INDUSTRY & PRODUCT NEWS

Roland Acquires Majority Stake in Headphone Lifestyle Brand V-MODA

In 2015, Roland announced a collaboration with lifestyle and DJ brand V-MODA, targeting fashion-conscious DJs and musicians with the M-100 AIRA headphones, combining the DJ-acclaimed V-MODA Crossfade M-100 over-ear headphones with the brand's own AIRA range of retro-inspired electronic musical instruments. The alliance was apparently a success because Roland has decided to acquire a majority stake in V-MODA. Read More

Yamaha Nuage Version 1.8 Update Embraces Dolby Atmos With Full Steinberg Nuendo 7.1 Support

Yamaha has released a software upgrade for its Nuage DAW system, featuring enhancements that make it an ideal environment for Dolby Atmos surround production and 3D audio. Since its introduction in 2012, the Nuage integrated hardware solution was gradually adopted for commercial production applications, from audio post-production to music recording and mixing. The new 1.8 update will increase the appeal on film and TV soundtrack mixing by providing full support for the 3D surround MultiPanner included with Steinberg's Nuendo 7.1 DAW. Read More

New High-Quality Heavy-Duty Neodymium High-Frequency Drivers from MAG Audio

MAG Audio, the professional transducer and speaker systems manufacturer from Ukraine, introduced a new line of lightweight high-performance high-frequency compression drivers. Following the introduction of the new N7000 series at trade shows, including Prolight+Sound 2016 in Frankfurt, MAG Audio now confirms availability of all three 2.8" aluminum voice coil titanium dome based models, with 1.4", 1.5" and 2" throat diameters for different horn designs. Read More

Jo�o

Martins

Editor-in-Chief

Editor's Desk

Essential Loudspeaker Knowledge


The Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook is the most comprehensive collection of listings on loudspeaker materials ever assembled.

For 2016, our yearly Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook (LIS 2016) directory gained an entirely new dimension. First, there's the new website, where all vendors, service providers, and industry professionals are now able to continuously update their information throughout the year, while the database driven interface will make it easier than ever for anyone in the industry looking for loudspeaker resources to find what they need.

The online directory was recently updated with all the information submitted for our 2016 Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook print edition, which contains complete listings and the already familiar category indexes, which make this annual publication such an invaluable resource for the industry.

And of course, in the best tradition of the Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook, the 2016 printed edition contains more than the listings, featuring a complete series of must-read articles for anyone in the audio industry. This includes a series of great Industry Features: Peter Larsen, Loudsoft President, discusses Fast Rub and Buzz Testing; Wolfgang Klippel (Klippel), talks in depth about the Assessment of Transducer Components; Simon Forrest, Senior Marketing Manager at Imagination Technologies, explains the challenges of Wireless Speaker Synchronization and how his company created a solution; Vanessa Rene (Ferrotec), Mike Klasco and Steve Tatarunis (Menlo Scientific) discuss Design Rules for Ferrofluids in Today's Speaker Applications; while Paul Beckmann (DSP Concepts) presents a simple DSP solution for loudspeaker engineers, even those without coding skills, to employ.

And... as the tradition for any Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook demands, we have surveyed an expert panel of audio professionals about some of the most important facts and trends affecting the industry. In LIS 2016, we asked them about the technologies, products, and innovations that impressed them the most in the past year; their opinions on growth opportunities at the global or local/regional levels; how loudspeaker manufacturing should react to gain competitiveness; which trends in the consumer space, like wireless connectivity, wearable technologies, or IP connectivity, they think should be a major focus for loudspeaker designers and companies.

We also asked our panel about their views on major technology disruptions, such as USB-C and Apple Lightning connectors replacing the venerable analog jacks on computers and mobile devices, digital signal processing, and high-resolution audio, among many other important topics. We are certain their replies will provide an interesting overview and food for thought.

Morel LIS 2016 Cover Sponsor

Nothing of this magnitude would be possible without our LIS 2016 Cover Sponsor, Morel, which supported this publication for the fourth consecutive year.

