INDUSTRY & PRODUCT NEWS

  

Steinberg Releases Cubase Elements 8 Entry-Level DAW

Steinberg released Cubase Elements 8, the entry-level music production system for sound recording, editing, and mixing, with many new features and enhancements that greatly expand on proven standards and technologies from Cubase. It is a great software package at only $99.99. Read More



 

2015 NAB Show Expands To Over One Million Net Square Feet
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced that some 244 companies will exhibit at the NAB Show for the first time in 2015. The NAB Show, held April 11-16, 2015, in Las Vegas, NV, is the world's largest broadcast and media technology show and this year's edition has expanded to more than one million net square feet of exhibit space.   Read More

 


 

The Loudspeaker Sourcing Show to Provide International Legal Services
More than 38 vetted suppliers and OEM assemblers plan to participate in the first edition of The Loudspeaker Sourcing Show in Guangzhou, China. Since doing business in China has all several associated legal issues, the promoters invited one of China's most respected legal firms to attend the show to have an international representative on hand.   Read More

 

 

Energy-Friendly IC and Evaluation Kit for iOS Audio Accessory Development
Silicon Labs now offers a digital audio bridge chip and evaluation kit designed to simplify the development of accessories for iOS devices with Lightning connectors. Target applications include guitar and microphone recording dongles, audio docks, and headphones. The CP2614 IC also provides built-in support for communication between iOS applications and accessory hardware, enabling a broad array of Internet of Things (IoT) accessories that operate with a companion iOS app.

 

ALMA International Launches Video on Demand Service

The Association of Loudspeaker Manufacturing & Acoustics (ALMA) International has announced the launch of its Video on Demand service, which is now live. The new service will enable loudspeaker industry participants to access some of the seminars, papers, and forums from ALMA International's Winter Symposium. This new service will be of enormous value to those unable to attend the Winter Symposium, as well as those who were unable to attend every event session.

Samsung New Wireless Speaker Emits Sound in All Directions
 

Following the preview at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015, Samsung Electronics launched its Radiant360 R7 Wireless Speaker. No doubt, Samsung's first omnidirectional s peaker offers a sleek, unique design. The sleek oval-shaped R7 uses a "Ring Radiator" technology to deliver 360� of sound and was developed in Samsung's new state-of-the-art Audio Lab in Valencia, CA.

 

Jo�o Martins
Editor-in-Chief


Editor's Desk

High-Flying Audio Industry


In the next few days, don't be surprised if many industry executives do not reply to your email messages. In fact, many will hardly have time to catch-up on their most urgent emails since they will be either in the middle of a busy trade show or flying across the continents and praying their flights don't get delayed or their luggage lost.

 

That's what happens when the audio industry is confronted with multiple consecutive events like we are facing this month. Some folks are just returning from the Prolight+Sound Guangzhou show (April 5-8) and heading straight to Las Vegas, NV, for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show (exhibits from April 13-16).

 

With more than 98,000 attendees from 150 countries and more than 1,700 exhibitors expected for the 2015 convention, the NAB Show is the world's largest gathering of vendors driving the future of media and entertainment. The evolution towards IP technologies, audio-networking standards being adopted for major live productions and broadcast, and the debate around ATSC 3.0 standards will be the main topics for this year's NAB convention.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) will be evaluating the new immersive audio proposals from three audio system proponents - Dolby Laboratories, DTS, and an alliance of Fraunhaufer, Qualcomm, and Technicolor.

 

The same week, many industry executives will be rushing from Vegas to Frankfurt, Germany, where the Prolight+Sound and Musikmesse shows open their doors (April 15-18). Major announcements and exciting product launches from some of the largest professional audio manufacturers are already promised with a full agenda of events for the first three days.

 

And if broadcast or professional audio is not your field, head for Chicago, IL, for the 2015 Audio Expo North America (AXPONA - April 24-26) at The Westin O' Hare Hotel. This will be a major event for North America's audio enthusiasts, with hundreds of exhibits, live demonstrations, and daily seminars.

Oliver A. Masciarotte


Guest Editorial

The Future in High Resolution Audio

 

There's been a recent discussion in a LinkedIn forum that got me thinking. The conversation centers on whether high-resolution audio (HRA) is relevant given that consumers will always choose convenience over quality when faced with that choice. Is HRA a technological solution in search of a problem? Do up and coming demographics not perceive the differences between quality audio and crappy substitutes? Interesting questions.

 

Since the dawn of canned sound, from wax to wire and from vinyl to virtual, recorded sound has slowly moved from lower fidelity to higher. All factors being equal, any human will instinctively pick what they perceive as more enjoyable over a lesser alternative. As engineers and pro practitioners, we know that playback which best translates the emotion and joy that a performance contains will "win" over a lower quality alternative. New portable players and smartphones that provide a high-quality listening experience, along with lossless streaming from OraStream and TIDAL along with emerging standards, including WiSA, have multiplied the convenience factor already pioneered by Sonos, Olive, and others. Convenience no longer equates to low-fidelity, removing a barrier to delivering that emotional connection of which artists dream.

 

There once were some oft-cited studies that purported to demonstrate that "young people" and other naive listeners can't tell the difference between a highly compressed and CD version of the same song. Subjectively, we know that's jive and more recent, well constructed studies have disproved that old supposition. When a consumer is truly interested in a topic and has the time and disposable income, they tend to vote with their wallets. That immediately eliminates younger demographics, which is where ad dollars tend to be spent since they're easy marks. We as an industry need to "educate up," as my mentors are fond of saying. Some of today's young disposable listeners will become tomorrow's dedicated connoisseurs.

 

Now that the readily available technology for HRA delivery is out there, easy to use, and semi-affordable, younger generations are maturing with higher resolution entertainment and will be expecting it as their buying powers increase. All we have to do is enable and support their improving perceptions.

 

As a little green Jedi might say, "Patience... we must have." Patience to not expect overnight miracles and the foresight to know that with maturity comes discernment.

 

Voice Coil Spotlight

Understanding Horn

Directivity Control

 

By Charlie Hughes

 

Horns are often used in loudspeaker systems for a variety of reasons. One may be to provide increased acoustical loading to the driver attached to the horn. This helps to increase the sensitivity/efficiency. Another may be to provide some control over the radiation pattern of the driver attached to the horn. This article focuses on the directivity control aspect. It was originally published in Voice Coil, November 2010.  Read More


From the Vault

Interview with Nelson Pass 

 

By Jan Didden

 

Over the years, Audio Amateur and audioXpress magazines have featured some of the best Nelson Pass projects. The A40 power amplifier article was published in The Audio Amateur, April 1978, and the A75 power amplifier article appeared in The Audio Amateur, April 1992 and January 1993. His other works are posted at www.passdiy.com. From LP cutter-head electronics to car amps, from the 1 kW/channel X1000.5 to the 10 W/ch FirstWatt series, from open baffles to giant pipe speakers, Nelson Pass has designed them all... and successfully so. Learn more in this interview originally published in audioXpress on May 2010. 


 

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