Product Design | Audio Electronics | Acoustics | DIY | Audio Innovations
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AKM AK4499EX and AK4191 Flagship D/A Converter Solution Enters Production
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As anticipated, Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) Corp. has released to production the new flagship stereo D/A converter (DAC), the Velvet Sound Verita AK4499EX, showcased at the High End Munich show in May 2022. Alongside the AK4499EX, AKM has also released the AK4191 Digital Filter and ΔΣ Modulator, completing a two-chip solution that makes it easy to improve performance with completely independent digital and analog circuitry. Learn More Here
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Meze Audio Releases 109 Pro Dynamic Open-Back Headphones
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After many years of designing products using planar magnetic drivers, Meze Audio, the high-end headphone manufacturer from Baia Mare, Romania, announced its first dynamic open-back headphone design. The new headphones are the 109 PRO and, apart from the newly designed dynamic driver, are built using responsibly sourced materials, including walnut wood, zinc, manganese steel, and vegan leather. The result, in line with the best-selling Meze 99 Classics, are comfortable, lightweight, yet highly durable headphones . Read More
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Ubilite Introduces Wi-Fi SoC with Less-Than-Bluetooth Power Consumption
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Ubilite, a San-Diego, CA-based semiconductor company founded in 2014, announced the immediate availability of its UBI206 platform and SoC, targeted specifically for ultra-low power wireless applications. The UBI206 is a highly integrated single device that enables a vast number of connected products with a minimal number of external components. Although originally designed targeting industrial IoT applications, the chip enables truly ultra-low power Wi-Fi audio streaming solutions with a 10-fold improvement in power consumption. Read More
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Sonos Introduces Sub Mini Subwoofer for Smaller Rooms
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Essentially, Sonos' users have always been divided into two groups. Those who have a Sonos Sub (currently in its third generation) to expand Sonos speakers, and those who just have Sonos speakers. The sound impact is substantially higher for those who have the Sub, helping to reinforce their emotional connection with the brand. Now, Sonos has announced the Sonos Sub Mini, a more compact wireless subwoofer that should appeal to those users with smaller home or smaller budgets. Read More
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Origin Acoustics Named US Brand Manager for Bang & Olufsen in the Custom Channel
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Origin Acoustics is breaking new ground for custom integrators with the announcement of an expanded partnership with Bang & Olufsen in the US. Since 2016, Origin Acoustics has been collaborating with Bang & Olufsen on the co-design and manufacturing of certain architectural loudspeakers. Now, Origin has been named US Brand Manager for Bang & Olufsen’s full portfolio in the custom channel. Read More
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GRAS Begins Trade-In Campaign on Measurement Microphones
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GRAS Sound & Vibration, part of Axiometrix Solutions, is implementing a trade-in offer to replace old measurement microphones with new high-quality GRAS microphones. For a limited time, any measurement microphones can be traded-in to GRAS 46AE range microphones with a 35% discount. This includes the GRAS 246AE with SysCheck2, which is a perfect combination with an Audio Precision analyzer such as APx517, or the APx1701 test interface. Read More
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Sony and WS Audiology Sign Partnership Agreement for Over-the-Counter Self-Fitting Hearing Aids
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Following the recently issued rule establishing Over-the-Counter (OTC) hearing aids by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Sony Corp. and WS Audiology Denmark A/S have entered into a partnership agreement and various ancillary agreements with the aim of jointly developing and supplying new products and services in the OTC self-fitting hearing aid market, beginning with the United States. Sony and WSA say they are already developing the first product under the Sony brand. Read More
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Exeger and Atmosic Technologies Partner to Create Energy Harvesting Solutions
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Exeger, the innovative Swedish company that created a unique solar cell flexible membrane that converts all forms of light into electrical energy, continues to establish strategic partnerships and expand its proof-of-concept use cases. Exeger and US-based semiconductor company Atmosic Technologies are now working together to create attractive energy harvesting solutions for connected devices. Meanwhile, Exeger attended the IBC show in Amsterdam, to demonstrate a new TV remote control from Omni Remotes that will remain perpetually charged, as long as users keep it facing any type of light source . Read More
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Platin Audio Debuts World’s First Wireless Dolby Atmos Enabled WiSA Certified Speaker System
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Finally! 30 months after the original announcement that the technology promoted by the Wireless Speaker and Audio (WiSA) Association would be able to support Dolby Atmos height channels, WiSA Technologies confirms that the new Monaco 5.1.2 speaker system from Platin Audio will be the first fully immersive, multichannel, separates-based home theater system on the market to be WiSA HT Certified and Dolby Atmos enabled. Read More
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Guest Editorial
Ward Maas
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IFA 2022 - Back But Not the Same
Audio-Centric Impressions
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While Europe is still recovering from COVID, the expectations for this year's traditional IFA trade show were nonetheless high. With more than 1100 exhibitors from 45 countries and 150,000 square meters of show floor, there was the promise of an exciting comeback after a three-year pandemic-related break. Walking around the halls and exhibits at IFA 2022 in Berlin one could clearly see that the show has transformed into something new.
