio enthusiasts, Forza Metallo Wireless headphones are intended for all-day use in any environment, featuring micro 5.8 mm hi-res drivers, metal housing, 3D printing customization, sport fins, and a unique "TrapLock" titanium neckband. A high-performance and ultra-sleek companion for demanding everyday life, the new V-MODA design also adds new noise-canceling microphones.   Read More


RME ADI-2 Pro Anniversary Edition Ultra-Fidelity PCM/DSD 768 kHz AD/DA Converter
Last year, RME celebrated its 20th year anniversary, with the German manufacturer announcing no less than four new products at Musikmesse 2016. One of those new devices was the RME ADI-2 Pro, a feature-packed update to the RME ADI-2, featuring incredibly precise audio quality, powerful headphone amplifiers, plus a host of innovative features that will appeal to both mastering engineers and high-end audio aficionados alike. With the ADI-2 Pro proving popular in both pro audio and Hi-fi circles, RME has now unveiled its new RME ADI-2 Pro Anniversary Edition.    Read More
 


Knowles Introduces IA-610 Smart Microphone with Embedded Digital Signal Processor
Knowles Corp. announced it has sampled the new IA-610 smart microphone, combining a world-leading MEMS microphone with a best-in-class open digital signal processor (DSP) into a single subminiature package. This complete and customizable solution is similar in size to a MEMS microphone found in today's leading mobile electronic devices, but delivers a customizable solution that enables advanced features such as voice wake and acoustic event detectionRead More


Audinate Introduces New Dante Broadway Networking Chip for Mainstream Audio Applications
Audinate, the company behind Dante audio networking technology, has announced the immediate availability of its new Dante Broadway networking chip designed for mid-channel count audio products. Available in 8x8 and 16x16 channel options, Dante Broadway is ideal for adding Dante audio networking to products such as small mixers, power amplifiers, DSPs, hardware interfaces, and conferencing solutions, supporting 96 kHz sample rates, AES67, and other critical features.  Read More

Libre Wireless Technologies Powers ADX RIVA WAND Wireless Portable Audio Product Line
Libre Wireless Technologies confirmed a technology partnership with RIVA Audio, the lifestyle brand of Audio Design Experts, Inc. (ADX), to supply its embedded Wi-Fi and Wireless solutions. Already recognized for its high-quality portable Bluetooth speakers RIVA S and Turbo X, applying its patented Trillium technology, RIVA Audio is about to launch its new WAND Series speakers, with the Arena and the Festival models, supporting all possible audio streaming options as well as up to 24-bit/192 kHz.   Read More


QSC Introduces Next-Generation K.2 Series Loudspeakers with Significant Feature Upgrades
QSC introduced the K.2 Series, the highly anticipated next generation of the company's global best-selling K Family line of powered loudspeakers. The new K.2 Series, which is comprised of the 8" K8.2, 10" K10.2, and 12" K12.2 full-range loudspeakers, offers several significant feature upgrades, establishing an entirely new standard in powered loudspeaker technology. QSC is also announcing the introduction of the KS212C, a first-in-class, single-box powered cardioid subwoofer.   Read More


Amazon Makes the High-Performance 7-Mic Voice Processing Technology from Amazon Echo Available to Third-Party Device Makers
Amazon announced that for the first time it is making the high-performance far-field microphone array and voice processing technology found in Amazon Echo available to hardware makers who want to build the Alexa experience into their products. With the Amazon Alexa 7-Mic Far-Field Development Kit, Amazon is making it easier for commercial developers to build and launch far-field voice-initiated products with Alexa by reducing development time and cost.   Read More


Ed Okorn Joins G.R.A.S Sound & Vibration as General Manager for North America
G.R.A.S. Sound & Vibration A/S announced the appointment of Ed Okorn as General Manager for North America. The world-renowned manufacturer of high-quality measurement microphones and related acoustic equipment, based in Denmark, hopes to expand its market share in North America and strengthen business relationships with clients and technology partners in the region.   Read More



                           



João
Martins
Editor-in-Chief




Editor's Desk


Audio-over-IP Networking Joins the World

While a substantial part of our team is heading or already at AXPONA, ready to indulge in the pleasures of another great consumer audio show with the highest quality experiences of speakers and headphones, audioXpress is bracing for another avalanche of substantial technology announcements resulting from the also approaching National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas.
 
