Audeze Announces Euclid Closed-Back Planar Magnetic In-Ear
At first glance, one would be forgiven to think, "Did Audeze just dropped their first true wireless earbuds - and they're planar magnetic?" Well, not exactly - not yet, at least. The new Euclid are not mass produced TWS earbuds with batteries inside, but actually the highest-quality in-ears (IEM's if you will) handcrafted in California, and their are proudly the company's first closed-back planar magnetic in-ear design.
Treat Your Headphones With a McIntosh MHA200 Tube Headphone Amplifier
McIntosh knows there are a lot of people out there who would like to have a McIntosh tube system, are spending serious money on high end headphones, and could consider a dedicated desktop preamp device that would match their passion - and that's who they designed the MHA200 Vacuum Tube Headphone Amplifier for. A product that is still big enough to proudly show to others, but is actually designed to throw the warmth of tubes when sitting close enough, enjoying long listening sessions.
Solid State Logic Redefines Control Surfaces with UF8 USB-C Controller
Solid State Logic introduced a new compact DAW control surface that redefines the category by relying on a combination of serial communication via USB and its own 360° control software and MIDI USB driver, making it relatively protocol independent. The new SSL UF8 takes lessons learned from many years building control extensions within studio mixing consoles like the SSL Origin, or dedicated studio DAW controllers like the SSL Nucleus. The expandable and modular UF8 is an interesting evolution.
Audio Engineering Society Promotes First-Ever AES Immersive Audio Academy
Registration is now open for the Audio Engineering Society’s first-ever AES Immersive Audio Academy (taking place Thursday, February 11 from 12:00pm to 9:00pm ET), a one-day online event that launches a series focusing on the latest production and emerging technologies in immersive and binaural audio. The event is sponsored by Genelec (Gold Partner), Dolby Atmos (Silver Partner), and Bronze Partners, Fraunhofer, L-Acoustics, New Audio Technology and Sound Particles.
The NERO-6MRN150D Midrange Woofer from SB Audience
For this edition of Vance Dickason's Test Bench, the characterization centers on the brand new NERO-6MRN150D pro audio 6.5" midrange from SB Audience, the recently announced brand from Sinar Baja Electric (SB Acoustics). The new NERO-6MRN150D features a proprietary four-spoke-cast aluminum frame with efficient cooling, a curvilinear paper/graphite composite cone and large convex paper dust cap. The motor design combines a FEA-designed neodymium ring magnet and 49.5mm diameter voice coil wound with round CCAW on a non-conducting glass fiber former. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, November 2020.
KEF Announces Mu3 Noise Cancelling True Wireless Earbuds
The hottest product category in consumer electronics in 2019, 2020 and counting, true wireless earbuds are now mandatory for any established audio brand. Designed by the famous British designer Ross Lovegrove and engineered by KEF's own UK acoustic team, the new KEF Mu3 earbuds deliver the latest technologies and high quality sound, in a refined Bluetooth 5 proposition that offers ANC, ambient mode and good battery life.
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.
PSI Audio Updates Flagship Three-Way A25-M Studio Monitors for 2021
Swiss manufacturer PSI Audio announced a new version of its flagship three-way speaker A25-M for 2021. Following on the improvements announced in 2019 with the flow guide introduced in the A23-M monitor, and a larger, more powerful woofer engine, the A25-M boasts an entirely new midrange driver. The Extended Dome Driver (EXD) combines a larger dome and new cone formula, effectively offering the best of both worlds in the process. The new driver system is still mounted to a rotatable baffle to enable vertical or horizontal speaker placement at optimum dispersion.
Devialet Introduces Improved Phantom I All-in-One Speaker
Since its release, Devialet’s flagship compact speaker Phantom established a new reference in home audio. By combining a radical design with a series of innovative, proprietary technologies, Phantom consistently shattered expectations in terms of sound reproduction, while establishing a whole new business model for the French brand. Now, for 2021, Devialet updated the original Phantom with a new audio processing SoC, new matte finishes, and all the latest wireless audio technologies.
Soundboks Introduces New and Improved Gigantic Soundboks Bluetooth Speaker
When Soundboks introduced its "Bluetooth-speaker-for-parties" that looked like a Peavey guitar speaker, we couldn't stop laughing. Particularly at the suggestion that this would be a "portable" solution, loaded with battery-packs the size of a car battery (and as heavy) - the promotional images showed a guy carrying the "thing" on a backpack while riding a bicycle, and another one hiking through a mountain! Five years later, the Danish company has the last laugh with 50,000 units sold and introducing it's third-generation Soundboks speaker.