Of course, it was a bit smaller this year compared to when the show was last held before COVID. Many traditional brands still didn't make the much expected return in 2022. Considering the trade show spreads out over a large number of halls, corridors, and rooms it always gave the impression of being very crowded. However, this time it was just "busy," without the usual congestion. The usual halls filled with washing machines, ovens, and fridges managed to do good business. On the audio front, nothing was as before.
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IFA or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (International Radio Exhibition Berlin) originated in 1924 and today is one of world's leading trade shows for consumer electronics and home appliances. Attendance in 2022 was considerable given the circumstances of a pandemic-recovery, but not yet close to the record numbers in visitors and exhibitors it once registered. Overall attendance at IFA 2022, is reported to be more than 160,000 during the five days of the show. Impressive, considering the ongoing travel restrictions in Asia. More than 2,500 journalists also visited Berlin for IFA. Martin Ecknig, the Chief Executive Officer of Messe Berlin says IFA Berlin is on track to regain its full strength in 2023.
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Several brands did not make an appearance at the show itself and instead organized their own side events, parallel to the show. One of them was Sennheiser. The German company presented its new products at "The Grand," one of those famous places in Berlin. And probably because of such an historical building, Sennheiser did have the updated HE 1 - the no-compromise reference headphone amplifier ( aka Orpheus) - available for listening. Be assured this headphone amplifier performed extremely well... However when you are in this upper league, there are other brands that have a claim on the pole positions as "best headphone," "best headphone amplifier," and "best integrated headphone and amplifier system." IFA is not usually the place to find those.
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Sennheiser IFA 2022 Press event. The Fettercairn single malt scotch whisky matured in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels was an excellent companion for a listening session of the Sennheiser HE 1. Thank you to whoever took the photo!
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Yes, at IFA we can find all the latest consumer headphones, on-ear or in-ear. But the main event for Sennheiser this year was the introduction of the expanded AMBEO soundbar family of products. The big Sennheiser AMBEO soundbar developed in partnership with the Fraunhofer Institute (IIS) is well known for its incredible immersive performance. Sennheiser referred to it "as simply the best soundbar in the world." This AMBEO soundbar has been recently updated and is now known as the AMBEO Max since Sennheiser expanded the AMBEO soundbar "family." This implies there are more members in the "family."
That's what Sennheiser did, with the introduction of the AMBEO Plus, a smaller version of the original AMBEO Max. This "little brother" is supported by of an optional subwoofer, which raises the performance again to a stunning level of immersiveness. With a price of $1,499.95 (MSRP) for the Plus and $699.95 USD for the Sub, it is still not the cheapest soundbar but the demos were very convincing.
This soundbar "system" does all the Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, MPEG-H audio, and 360 Reality Audio of immersive or spatial audio. With all the top quality hardware involved in the soundbar itself to generate the same effect of a 7.1.4 system, it relies on the software to do the magic. And the auto calibrating feature does a great job adapting the soundbar to the room. Of course, it is not expected that it will work in every room as it has its limitations. But in the “average” living room it does a great job and it is easy to get hooked on this Sennheiser experience.
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Sustainability, Connectivity, and Smart Home solutions were the focus at this year’s IFA Berlin. Audio was mainly represented by some of the major brands and suppliers. There was more B2B activity and a larger percentage of trade visitors after a three-year break, despite the lockdowns and other restrictions that continue to affect parts of Asia. In the photo, Audio-Technica celebrated its 60th anniversary with a strong presence at the show.
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Another side-event was organized by Teufel, the German online sales brand. The event took place in the company's Berlin flagship store, where they want to show how they have grown to become a mature CE and audio brand that does not need to shy away from competing with the big brands. The Teufel flagship store is located in the posh “Bikini” shopping mall, near the famous Berlin Zoo. There, they announced that Teufel was also expanding its headquarters located in the same building with two more floors in the building next to it.
The event served to show how Teufel can offer a wide range of products covering the whole audio gamut, from Bluetooth party speakers to high-performance home theater complete systems. In a small showcase for IFA 2022, Teufel revealed prototypes of products to be introduced the coming year. Yes, they are really ambitious and many bigger audio brands might be sleeping a little less well.
It was also interesting to see was another German company that does something similar by selling most products online, Nubert, was present in the IFA hall that, traditionally, used to be the ‘Hifi’ hall.
