Rational Acoustics Smaart Adds Integrated Control for Audient EVO Audio Interfaces
Rational Acoustics and Audient announced the integration between the recently updated Smaart v9 audio and acoustical measurement software and the Audient EVO line of USB-C audio interfaces. The Smaart 9.1 update integrates the controls for phantom power and gain for Audient’s EVO devices - EVO 4, 8, and 16 - directly from within the Smaart interface. Additionally, gain tracking may be enabled to allow for automatic decibel offset recalculation for calibrated inputs.
Powersoft ArmoníaPlus 2.5 Update Adds Further AES67 Support
Following the updates announced in September 2022 introducing AES67-compatible versions of its Powersoft's Duecanali and Quattrocanali amplifier platforms oriented towards fixed installations, the company now expanded its software support. Version 2.5 of ArmoníaPlus adds support for new AES67-compatible Mezzo amplifier models and dynamic music distribution sources, as well as a new priority input feature.
Second-Generation AirPods Pro Launch Expands Apple Market Share in the Global TWS Market
As overall sales of headphones have decreased 4% in the third quarter of 2022, according to market research firm Canalys, the true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds category continues to lead in the personal audio space. Among the winners in this extremely competitive, low margin environment, Apple stands out with the second-generation AirPods Pro generating an important boost in sales in that quarter - and most likely all through the holidays.
Rotel Launches All-in-One Integrated Amplifier, DAC and Network Streamer
Sooner or later, even the most traditional hifi component manufacturers realize some users simply want a decent quality music source to connect to good quality speakers, and no fuss. Even Japanese brand Rotel acknowledges the need to offer an updated design that could serve this market, with room to grow. The result is the S14 Integrated Network Streamer, which is a nice integrated amplifier with a color display, offering discerning listeners a high-performance way to access and enjoy online music with ease.
Gaudio Lab Audio Technologies Recognized with Two CES 2023 Innovation Awards
Gaudio Lab, the innovative audio technology solutions company from Seoul, South Korea, received two CES 2023 Innovation Awards ahead of the company's presentation at the world's biggest consumer technology trade show, taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, 5-8 January, 2023. Gaudio Lab was honored with two awards for its Loudness Management 1 (LM1) technology, and for the Gaudio Spatial Audio (GSA) audio software for wireless earbuds.
Bringing Directionality to Consumer Products
Soundskrit is the company behind the world's smallest directional microphone. Hailing from Montreal, Canada, the startup has cracked the code on eliminating unwanted noise at the hardware level – a never-before-seen feat for consumer product integrations. The Soundskrit SKR0400 directional MEMS microphone, combined with proprietary software is able to isolate a person's voice while eliminating any other sounds and noise surrounding it.
Voice Coil Focus-Audio Manufacturing Sourcing: The Philippines
Loudspeaker manufacturers need to multiply their efforts to make their supply chains more resilient, and it becomes important to know alternative suppliers in multiple regions of the world. Among the established alternatives in the Pacific region, The Philippines has been a long recognized location for reliable companies, including some of the world's leading OEM/ODM suppliers. The article, originally published in Voice Coil, August 2022, includes a small directory of audio factories in the Philippines.
R&D Stories: How to Choose the Right Signal Processing Technique
The Chief Science Officer at AudioTelligence discusses the merits and challenges of using beamforming and blind source separation techniques to correctly process voice sources from the audio signals picked up by microphones in real-world situations. This article explains how these signal processing techniques can help deal with the noises that make it difficult to pick out and clearly hear voice, and how to obtain clean audio signals picked up by microphones contaminated with interference, noise, and reverberation. This article was originally published in audioXpress, November 2022.
Solid State Logic Introduces SSL 12 USB-C Desktop Audio Interface
Solid State Logic announced the new SSL 12 USB-C desktop audio interface. The new SSL 12, priced at $499, is a 12-in 8-out bus-powered audio interface that combines professional features in a portable desktop format. Building on the success of the existing SSL 2 and SSL 2+ interface models, the new SSL 12 expands in almost every way; more microphone preamplifiers, enhanced headphone performance, advanced routing and monitor controls, ADAT input, as well as next-gen converters delivering superior audio performance.
Three-Day Lecture by Wolfgang Klippel Back in March 2023
After a 3-year break, the popular 3-Day Lecture "Sound Quality of Audio Systems" will be back in March 2023. The three-day event, now titled "Sound Quality of Audio Systems - Modeling, Measurement & Control," combines both theory and practice and will take place March 13-15, 2023, at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany. Registration for the lecture is now open for a fee for general admission and is free for students.