Voice Coil November 2023. It's All About the Bass!
From midbass to bass, Voice Coil November 2023 provides the lowdown on some of the loudspeaker industry's most interesting developments. James Croft explores a recently granted "Venturi expander" patent. Mike Klasco explores speaker design and signal processing techniques to achieve more bass, and Vance Dickason characterizes the Wavecor WF152BD09-04 6" midbass driver, and the UF295FAS Ultra Flat Series 10" thin-profile dipole woofer from Neotera.
Klipsch Debuts Premium Portable Bluetooth Speakers with Broadcast Mode
Klipsch has announced the debut of the Klipsch Music City Series of portable Bluetooth 5.3 speakers. With three models named Austin, Nashville, and Detroit, the new speaker range was inspired by the legendary artists and musical genres of iconic American music cities. Each speaker offers a unique set of features and combination of drivers, surpassing expectations regarding bass, and allowing a party mode with multiple speakers playing from the source.
DiGiCo and Fourier Audio Transform Live Sound with Dante-Connected Hardware Engine for VST3 Plugins
Building upon the earlier announcement of industry pioneer DiGiCo acquiring Fourier Audio, during the AES convention in New York, the British startup finally revealed the transform.engine, previously known as codename "Project Core." transform.engine runs VST3 plugins directly, giving access on DiGiCo consoles to any studio-grade processing on a lowest-latency robust platform, specifically designed for the complexities of live productions.
Klippel Releases dB-Lab Version 212 and QC 7 Update
Klippel released the dB-Lab 212.616 and QC 7.5 maintenance update for the Klippel Analyzer System. The October 2023 software release is now available and features significant revisions to the Klippel Endurance Test (KET) as well as extended analysis opportunities for R&D modules like Multi-Tone Measurement (MTON) and Time Frequency Analysis (TFA). The update is free of charge for all users running dB-Lab 212 or QC7.
Bang & Olufsen Designs Wireless Earbuds for Cisco Webex Meetings and Calling
Following a previous collaboration with Cisco to design the 980 headset, Danish brand Bang & Olufsen now created the Cisco 950 wireless earbuds, based on the Beoplay EX, but equipped with features critical for today's hybrid workforce, including enhanced security and device management for IT teams in companies that don't allow bring-your-own devices. The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 wireless earbuds can seamlessly interoperate and are optimized for Webex Meetings and Calling.
Eleven Engineering SKAA-Enabled USB-C Transmitters Are Now iPhone Compatible
When it comes to robust, reliable, one-to-many, wireless audio transmission without compromise, there's a company from Canada that, for more than a decade, offers a complete solution that remains a sort of secret weapon in the audio and consumer electronics industries. That company is Eleven Engineering, Inc., and the technology is known as SKAA, which is now about to become far more easy to use. The reason is Apple's iPhone migration to USB-C connectors, making it possible to just plug-in a SKAA transmitter.
Digital Audio Denmark Introduces DADlink High-Speed Connection
During the 2023 AES Convention in New York, Digital Audio Denmark (DAD) announced DADlink, a new proprietary audio and data format that establishes a super-fast connection between DADlink-compatible units such as the AX64, AX Center, Core 256, AX32, and other DAD audio interfaces. Depending on the sample rate, DADlink handles up to 128 bidirectional channels between units with a latency of less than 100 nano seconds.
Goldmund Introduces Melos Active Wireless Speaker
Swiss luxury audio manufacturer Goldmund, a name synonymous with precision and opulence, introduced its latest "entry-level" marvel, the Melos Active Wireless Loudspeakers. These compact wireless speakers offer everything a proud owner would expect from this type of design, plus the exclusive privileges of the "harmonious union of advanced technology and meticulous craftsmanship" that Goldmund offers.
Patent Review: Smart Bass Reflex Loudspeaker
James Croft (Croft Acoustical) reviews a very curious patent from Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Reno, NV), filed in 2013, and awarded in April 2017. Basically, the patent discusses a new technique to tune a port of a loudspeaker, in this case multiple ports that will be open or selectively closed, in function of an analysis of the frequencies of the signal being played. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2018.
Simulation Techniques: Loudspeaker Driver Displacement Decomposition
This article by René Christensen (BSEE, MSc, PhD), offers a valuable tutorial that discusses the unique possibilities of three-dimensional analysis of loudspeaker driver displacement, using Phase Decomposition and Axial-Symmetrical Decomposition techniques. The article demonstrates how a total displacement on a cone surface can be decomposed into different components directly in COMSOL Multiphysics, and how this can reveal some of the underlying mechanisms of the driver.