All items in category Magazine Articles
MEMS and Other Leading-Edge Devices for Wearables - 2021 Update
by Mike Klasco

MEMS and Other Leading-Edge Devices for Wearables - 2021 Update

In this article for Voice Coil, Mike Klasco (Menlo Scientific) recaps MEMS Drivers and related hot technologies for 2021, providing an update about products and companies that stood out in 2020. The article, which summarizes the more extensive reports published by audioXpress in January 2020 and 2021, looks at the impact of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for audio and discusses the implications for other game-changing technologies that reduce size, increase performance, extend battery life, and enhance features and functionality in headphones, wearables and compact speakers.
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Patent Review: Diaphragm for Full Range Boxless Rotary Loudspeaker Driver
by James Croft

Patent Review: Diaphragm for Full Range Boxless Rotary Loudspeaker Driver

Following a recent exchange with loudspeaker designer and inventor John J. Gaudreault, we decided to revisit the very original Planar-Pivot (Planot) Transducer, and make available the two related articles that were published by Voice Coil in its May 2011 edition, and the respective Patent Review by James Croft published in the August edition of that same year. Hoping this will inspire some commercial implementations of this interesting concept, available for licensing.
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Fresh From the Bench: Widex Moment mRIC RD Hearing Aid
by Brent Butterworth

Fresh From the Bench: Widex Moment mRIC RD Hearing Aid

In this article for audioXpress, Brent Butterworth reviews the Widex Moment mRIC RD hearing aids. In a first for his career as a regular reviewer of headphones, hi-fi components, and other consumer audio products, Butterworth spent considerable time with the Widex Moment, one of the newest entries in the high-tech hearing aid category. His review objectively looks at the differences and similarities in the critical sound experience.This article was originally published in audioXpress, February 2021.
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R&D Stories: The Impact of Acoustic Spatial Resolution in a 3D Space
by Erica Yorga

R&D Stories: The Impact of Acoustic Spatial Resolution in a 3D Space

Nureva's Microphone Mist technology is a patented concept of generating thousands of virtual microphones in a 3D space. This article explains why this can be the alternative approach to the status quo of physical microphones and beamformer systems to create perfect audio conferencing solutions in any type of room and with multiple users. This article was originally published in audioXpress, February 2021.
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Patent Review: Two Single-Ended Planar-Magnetic Speaker Patents
by James Croft

Patent Review: Two Single-Ended Planar-Magnetic Speaker Patents

James Croft reviews two loudspeaker-related patents as a tribute to David John Graebener, who passed away on January 3, 2015. First James Croft reviews the planar-magnetic electro-acoustic transducer he patented together with Graebener, followed by a single-end planar magnetic speaker system, David’s key patent. These were the first and second of the Single-Ended, Neodymium planar magnetic transducer patents David Graebener was granted. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, March 2015.
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Patent Review: Loudspeaker With a Wave Guide
by James Croft

Patent Review: Loudspeaker With a Wave Guide

This patent review looks at a “Loudspeaker with a Wave Guide” (Patent Number: US20140369543) by inventors Jussi Vaisanen and Ilpo Martikainen from Finish company Genelec. This patent relates to the Genelec 8351 Acoustically Coaxial Smart Active Monitor (SAM) monitor, originally launched in 2016. Later in 2017, Genelec expanded the concept into a complete series of Coaxial Active Monitors, “The Ones”. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2015.
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Electrostatic Pure Silicon Microspeakers for Wireless Earbuds
by Hermann Schenk

Electrostatic Pure Silicon Microspeakers for Wireless Earbuds

This contributed article by Hermann Schenk, and Lutz Ehrig describes a new transducer technology that promises to be a power efficient solution for wireless earbuds. Arioso Systems is a successful Fraunhofer IPMS spin-off company that is now launching an innovative sound transducer principle for miniaturized headphones, in-ears and hearables. The article describes how this new technology, and specifically the company's new MEMS topology can contribute to the next-generation of true wireless earbuds.
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Patent Review: Compact Stand-Alone Stereo Loudspeaker
by James Croft

Patent Review: Compact Stand-Alone Stereo Loudspeaker

James Croft looks at an interesting new patent covering a “Compact Stand-Alone Stereo Loudspeaker” by inventor Jes Mosgaard from Libratone A/S (Denmark). This patent submitted in 2010, was granted in 2013, and describes a compact and portable stereo loudspeaker system that is capable of providing a spacious sound field using an internal stereo pair of loudspeakers arranged in a dipole configuration. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2015.
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Fresh From the Bench: QuantAsylum QA401 and QA451 Compact and Modular Audio Measurement System
by David Logvin

Fresh From the Bench: QuantAsylum QA401 and QA451 Compact and Modular Audio Measurement System

On the cover of audioXpress December 2020, many of our readers instantly recognized the familiar look of the increasingly popular QuantAsylum QA401 audio analyzer. What many readers didn't recognize by then was the second module, the completely new QA451 programmable load, so new that audioXpress tested a pre-production version. In this review article, David Logvin shares his valuable perspective on this modular solution for audio measurements from QuantAsylum.
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Fresh From the Bench: The Puffin Phono DSP by Parks Audio
by Mike Harkins

Fresh From the Bench: The Puffin Phono DSP by Parks Audio

In this article, Mike Harkins reviews the versatile Puffin Phono DSP by Parks Audio. For those of you who are not familiar with Parks Audio, this company was founded by Shannon Parks, who has also contributed fantastic articles published by audioXpress. After experimenting with several other products, Parks Audio has achieved notoriety for its phono stage Puffin, which adds a programmable DSP and is able to be updated and improved constantly with simple firmware updates. A new approach that truly takes the concept of a phono stage to a different level. This article was originally published in audioXpress, December 2020.
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