And there's no possible comparison in terms of product announcements at Axpona with the number of releases that have already inundated our inbox for the past seven days. Among the most notable trends from Las Vegas is clearly that of very high quality and High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, from UHD 4K and 8K television to the world of digital cinema, 360 video, and virtual reality production. It's like the world of visuals is entering warp speed, with all the main brands - from GoPro to Blackmagic, Sony and Canon - announcing new amazing cameras for every budget and production needs. Together with new high-quality cameras, there's significant improvements in post-production solutions and especially storage, with Thunderbolt 3 dominating the announcements, as expected.
 
Audinate is promising that its Dante Domain Manager software will make "audio networking more secure, more scalable, and more manageable than ever before."
A show such as NAB covers many fronts, most of which are not exactly the focus for audioXpress, but I cannot avoid mentioning that, with all this crazy-fast evolution in the imaging world, there's another revolution taking place. The world is transitioning to everything-over-IP - from production to contribution and distribution - with the also-fast transition to music streaming services and increasing use of cloud platforms for music recording and collaboration. And when the broadcast and media industry discusses this new networking world and on-demand access to content at NAB, audio is a fundamental part, and a lot is happening on this front.
 
As audioXpress has extensively covered both in print and online, the world of audio-over-IP networking has been particularly dynamic in professional audio applications, from commercial audio installation to live sound production and now expanding into studio recording and broadcast applications. On that front, Audinate has been particularly successful with its Dante AoIP technology powering products available from hundreds of audio manufacturers around the world. As Audinate states, its vision is "to revolutionize professional and commercial audio for the 21st century," replacing traditional analog audio cables by "transmitting perfectly synchronized audio signals across large distances, to multiple locations at once, using nothing more than an Ethernet cable."
 
Together with Audinate, there are several other AoIP protocols that have achieved significant success, each in its specific field of application. Among those, RAVENNA is recognized as the most powerful and versatile, from broadcast to high-quality recording applications - and probably one of the few to actually make inroads into high-end consumer audio. Both Dante and RAVENNA will be prominently featured in many demonstrations at NAB 2017, together with The Telos Alliance Livewire+ audio networking technology, which is a solution adopted by radio stations all over the world. Dante, RAVENNA, Livewire+, and QSC's Q-LAN are all compatible with the AES67 interoperability standard and now have solutions available in the market. This means all the AoIP solutions are now able to exchange audio among them, creating a robust infrastructure that the broadcast market in particular is promoting as a foundation for its IP future.
Andreas Hildebrand, Senior Product Manager at ALC NetworX, RAVENNA technology promoter

But the work is far from over. As Andreas Hildebrand, Senior Product Manager at ALC NetworX (the RAVENNA technology promoter), told us recently in Frankfurt - it is very important to continue and even increase the interoperability efforts and evolution of the AES standards, as the video industry also evolves to an all-IP approach. At NAB 2017, there will be far more demonstrations and activity around the ever-present and constantly evolving theme of interoperability than any other show. Also RAVENNA is promoting AES67 interoperability demos together with Lawo, Genelec, Riedel, Merging, Sonifex, Ward-Beck, DirectOut, Coveloz, Archwave, Digigram, ALC NetworX and ARG, and even running a live interop demo with a Yamaha mixing desk based on Dante, using its new RAV2SAP software conversion tool that makes life easier for people wanting to connect RAVENNA devices to other AES67 devices, and Dante devices in particular.
 
Merging Technologies also introduced another important tool - the ANEMAN Audio Network Manager software, a completely new and easy way to patch AES67 audio and more. This AoIP network management tool is still being developed but already shows lots of potential. In fact, it brings to the RAVENNA/AES67 side some of the same convenience that Audinate is promising to offer with its Dante Domain Manager, an enterprise-wide, IT-Grade platform to simplify network management, announced earlier this year and scheduled to be available later in 2017.
 
But more importantly, the work is just starting to guarantee fully practical audio streaming workflows with the new standards, such as the SMPTE2022-7 and SMPTE ST2110 Standards for Professional Media over IP Networks, and the ongoing work on synchronization and timing issues with ST 2059. One of the places to see those demonstrations in practice will be the NAB IP Showcase (located in the North Hall of the LVCC, booth N4824), designed to provide a unified, industry-wide view of the ever more important role of IP in the broadcast industry by using equipment from more than 60 manufacturers. The demonstration intends to show that real-time media production using IP networks is now a practical, flexible, and efficient reality.
 
