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How to Overcome Technical Limitations in Automated Production of Loudspeakers and Headphones
If manufacturers of audio systems want to remain the first point of contact as partners of the automotive industry, quality must be guaranteed in addition to improved performance in assembly. One hurdle: Loudspeaker components are mostly bonded together. Only a technology that can guarantee precise dispensing of adhesives at high cycle rates is therefore suitable for reliable scaling from manual to semi- or fully automatic speaker production. Learn More Here
Funktion-One Launches Evo X Wide Dispersion Horn-Loaded Loudspeaker
Funktion-One has introduced what the company believes to be its most versatile loudspeaker to date. Evo X is a significant development of the full range, completely horn-loaded loudspeaker, featuring the latest Funktion-One waveguide technology to provide 90° horizontal dispersion and high SPL. An evolution of the decades-long research that the company has conducted based on the work of Tony Andrews, the new Evo X features an advanced driver technology to achieve an even horizontal coverage suitable for live events and club dance floors. Read More
Bluesound Now Shipping Pulse M Wireless Multi-Room Music Streaming Speaker
Bluesound, the makers of high-fidelity multi-room streamers and speakers announced the launch of the Pulse M speaker. It looks like a smart speaker, but the "smarts" are truly based on the fact that it is a unique Omni-Hybrid driver design and wireless music streaming speaker with a contemporary aesthetic. It is now available to purchase across retailers and online and it adds a valuable expansion to the Bluesound and BluOS high-resolution audio ecosystem. Read More
Røde Launches Røde X Streaming and Gaming Division and Introduces Unify Virtual Mixing Solution
After more than three years in development, Røde has announced the launch of its highly anticipated streaming and gaming division, Røde X. Building on Røde’s legacy as the world’s leading audio brand for content creators, Røde X is dedicated to developing high-performance audio solutions specifically for streamers and gamers. The launch marks the first time in its history that Røde has introduced a sub-brand to its iconic portfolio and it is a significant step in the evolution of the company. Read More
WiSA Technologies Announces Program to License Its Wireless Multichannel Audio Technology
WiSA Technologies has announced a licensing program for its high-quality, multichannel wireless WiSA E software. Expanding from its original, hardware-based module approach, the new software licensing program is targeted toward HDTV platforms and speaker manufacturers. WiSA E is an interoperable audio software/IP solution designed for wireless sound technology on TV and Wi-Fi SoC platforms, enabling built-in transmission capabilities of high-quality multichannel audio streams. Read More
Jabra Unveils Evolve2 Buds Professional ANC True Wireless Earbuds Engineered for Hybrid and Remote Working
Jabra, a leading company in both the personal sound and office solutions markets, launched the Jabra Evolve2 Buds, the newest product in Jabra's Evolve series. With lessons learned from the pandemic and remote work, the new Evolve2 Buds are truly designed as "earbuds for professionals" featuring Jabra MultiSensor Voice and Advanced Bluetooth multipoint connectivity. And once again, the solution was to bundle USB dongles to avoid Bluetooth unreliability, obtaining a longer range solution certified for virtual meeting applications, including Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Read More
GaN Systems Extends Class-D Audio Solutions with New Amplifier Modules and Boost Converters
GaN Systems, a leading company in GaN power semiconductors particularly for audio power stages, extended its lead in Class-D GaN-powered audio with the release of two complete Class-D high-performance GaN FET amplifier boards and two complete audio boost converter solutions for marine, auto, and battery-powered vehicles. GaN Systems now provides a comprehensive solution of turnkey amplifier designs, power supplies, and boost converters—allowing audio system designers across automotive, home, and professional markets to mix and match designs to maximize performance for specific applications. Read More
Nureva Introduces the HDL410 Presentation and Conferencing System Powered by Next-Generation Microphone Mist Technology
Companies and institutions searching for great audio in larger hybrid spaces without the cost and complexity of traditional solutions can benefit from the latest Nureva HDL410 system. Nureva combined next-generation Microphone Mist technology to revolutionize audio presentations and conferencing for much larger classrooms and meeting rooms. Embracing a packaged system approach, the new Nureva HDL410 system combines two Nureva microphone and speaker bars with a new connect module. Read More
Editor's Desk
J. Martins
(Editor-in-Chief)
153rd AES New York 2022 Convention
Was It Also Good For You?
I attended the Audio Engineering Society New York 2022 Convention, which according to the organizers exceeded all in-person expectations. I'm not surprised that it exceeded them. I am just surprised that the Audio Engineering Society (AES) was surprised. In fact, everyone attending was surprised that it seemed as if we were not supposed to be there... and we were. As long planned and intended.

