Bang & Olufsen Unveils New Custom-Made Atelier Program
Bang & Olufsen introduced the Beosound 2 Gradient Collection, a limited-edition launch celebrating the vast creative possibilities of the company's new Atelier custom program. Offered as part of Bang & Olufsen's three-tiered level of service, the Atelier Catalogue provides 500,000 possible combinations of colors, materials, and finishes, allowing customers to design a one-of-a-kind Bang & Olufsen product, all through a new digital tool.
Synaptics Confirms Its Acquisition of Packetcraft
During its scheduled Q2 results call, Synaptics Incorporated confirmed the acquisition of Packecraft, the recognized Bluetooth LE Audio software stack vendor. Already a leading supplier of wireless technologies, Synaptics now added leading embedded Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) stacks and software, positioning the company as one of the strongest suppliers of Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast broadcast audio software.
Focal Announces Utopia Cinema Range at ISE 2025
Following the launch of its Utopia Main studio monitors, French manufacturer Focal transitioned to Integrated Systems Europe 2025 to introduce Utopia Cinema, a range designed for private cinema rooms of up to 2153 sq ft (200m²). Focal Utopia Cinema includes the Cinema LCR 3-way loudspeaker and the Cinema SUB subwoofer. According to Focal, these new Utopia products are the result of a meticulous and extensive development phase, in an effort to deliver an unprecedented level of performance and to create a complete modular solution for custom systems.
Eliminating Speaker Doppler Distortion
Because of the movement of its membrane, even a perfectly linear loudspeaker produces Doppler distortion, a.k.a. Phase Modulation, and second distortions from the Nonlinear Amplitude Modulation. This article, originally published in audioXpress, October 2024, characterizes and shows how to eliminate Doppler distortion for a good listening experience.
A Fiber-Reinforced Composite Technology for Vibration Reduction in High-Performance Applications
This article, written by Anthony Caiazzo, Chief Technology Officer and Principal of Countervail Products, details the company’s family of vibration canceling materials featuring a patented approach that has been shown to provide exceptional levels of vibration damping in many common structural configurations. Countervail materials not only cancel vibrations, but they also contribute to the stiffness of the structure and typically don't significantly change the component manufacturing process.
Listen Technologies and Ampetronic Start Shipping First Commercial Grade Auracast Solution
Listen Technologies and Ampetronic announced that Auri, the first complete Auracast broadcast audio-based assistive listening solution, is now shipping. The unveiling of the Auri solution at the ISE 2025 show in Barcelona comes at a time when system integrators are starting to be aware of the potential for the technology in any public space environment. Ongoing demonstrations at the busy trade show floor clearly showcase the enormous potential and impact for the industry.
Elytone NAP1 Platform Improves with AES67 and AES70 (OCA) Support
Elytone returned to ISE 2025 in Barcelona with another series of exciting technology updates in networked audio. The Taiwan-based company showcased new developments featuring its Networked Audio Processor 1 (NAP1) platform enabling IP audio networks over Dante and AES67, now with AES70 (OCA) controls, enhanced A2B Audio Bus bridging (including automatic plug & play). Also new is the addition of audio streaming capabilities, including Spotify Connect and Google Cast, with more streaming services in final testing and additional services to be added in 2025.
Powersoft Launches Ultra-Compact PoE Amplifier at ISE 2025
The latest announcement from Powersoft is called Nota, and it’s a versatile, ultra-compact PoE/PoE+ amplifier that the Italian manufacturer says was designed to meet current market needs. Those have to do with increasing requirements for fully networked audio environments, increasingly AES67-based. With PoE/PoE+ and USB-C connectivity, 140W of power, built-in DSP, and remote monitoring and control, Nota is feature-packed, easy-to-setup, and proof that it’s not about size, but what you do with it.
DPA Microphones Unveils N-Series Digital Wireless Microphone System
DPA Microphones is moving into the wireless market with the release of its new N-Series Digital Wireless Microphone System. Announced at ISE 2025, the first wireless solution from the Danish company is a fully digital, true diversity wideband system, in a robust and easy-to-operate format that is well-suited to a wide array of live, rental, and installed systems applications. In addition to the dedicated wideband capabilities available with each N-Series device, DPA designed the solution to differentiate in its attention to every detail and increased flexibility.
GN Introduces Their Most Advanced Hearing Aid with Dedicated DNN Chip
GN, the Danish manufacturer of prescription and over-the-counter hearing aids, announced their new flagship model ReSound Vivia, powered by a dedicated Deep Neural Network (DNN) chip trained on 13.5 million spoken sentences in various languages and with varied vocal effort, across 3.9 million tuned sound parameters, that spotlights speech and eliminates distracting noise. The new AI powered hearing aids expand GN’s range of Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast-enabled solutions.