INDUSTRY & PRODUCT NEWS

Kidz Gear Announces Bluetooth Wireless Headphones

Designed for Kids

Kidz Gear Bluetooth Stereo Headphones are for kids to use in school, at home, or anywhere-providing freedom from tangled and broken wires. Featuring Bluetooth 4.0 with KidzSync Auto-Syncing Technology, the headphones can also be fitted with an omnidirectional boom microphone and work with smartphones, tablets, Kindles, Nooks, and any computer. Read More

LabNation Compact Open Source USB Oscilloscope Supports Apple iPad, Android, Microsoft Windows, and Linux

Belgian company LabNation has announced the launch of its open source USB oscilloscope, SmartScope. The lightweight device supports all PC and mobile operating systems and is directly powered from the host's USB interface making it ideal for many test and measurement applications away from the workbench. Read More

RØDE Introduces New Products and Enters New Categories at IBC 2015

Australian pro audio manufacturer RØDE has announced an exciting array of new products at the annual International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) show in Amsterdam, including microphones, a digital interface, two boom poles, and a new wireless audio kit. Targeting both Apple iOS devices and professional audio solutions, wireless and wired, RØDE continues to innovate in every product category. Read More

Tascam Announces DA-6400 64-Track Solid-State Recorder with MADI and Dante I/O Option Cards

The DA-6400 records 64 tracks at 48 kHz/24 bit or 32 tracks at 96 kHz/24 bit. Included on the rear panel are SMPTE timecode, word clock, RS-422, parallel, and Gigabit Ethernet connections. Designed for live recording, the new Tascam recorder includes an internal SSD Drive and features MADI and Dante optional audio networking. Read More

IBC 2015 Tackles the Challenges of Change for Television

The International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2015 was agreed to be extremely successful. According to the promoters, the best yet (but they always say that). Measured in terms of conference content and event quality, we have to agree. It wasn't the best for product announcements but it was certainly exciting for the technology previews. Read More

Boston 2015 COMSOL Conference on Multiphysics Simulation to Feature Focus Session on Acoustics Simulation

The COMSOL Conference 2015 on multiphysics simulation and application design will be held October 7-9, at the Boston Marriott Newton, Newton, MA. COMSOL's annual event includes a multitude of hands-on sessions, networking opportunities, keynote talks from industry leaders, and hundreds of user presentations. Read More

JBL Professional 7 Series Next-Generation Monitoring System Is Shipping

JBL Professional's new 7 Series Master Reference Monitors have been developed to meet the requirements of post-production and broadcast control rooms. Originally introduced at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) 2014 Convention in Los Angeles, CA, in 2014, the new 708i 8" two-way, and 705i 5" two-way are part of complete 5.1, 7.1, and immersive sound monitoring systems. Read More

MISCO Extends Testing and Acoustic Design Lab Services with Warkwyn Acquisition

Loudspeaker and audio systems manufacturer MISCO has acquired Warkwyn Associates, an independent acoustic design, measurement, and testing lab. MISCO president Dan Digre says that Warkwyn will continue to provide its same high level of services for current Warkwyn customers. Warkwyn has relocated from Pakenham, ON, Canada to MISCO's home base of Minneapolis, MN. Read More

Jan

Didden

Linear Audio
Editor

Guest Editorial

Don't Be Such a Scientist!

Most of us audio types probably visit an audio forum once in a while -- some of us daily. And if you do, you are familiar with the scenario: an "engineering type" gets involved and starts to explain an issue. Most engineering types like to explain things, to tell others with less experience and knowledge what they are doing wrong and how they can do it better. They inundate you with facts, figures, links to engineering papers, and so forth, and expect that the other guy flows over with gratitude. But, funny enough, it doesn't happen that way. The "other guy" gets angry about being corrected all the time. He didn't come here for that, he came to talk about his projects, and discuss his hobby and his latest creation.

Remember Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth? Shortly before that another similar documentary was released: Too Hot Not To Handle.

Both of them were on the issue of global warming.

But, do you remember that other documentary? Neither did I. Did you know that Gore's movie, which is basically a spiced-up PowerPoint presentation, earned $50 million? What made these movies so different? Too Hot Not To Handle was 100% accurate, had all the right figures and simulations. It was also boring. An Inconvenient Truth has been shown to have some errors in a few places (although accurate in a general sense). Some of the graphs were "enhanced" to let the trend stand out better. But it was NOT boring, because it appealed not just to the brain, but also to the heart, to the gut; and then there was Gore's sex appeal (it's the eye of the beholder, of course).

Then, there was Randy Olson, a guy who left a tenured position (the pot of gold for any academic person) to go to Hollywood. A scientist turned communicator. His short movie Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus earned him praise because it was a scientific movie that got to the heart, the gut, and so forth. It may seem preposterous to compare an audio forum with a successful moviemaker, but we can all learn a lot here, especially we engineering types.

If you, as an engineer, want to explain to a friend or colleague that he has his cascodes all wrong, you are in the same business as Hollywood. You are telling a story that you hope will stick and have an effect. So far, Hollywood is much, much better at it.

Facts are important. Engineering is important; none of our audio marvels would exist without solid engineering. Errors should be avoided. But, if the story you tell is boring, you're wasting your time. And as soon as you find out you're wasting your time, you get frustrated and angry - you've lost.

Tell the engineering story from the heart, from the guts. Tell your own crooked path to learning, making mistakes, the joy of doing it right. By all means, be sure to get the facts straight. But don't be boring, don't be such a scientist!

Reference: Randy Olson, "Don't be such a scientist - Talking substance in an age of Style".

Call for Submissions

The January 2016 edition of audioXpress (the NAMM 2016 issue) will be dedicated in part to guitar or musical instruments amplifiers, effects, recording, and related projects. We are looking for some great DIY articles or development stories, and we are hoping you have been busy working on projects that you would like to share with our readers!

The submission deadline for the January issue is the first week of November. If you are interested, have an idea, or know someone who is working on a project and might want to submit an article, send us an email.

From the Vault

Grounding and System Interfacing

By Gary Galo

Inspired by a presentation by Bill Whitlock, President of Jensen Transformers - a three-hour tutorial seminar titled "Audio System Grounding and Shielding: An Overview" - during the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in New York, Gary Galo decided to investigate a little more into the subject and do some reviews of the mentioned equipment. "It's time to clear up some misconceptions regarding grounding and audio gear," says Gary Galo in this article, originally published in audioXpress January 2007. Read the Full Article Available Online

Voice Coil Spotlight

New EC Driver Technology

By Jens H. Waale

In this article, originally published in Voice Coil April 2014, the author and inventor describes the Eddy Current (EC) driver concept, a new kind of electromagnetic transducer for sound and ultrasound reproduction. The transducer is unique among electromagnetic transducers in that the force acting on the membrane is uniformly distributed over much of it, as in an electrostatic sound transducer, but with substantially more power per square unit. As a narrow-band transducer, the driver can become exceedingly efficient in multiple applications. Read The Full Article Available Online

AX October 2015: Digital Login

VC October 2015: Digital Login

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