I had long predicted this would be a very well attended event. It's New York and the US East Coast. People were anxious for another show and a knowledge-sharing opportunity like this. And after having already attended five trade shows just in the past seven months, I knew there was a clear momentum building with people anxious to meet again in person, do something, and go places. After two-and-half years of Zoom sessions, with the virus weakening its effects (for now) it wasn't hard to predict.

Apparently not everyone had predicted this could happen, because the show was just a short two-day event, and apparently most of the exhibitors were also being cautious and had lowered expectations. And I don't blame them. There's been a lot of trauma (and financial hurdles) regarding event cancellations during the past years.

The Audio Engineering Society is not exactly a professional organization specializing in trade shows - in fact it is an organization that lives essentially from voluntary efforts of a lot of people who simply love audio, are part of the industry, and like the sense of belonging to something. And that is visible when the convention happens, with most of the people supposedly in charge basically involved in the intense conference program, with Workshops, Tutorials, Paper presentations and other sessions - the trade show basically runs itself and the exhibitors try to make the best under the always somewhat unpredictable circumstances.
The AES made a return to in-person international-scale events in New York from October 18-21.
Registration for the 153rd International Audio Engineering Society Convention came close to 7,000 which, combined with the co-located 2022 NAB Show New York, drew 16,500+ content creation professionals to Manhattan’s Javits Center. The Exhibition floor featured more than 100 audio exhibitors among the 350+ brands showcasing their latest offerings.
Why was this just a two-day event? Apparently because there were some financial requirements from the Jacob Javits Convention Center regarding extending the event to a Friday (that's what I was told when I asked long ago), and there were other trade shows scheduled for the following days causing prices to rise. And the AES was not alone in this venture anyway.

The 153rd AES New York 2022 convention was co-located with the NAB Show New York, offering access to a shared exhibition floor - more open, and more shared than ever - creating even greater networking opportunities among exhibitors and attendees to both events. This was in fact the best thing about the whole event. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) had things well organized, and basically the AES highly benefited (and the press, because at least the NAB had a press office with Internet and free coffee and cookies). Ironically, the NAB Show New York also included the Marconi Radio Awards - where no member of the AES was seen.
Registration lines enduring at 12:15pm on the first day of the AES and NAB show.
Why would anyone be surprised that so many visitors attended the 153rd AES New York 2022 Convention? It's a great and unique opportunity for students, musicians, and home studio owners.
From the moment the convention and the NAB Show opened, the lack of organization was visible. There was a single registration operation causing unacceptable lines all morning on the first day, and the NAB was the only organization with basic logistics in place. Also, when inside, things were visibly quieter and more business-oriented on the NAB Show side, contrasting strongly with the euphoric, noisy environment of the AES side.

Attendees to a NAB Show are - not surprisingly - broadcast professionals, while attendees to an AES (New York) convention are a very eclectic mix of students, musicians of every level, home studio owners who aspire to be serious music producers, and audio engineers - together representing 70% of the attendance - complemented by seasoned audio industry veterans, audio engineers, and audio industry professionals, most of which are involved in the music recording and live entertainment parts of the industry. In fact, when the AES organizes its annual convention, it’s increasingly promoting events that seem to be more from the Audio Recording Society, so much is the focus on music production, studio work, and comparing the best use of plug-ins.

To illustrate the dominant attendance of the 153rd AES International Convention, I'll retrieve a very interesting testimony included in the official AES post-event press release, from Hannah Bliss – VP of Marketing, North America, for exhibitor Focusrite Group US. “One thing that was really surprising is the increased number of students and their level of engagement. They're asking about professional development. They're asking about jobs. They're not just asking about tech. There have been a lot of musicians and studio owners, also. We’ve had three years of not being able to see gear, touch gear, and talk to manufacturers, so everyone seems really engaged.”

