Western Electric 91E Integrated Stereo Amplifier Available for Pre-Order
audioXpress readers have long been anticipating the announcement, and Western Electric finally confirmed that the company is taking orders for the new 91E integrated amplifier. Following the resumed production of the 300B triode tubes at the modern Rossville Works facility, Western Electric now launches a single-ended (SE) high-fidelity amplifier inspired by the 91A, its famous predecessor used in early Hollywood motion pictures. The new SE design offers over 20 watts per channel - a first for the 300B in a totally new design for the 21st Century.
Shure Introduces AONIC 40 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones
Shure introduced its AONIC 40 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones at CES 2022. Building on the existing AONIC 50 Headphones and recently launched AONIC FREE Sound Isolating Earphones, the AONIC 40 model broadens the Shure Wireless portfolio to more acutely meet the needs of on-the-go music lovers, commuters, and travel enthusiasts. Essentially offering studio-quality sound in a rugged, portable design, the AONIC 40 headphones deliver adjustable noise cancellation, comfort, and portability with long-lasting battery life, and customizable EQ.
Samsung and DSP Concepts Collaborate on Voice Controlled Portable Projector and Smart Speaker
DSP Concepts, the creator of the Audio Weaver development framework that powers sound and voice functionality for many of the world's leading consumer and automotive brands, announced that it is working with Samsung on a new concept product. Introduced at CES 2022, "The Freestyle" is a portable projector with an integrated smart speaker. DSP Concepts collaborated with Samsung to provide voice pre-processing to ensure accurate voice command recognition.
GaN Systems and Axign Demonstrate New 500W Class-D Reference Audio Amplifier
GaN Systems, the leading GaN power semiconductor specialist and audio technology innovator Axign, debuted a new groundbreaking GaN-based 500W Class-D audio amplifier. This reference design merges best-in-class technologies, including GaN Systems’ GaN power transistors and Axign’s Class-D controller, enabling companies to create unique audio systems that are smaller, sleeker, more efficient, more powerful, and provide better audio quality than previous generations.
Syntiant Announces Voice-Enabled Ultra-Low-Power Reference Design for TWS Earbud Applications
Syntiant, the company focused on making edge AI a reality for always-on applications, announced a new reference design that will enable ODMs and OEMs to easily and quickly deploy ultra-low-power, edge AI voice processing applications in true wireless earbuds. The solution enables multi-lingual custom wake words and speech commands, supported by data training and modeling, providing a complete, end-to-end solution for edge AI processing.
Dirac Combines Suite of Automotive Sound Solutions in New Intelligent Audio Platform
Dirac’s new Intelligent Audio Platform (IAP) is a complete solution for automotive sound in all types of car models. The modular platform, already trusted and endorsed by Volvo, Rolls Royce, NIO, BYD, or Harman, offers patented optimization and spatialization solutions, easy tuning and measurement, and an all-new way of upmixing standard stereo content to create immersive sound experiences. And Dirac IAP offers a complete software suite with a unified interface for sound design and optimization.
GaN Systems Updates Reference Design for Class-D Audio Amplifiers
GaN Systems, the GaN (gallium nitride) power transistor specialist, announced an updated version of its Class-D audio amplifier evaluation kit, allowing evaluation for high-efficiency audio reference designs. Evolving from the original evaluation kit introduced in 2020, GaN Systems released the GeN2 amplifier and companion switched-mode power supply reference design today, shrinking the size and increasing its capabilities for Class-D audio designs.
Fluent.ai and Knowles Partner to Deliver True Wireless Stereo Voice Control
Fluent.ai announced its collaboration with Knowles Corporation to deliver AI-powered voice control for True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds and other hearable products, fully on-device. Running on Knowles' AISonic processors, providing a small footprint embedded technology for edge AI, the solution allows developers to implement noise robust voice commands to trigger TWS actions in any language or accent, without the need for an Internet connection or accompanying smartphone app.
Circulr and Mimi Hearing Technologies Partner to Deliver Sound Personalization to Smart Audio Neckphones
Mimi Hearing Technologies announced a new partnership with Circulr Sound, the Danish startup developing a new concept of personal AI audio devices called Hybrid Neckphones. Circulr Sound will bring Mimi Sound Personalization to its Smart Audio Wearables concept, allowing users to adapt the audio signal to their unique hearing ability. The implementation should enable interesting possibilities given Circulr's unique concept and awareness requirements.
JBL Introduces First Microphone and True Wireless Earbuds to JBL Quantum Gaming Range
Confirming the strong market momentum in audio gaming accessories, Harman introduced new products into its Quantum range of products, including its first USB microphone, the JBL Quantum Stream. And leveraging the company's vast experience in the personal audio space, JBL also added new Quantum true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds and unveiled the JBL Quantum 910, JBL Quantum 810 and JBL Quantum 610 - three new additions to its over-ear gaming headset lineup.