And that brings us to the IFA 2022 showfloor and what was happening there in the field of audio. First of all, the traditional "Audio hall" was filled with companies that are working in or with the audio business but were not audio manufacturers or brands. Clearly there was a focus on audio products that are used by consumers while commuting to work, lifestyle products that are a fashion statement, or products where audio is just a part of the package. A good example of the latter are Livall helmets with built-in camera, warning lights, brake lights, all the communication possibilities, including making calls with wind noise cancellation, and the ability to listen to music via stereo speakers and Bluetooth.
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The Jabra booth at IFA 2022 was completely focused on promoting the latest true wireless earbuds.
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In larger quantities were wireless headphones and earbuds that are rechargeable. Since IFA 2019, wireless headphones and true wireless earbuds took over the market completely. Exotic a few years ago, now they are almost standard. Those kinds of products at IFA are traditionally at the lower end of the market - under $100 to under $20 US categories - where the lack of audio quality normally matches the low price and low quality. However, this year we could see that quality drivers, electronics, and software have become available also at the lower end of this market.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) is now common among those under $100 TWS products. Of course, there is a lot to say about the overall product quality of those solutions, but although basic, in general those are not bad products. And as the competition in this market is fierce, manufacturers squeeze every dime out of each product. The result, is that better low-cost products are pushing the quality level of the bottom-mid and mid segments. Not surprisingly, the Audio hall was filled with OEM/ODM companies presenting a barrage of these very affordable audio products in every shape, color, and theme.
As an example of evolution at the top of the scale, we could fortunately find Danish company Jabra at the show. The focus for Jabra was the introduction of its newest true wireless model, the Jabra Elite 5. This new design expands the company's considerable range with a new Hybrid ANC design, powered by the Qualcomm QCC3050 Bluetooth chipset. The Hybrid ANC performance is less sensitive to how the user positions the earbuds in the ear, ensuring a more reliable noise cancellation across a wider range of frequencies. Furthermore, it features a six-microphone call technology with external mics that are active all the time, and internal ones giving helping when it’s windy. It supports Qualcomm aptX, AAC, and SBC codecs, customizable EQ and Spotify Tap Playback. With a 7 hours play time with ANC on (28hrs with case) and IP55 rating, at a price of $149, it is a very interesting and highly competitive offer.
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The Urbanista booth was shared with the Exeger team to demonstrate the possibilities of the Powerfoyle solar cell technology.
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Giovanni Fili, the founder and CEO of Exeger, presenting at the IFA NEXT Innovation Engine stage.
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In contrast, Swedish brand Urbanista can be categorized as a lifestyle brand, where the emphasis is on design. Specifications are impressive, as great as the products look. But the Los Angeles, CA, over-ear ANC headphones and the latest Phoenix true wireless earbuds have something in common that is both unexpected and clever. On top of the headphone headband and on the sides of the earbuds' carrying case, Urbanista is using Powerfoyle solar cell material from Swedish company Exeger. This rather unique material works both outdoors (as expected) but also indoors, whenever there is light (unexpected).
The nice demo at the joint Urbanista/Exeger booth consisted of a dimmable light source and a small piece of Powerfoyle material easily generating a 12mA charging current at 3.6V. This means that the headphones hardly need to be recharged when used in the open or when exposed to light, giving the users a non-stop audio experience. The voltage was obtained with the help of a built-in DC-DC converter, optimized for the Powerfoyle material, ensuring enough power for most portable and personal electronics.
Exeger is already providing tailor made solutions to its many customers, in every single product category, since the Powerfoyle material can be made in every shape, size, and texture. At IFA, Exeger's founder and CEO, Giovanni Fili provided a presentation as part of the IFA NEXT Innovation Engine where it stated that the company is already planning expanding production and is working with some of the largest manufacturers, which for now cannot be named.
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The Frontier Smart Technologies at IFA is a meeting point for many consumer brands in the home audio and digital radio space.
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Florian Tursky, State Secretary for Digitization and Broadband of the Federal Government of Austria, visits the booth of Austrian company StreamUnlimited Engineering GmbH.
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Working in the background of the audio industry, Frontier Smart Technologies is a pioneer in technologies for digital audio and the market leader in DAB/DAB+ radios and SmartRadio solutions. At IFA 2022 - traditionally the "Berlin Radio Show" - it makes sense to look for the latest consumer radios, and Frontier showed an impressive range of radio chips and modules, from turnkey entry-level solutions to sophisticated, highly configurable options that is already supplying to leading consumer electronics brands. Its Venice X module is a complete hardware and software solution for a SmartRadio or connected audio products. The Venice X streams audio files from a variety of sources in formats including AAC, AAC+, MP3, WAV, and FLAC.