Not surprisingly, the largest advertising banner inside the exhibit space of the AES event was from Sweetwater, which is the largest online retailer of musical instruments and pro audio equipment in the United States (like Musikhaus Thomann is in Europe). Sweetwater loves recording gear shows like these. On the NAB side, the sales guys in the small B&H booth - strategically located in the transition area between NAB and the AES exhibits - were probably sorry of the fact they had so much video stuff and not enough audio gear.
The AES convention in New York once again served as the core meeting place for many of the top engineers, producers, and content innovators in the world of audio.
Several of the high-profile panels in the Tech Program and Mix with the Masters sessions.
From my side, I can just say that I had a great time, reconnecting with some of the audioXpress authors and seeing a few demonstrations of products launched since the last NAMM in Anaheim, CA, and having great conversations with some of the very few companies that are relevant to the audio industry from the product development perspective. With only two days for quality time in-person, I could hardly follow the intense conference program, where many academic papers are presented by many industry innovators, some of which also had booths at the show. There were not many product announcements at the show, but there were some - enough to keep our website busy.

I enjoyed in particular meeting the xMEMS team (who I had already met at the NAMM Show back in June) and xMEMS seems to be the first very successful MEMS speaker driver company in the audio industry, promising me that by CES time they will have significant clients with products about to be released in the market. Their focus for now? High-quality in-ear headphones and in-ear monitors, which are sensitive to the arguments of trying something new, while the large volume companies, including true wireless earbuds and hearing aids manufacturers, need more time to roll their production plans. And xMEMS is so confident about the take-up of their technology that basically they are hiring everyone with experience in the area. Congratulations to xMEMS are in order.
xMEMS convincingly demonstrated its range of MEMS drivers for in-ears. The company's strategy is not to focus on the technology itself, but to attend these audio industry events and convince everyone of the merits and quality of actual products. In fact, promoting MEMS speakers as high-end audio for the most demanding music enthusiasts and professionals. Once again, what I heard was very good.
The Fraunhofer IIS booth, with the latest on MPEG-H, binaural rendering of immersive content and the latest codecs.
Also great to meet and see demonstrations from the Fraunhofer IIS team, who continue to push forward with their MPEG-H efforts. The Fraunhofer IIS team showcased the latest advancements in that effort such as the MPEG-H Authoring Suite 5.0, while also showing immersive sound on headphones using the new Fraunhofer Cingo binaural rendering. As a state-of-the-art binauralizer, it is the ideal companion for Next Generation Audio Codecs, such as MPEG-H Audio. Also being highlighted was the benefits of xHE-AAC, the latest generation of the renowned AAC codec family, which is now part of the Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec software, allowing anyone to audition and encode their creations in xHE-AAC in real time. xHE-AAC is already used by major streaming services such as Netflix and is natively supported in iOS, Android, Fire OS, and Windows. It provides DASH/HLS streaming at 12-500 kbit/s, mandatory loudness and dynamic range control, and improved speech quality as well as stereo imaging. Great work!

Very happy also to see - and hear - for the first time the very promising Norwegian startup Nomono, working in the field of audio recording and collaboration tools, with a mission to make audio wireless and immersive. The Nomono Sound Capsule, is a Wi-Fi-enabled recorder that combines four ultra-compact wireless lavalier mics with a 360-degree spatial audio microphone array, and connects seamlessly to the Nomono Web App, an online audio collaboration tool where content creators back up their recordings, collaborate with their production team, and apply AI-powered dialogue enhancement processing for professional audio quality results from the sources. And it already works very well!
The innovators are also a great reason why an AES convention is always vibrant. Sound Particles continues to surprise positively with its unique approach and tools to audio creation for any format, including object-based and scene-based for real-time interactive content.
www.aes.org
The Audio Engineering Society is a very cherished and respected international organization that promotes unique scientific and academic work that is essential to the evolution of audio praxis and technology. In that role, it is a unique organization that, not surprisingly, receives abundant support from the audio industry. What it is increasingly lacking is some of that deep connection with the industry and the product development that was exactly what generated the respect and admiration of the whole audio community.