Morel was established in 1975 by Meir Mordechai, inspired by his love of music and motivated by a dream to create a loudspeaker that would capture the magic in music in the most natural way. Over the years, Morel has developed an enviable reputation for technological innovation and design excellence. The company's drivers are utilized worldwide in some of the most demanding, high-end products. Having its in-house design, R&D, and manufacturing all under one roof enables Morel to deliver unprecedented quality.


Meir Mordechai, Morel's founder and president with his son, Oren Mordechai, Executive VP and Head of R&D

Morel is renowned for more than just advanced technology and the latest industrial tools. The human touch is an absolute necessity. Each Morel product is hand assembled and extensively tested to ensure that it meets the highest standards. The personal knowledge and proprietary advancements, gained by Morel's dedicated team over four decades of experimenting with sound, permeate all its products.

Morel celebrates its 40th anniversary with new innovations-moving forward with its vast experience and know-how. Morel's R&D team has been concentrating on transforming its drivers to meet new product design requirements-requiring shallow profile cabinets, high Xmax, and high power handling. The new MSW Series is a great testament to the company's shift in driver design, with many more products planned for release during the second quarter of 2016.

From the Vault

A Prototyping System for Passive Crossovers

By Ramkumar Ramaswamy

Speed up your crossover prototyping and preserve your crossover components with this true plug-and-play approach. As the author, Ramkumar Ramaswamy explains, today's computer simulation software allows you to design passive crossovers extremely accurately. Nevertheless, the proof of the pudding invariably lies in building a "brick-and-mortar" prototype that you can plug some real drivers into, and play around with some real component values to achieve the final result. "Is there a way to effortlessly and reliably plug and play with a set of (fixed) capacitors across crossover prototypes without the fear of ending up with broken leads? This question drove me to design this passive crossover prototyping system", he explains. This article was originally published in audioXpress, March 2007. Read the Full Article Available Here

Voice Coil Test Bench

Celestion FTX0820 8" Coaxial Woofer/Compression Driver

By Vance Dickason

This month, the driver to be characterized is the FTX0820, a new coax from Celestion. The OEM-only FTX range covers 12" (305 mm), 8" (200 mm), and 6.5" (165 mm) chassis diameters, and features fully combined low-frequency and high-frequency components that are powered by a Common Magnet Motor Assembly (where the same magnet is used for both the low-frequency and high-frequency elements). This enables the voice coils (and hence the acoustic centers of the two drivers) to be brought closer together, delivering tight signal coherence and time alignment. The FTX0820 is built on a four-spoke octagonal shaped cast aluminum frame. Attached to the frame is the woofer/compression driver finite element analysis (FEA) optimized ferrite motor structure with the compression driver diaphragm assembly attached to the woofer back plate T-yoke and firing into what would normally be a pole vent working as the horn throat. Attached to the top of the hollow pole piece is a short flared conical aluminum horn that completes the compression driver. The FTX0820's woofer cone assembly includes a curvilinear Kevlar loaded paper cone suspended by a black M-shaped coated cloth surround and a 4.5" diameter elevated cloth spider. The motor structure consists of a 155-mm diameter, 22-mm thick ferrite magnet sandwiched between the front and the rear plates that have a black emissive coating. Celestion has also incorporated a demodulation ring (shorting ring or Faraday Shield) in this motor system. For the high-frequency compression driver, Celestion incorporated a polyimide diaphragm coupled to a 34-mm (1.4") voice coil wound with edge-wound copper-clad aluminum wire. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, October 2015. Read the Full Article Online

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audioXpress | Voice Coil | LIS

Advancing the Evolution of Audio Technology

audioxpress features great articles, projects, tips and techniques for producing the best in quality audio. It connects manufacturers and distributors with audio engineers and enthusiasts eager for innovative solutions in sound, acoustic and electronics.

Voice Coil, the periodical for the loudspeaker industry, delivers product reviews, company profiles, industry news, and design tips straight to professional audio engineers and manufacturers who have the authority to make powerful purchasing decisions.

The Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook is the most comprehensive collection of listings on loudspeaker material in the industry. Purchasers and decision makers refer to the guide for an entire year when making selections on drivers, finished systems, adhesives, domes, crossovers, voice coils, and everything in between.