In a similar position at IFA 2022, Austrian company StreamUnlimited works behind the curtain as a strategic engineering partner and technology provider for manufacturers. The company was busy showing voice solutions and even novel applications using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in music and consumer audio, in partnership with French company GrAI Matter Labs (GML).
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Panasonic and Technics. A very large area with many products to discover after three years.
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Panasonic was another established brand with a sizable presence at IFA 2022. The company was obviously promoting its new lines of TVs, which showed real improvements. Audio is very important in this field, and Panasonic was showing significant efforts to improve the sound of a TV. In fact, Panasonic was showing TVs that do not need a soundbar to noticeably improve on sound quality. Using an array of fixed loudspeakers, the Panasonic TVs could create convincing immersive effects. Most impressive was the beamsteering ability to cover a listening position at the edge of the couch, giving others in the room the chance to do something else while you are watching TV. Furthermore Panasonic promoted the lower environmental impact of its products, where “green” living is central. When the demand is there, eco-friendly products will follow.
Although Panasonic also presented its latest range of Technics audio products, where many headphones were very visible in the very large booth, I couldn't help feeling that the Technics products lacked the attention they deserved - and normally get at high end shows. The same was visible for the 50th anniversary Technics SL-1200 Series turntables, displayed in all the available Jubilee colors and lacking the attention these products deserve.
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IFA 2022 took place in Berlin from September 2-6. Sony was a very noted absence at IFA 2022, but many Asian companies did attend, including some major brands from China. Of course, the majority attended the IFA Global Markets space, where the OEM and ODM companies renew their business. This sourcing part of the show continues to attract huge interest from industry professionals.
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The IFA Global Markets hall was the OEM and ODM space, where some Chinese companies still managed to exhibit. A rather large hall filled with little booths representing more than 300 companies providing products, parts, and services covering all the markets present at IFA. A thriving business that is at the heart of consumer electronics and an essential part of IFA. As we walked the hall, one cannot but wonder where a lot of products or parts are sourced.
All-in-all, I can say that audio at a show like IFA 2022 has changed. The big brands of the past either were not there, or were promoting mainly side announcements and events. I am wondering if there will be an “Audio hall” next year or if all the audio-related exhibits will be scattered, to be found between the Home & Entertainment, Computing & Games, Fitness & Health, or next to the Bluetooth connected toothbrushes or the talking fridge. IFA is still a place where we can see the future in consumer electronics and appliances. As such, it is still a very valuable show.
Having had our share of IFA explorations during several days, Berlin always has a lot to offer in terms of musical and cultural events for those visiting the city. To our surprise, and rather unnoticed by those attending the trade show (and even the general public), there was an organ concert by renowned Prof. Gerhard Weinberger at the “Maria unter dem Kreuz” church, playing on the famous Anton Feith organ. There's no better way to recalibrate our ears after the show, and actually living a truly “immersive” perspective of music.
Saying that there is still a lot of work to do in audio is an understatement.
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Acoustic Diffusion Research
By Norman Varney (AV RoomService)
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This article offers a valuable inside perspective about developing new diffuser solutions, and lessons learned while designing countless critical listening rooms around the world. The author was actively involved in multiple acoustics standards committees, including for testing procedures, and he explains why diffusers continue to be misunderstood and many times wrongly used. A journey that lead to the creation of the unique PolyFlex diffuser, which will scatter either horizontally or vertically, depending on the orientation, and improve clarity in speech and spatial focus without making a room sound dead and/or small. This article was originally published in audioXpress, August 2022. Read the Full Article Now Available Here
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Celestion CDX1-1412 Compact 1" Pro Sound Compression Driver
By Vance Dickason
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The Celestion CDX1-1412 Compression Driver is a compact 1" unit intended for professional audio applications, and a traditional segment for the UK-based OEM manufacturer. This driver is the latest member of Celestion's extensive CDX line of neodymium (neo) motor compression drivers, totaling 12 models at this time. This compression driver has a 25mm (1”) throat diameter driven by a 34mm (1.4”) diameter voice coil wound with round copper clad aluminum wire (CCAW) on a nonconducting former driving a single piece polyimide diaphragm and surround. Other features include a FEA-optimized neodymium ring magnet motor structure, a nominal power handling of 35W with a 70W continuous power handling rating, a 2kHz recommended crossover frequency (with a minimum 12dB/octave high-pass network), and 106dB sensitivity (1W/1m measured on a typical horn), and a two bolt M5 mounting configuration. Along with the CDX1-1412, Celestion supplied its new 1" H1-9050 90°x50° constant directivity horn. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2022. Read the Full Article Now Available Here
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of Audio Technology
audioXpress features great articles, projects, tips, and techniques for the best in quality audio. It connects manufacturers and distributors with audio engineers and enthusiasts eager for innovative solutions in sound, acoustic, and electronics.
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