Ironically, the 153rd AES New York 2022 convention was held in conjunction with the NAB Show New York, which is the organization that currently represents and promotes radio professionals and the fast-growing audio content producers that are fostering the thriving podcasting, web streaming, and audiobooks industries. In the not so distant past, an AES convention would be largely supported by the radio industry, which represented a significant percentage of the exhibit space at every event. Also, many of the leading product design engineers that are now the legends of the audio industry, and helped create the very same companies that support the AES, used to be the more enthusiastic participants at every AES event, eager to showcase their latest circuits, components, designs, and inventions. And those were as much focused on radio, as they were at high-fidelity, home audio, and all consumer product categories (e.g., headphones) as they were oriented toward microphones, mixing consoles, monitors, or any professional applications.
The Neumann booth showcased the brand's new M 49 V microphone and KH 150 monitors, the professional reference headphones and was for the first time complemented with the recording solutions and audio networking interfaces from Merging Technologies, following the acquisition and merger in July 2022.
It's hard to understand why the AES features so many academic and scientific papers about the latest consumer audio trends and technologies, including audiology and fundamental emerging technologies such as Voice and Artificial Intelligence, and there is no reflection of that on the show floor of AES events. More importantly, these events don't seem to reflect enough the much-needed disciplines of product development, even though the AES itself has created an organization focused on promoting education on that vital perspective, which audioXpress supports enthusiastically.

In fact, there seems to be confusion that the Audio Engineering Society reflects the interests purely of recording activities and more broadly, professional audio. As current AES President Josh Reiss said after the NY event: "This 153rd AES International Convention had all the hallmarks that have made AES Conventions so crucial to professional audio for nearly 75 years."

As I write, the Audio Engineering Society is currently convened again in the safe and cozy space of Zoom sessions, with an extremely rich program of paper presentations held online October 26 – 27. This clearly should have been held during the AES New York 2022 event, and simply streamed online for those not able to attend in-person. Hopefully, next year the lessons from this year will be reflected when the event returns.

Next year's AES New York Convention, takes place October 25-27, 2023. Additionally, the AES invites the audio community to join its 75th anniversary year's AES Europe 2023 Convention, May 13 - 15 at Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. Info will be available at AESShow.com
Avid also made a strong showing at the AES New York 2022 Convention, after a long absence from trade shows, hosting the Avid Partners Pavilion as well as its own booth on the show floor. And the company launched a new M-Box Studio desktop interface, which was very well received by the AES convention attendees.
Having a good time at the AES NY show, listening to an immersive configuration of the very surprising IK Multimedia iLoud Precision Studio Monitors. Not the right conditions in the middle of the noisy show floor, and these are certainly not Genelecs, but hey, they can emulate the response of any monitor of choice!
R&D Stories
Motion Feedback Desktop Subwoofers for Nearfield Studio Monitors
By Zami Schwartzman
As part of audioXpress’ September Speaker Focus issue, Zami Schwartzman shares his personal journey to design and perfect "Motion Feedback Desktop Subwoofers for Nearfield Studio Monitors." For this project, the author perfected his own accelerometer-based motion feedback designed fully assembled plate amplifiers with MFB control, crossover, and voice coil thermal protection that can be matched with any low frequency MFB driver. After experimenting with motion feedback to create a subwoofer to extend the response of its electrostatic speakers, which included its own unique capacitive position sensor to feed the feedback loop, the author successfully explored the concept of desktop subwoofers to extend the response of compact studio monitors. The proof of concept demonstrated the ability to perfectly complement popular active nearfield monitors, mitigating the effects of room reflection. And, Schwartzman is now open to exploring all licensing or product engineering opportunities. This article was originally published in audioXpress, September 2022. Read the Full Article Now Available Here
Voice Coil Patent Review
Dynamic Acoustic Waveguide
By James Croft
James Croft reviews another patent of a concept ignoring abundant prior art, which apparently wasn’t scrutinized by industry experts - as it should. The patent "Dynamic Acoustic Waveguide," was awarded to William Eugene Wheeler (High Ridge, MO) as inventor and assignee, and describes a “loudspeaker and a method of operation that allow for the production and emphasis of extremely low bass tones. The loudspeaker generally is formed from a loudspeaker driver cone of conventional type which is placed in a very small enclosure with two waveguides attached thereto. A smaller balance waveguide is positioned forward of the face of the cone and a larger tuning waveguide is positioned to the side of the cone. The cross-sectional area of the aperture connections of both waveguides to the enclosure are small compared to the cross-sectional area of the loudspeaker driver cone.” As Croft notes, this is a similar idea to patents from 1935, 1966, and Amar Bose’s US Patent 4,628,528 (1982), which popularized and trademarked it as the Bose Acoustic Wave Music System. It's also true that Bose’s patent did not cite either of the earlier inventors’ patents. In this patent under review, William Wheeler re-invents this classic architecture. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, November 2016.  Read the Full Article Now Available Here
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