Promoting the AoIP concept, Genelec has created special RAVENNA-green 8430 IP monitors for display at trade shows.
The IP Showcase, demonstrating interoperability of four parts of the new SMPTE ST 2110 standard, pertaining to video, audio, control, and metadata, represents an unprecedented joint effort by the most important industry consortiums, associations, and standards organizations, such as the Audio Engineering Society (AES), the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), the Media Networking Alliance (MNA), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), IABM (the international trade association for suppliers of broadcast and media technology), the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the Video Services Forum (VSF), all major industry alliances.
 
Other initiatives on IP Video Delivery, promoted by The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) will be particularly important at NAB 2017, with 15 related papers being presented at the show. As AIMS is making clear, the ongoing accelerated standards process needs to be followed closely since there's so much happening. AIMS' participation in the IP Showcase is part of its ongoing cooperative effort to establish a uniform approach to all-IP workflows based on industry standards and recommendations that are already established or are well underway.
 
A recent AIMS survey revealed that many AIMS members are moving quickly to bring products to market that are compliant with the SMPTE suite of standards for Professional Media over IP Networks (SMPTE ST 2110) by the end of 2017. SMPTE ST 2110 is currently in final draft stage and is widely projected as a fundamental development in a transition to full IP workflows in broadcast, based on common open standards.
 
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) and the Media Networking Alliance (MNA) are the two key associations to follow regarding AoIP and interoperability efforts.
Representing those efforts on the audio front, the Media Networking Alliance (MNA), established to promote the adoption of the AES67 AoIP interoperability open standard, says that its inclusion defining the audio element of the new SMPTE ST 2110 standard, "acknowledges the rapid and widespread adoption of AES67 in providing signal interoperability across all of the current leading IP based audio networking protocols." Michael Cronk, Chairman of AIMS, calls AES67, "a foundational standard for the broadcast industry."
 
"As one of the first standards bodies to address media over IP - initially with AES67 for audio and now with AES70 for control - The Audio Engineering Society is pleased to be a part of NAB IP Showcase," adds Bruce C. Olson, AES Standards Committee Chair. "Interoperability demonstrations and shared real-world experiences in the IP Showcase will include audio-based media and blended media, the latter where video content and AES67-compliant audio share a common IP carrier. The IP Showcase is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate publicly the benefits for broadcasters born of the collaboration between standards bodies and partner organizations promoting IP workflows."

Practical Test & Measurement
Sound Cards for Data Acquisition in Audio Measurements (Part 2)
By Stuart Yaniger
 
audioXpress June 2015 issue initiated a great series by Stuart Yaniger on "Sound Cards for Data Acquisition in Audio Measurements." As Stuart explains, "In this column, I will look at some of the available options and methods to create a low-cost system (emphasis on "low-cost") for lab-grade audio electronics measurements and provide some examples. I will skip the superb but expensive systems to concentrate on solutions within easy reach of budget-conscience hobbyists. The goal is to demonstrate how you can generate useful data, similar to the graphs and charts in the audio review magazines, but without the expense." This was the start of an insightful and entertaining series that we have now decided to share online following numerous request from members of DIY forums and many enthusiasts of test and measurement adventures that apparently kept searching for the topic in our website. In this second part, Yaniger examines sound card requirements. Since most sound cards are intended for gamers, home theater, and musicians, the article evaluates the criteria to decide what features to look for in a sound card targeted for audio measurement. This article was originally published in audioXpress, July 2015.   Read the Full Article Now Available Here

Voice  Coil Spotlight
SOTA Applications Focuses on Weather Protection for Audio Gear 
By Mike Klasco (Menlo Scientific)
 
This article explores State Of The Art (SOTA) Applications, a high-tech coating specialist that is focusing on the audio speaker industry. The company offers many unique treatments to protect paper cones and foam surrounds, fabrics, corrosion resistance for steel frames, and magnetic structures from moisture and water. It is essential for audio engineers to be familiar with weatherizing and sealing design techniques and the vendors that supply these specialized treatments. Yet, there is little information on this topic, and much of what has been tested and what works are trade secrets. These days, we are seeing product literature and reviews playing up product IPXX environmental robustness performance. Meeting and upgrading your designs to meet specific target IPXX standards requires experience in the application of the right materials, construction, and coatings. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2016.   Read the Full Article Online

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