Product Design | Audio Electronics | Acoustics | DIY | Audio Innovations
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Knowles Proposes Preferred Listening Response Curve for Best In-Ear Music Listening Experience |
A new Preferred Listening Response Curve that could define the next standard in high-resolution earphones was the result from new research by Knowles Corporation. The research is intended to guide product designers, and reflects the findings of an internal effort by the balanced armature manufacturer to determine the best and most satisfying music listening experience for consumers. In the research report, Knowles proposes an evolution of the Harman response curve specific to in-ears that takes into consideration frequencies above 10kHz. Read More
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Hypex Presents New Nilai500 DIY Audio Amplifier Module |
Following the spectacular announcement of the new and improved NCOREx Class-D amplifier technology, with the first NCx500 OEM modules displayed for the first time in public at ISE 2022, Hypex has also reserved a surprise for this year's High End Show in Munich. In a completely separate announcement, Hypex will be launching the Nilai500DIY module, which is specified to deliver 500W with 1% THD @4 ohms and will improve output noise and idle losses significantly, compared to the popular NC400 module. This, the Dutch company says, is a completely new unique amplifier module that sets a new benchmark for high-end audio applications. Read More
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Automotive Audio Workflows Webinar with DSP Concepts and Tymphany, May 25 |
In the run up to the AES 2022 International Conference on Automotive Audio taking place in Dearborn, MI the AES Audio Product Education Institute (APEI) is promoting a special webinar event focused on the future of automotive audio workflows. In this session, Roger Shively will lead a discussion with John Whitecar (DSP Concepts), Evan Bunner, and Matt Marchese (Tymphany) on the evolution of automotive audio systems, technology, and implementations. Read More
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Genelec Takes Smart Active Monitoring GLM Calibration From Stereo to Immersive |
Configuring and managing Genelec Smart Active Monitoring systems for immersive audio environments is now even more user-friendly with the introduction of latest GLM 4.2 loudspeaker manager software, and the new 9301B multichannel AES/EBU interface. These two additions to Genelec's range allow the cost-effective and seamless creation of scalable immersive monitoring systems up to 16 channels, using one or more bass-managed subwoofers, or 32 channels if using a second 9301B. Read More
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Knowles Introduces New Dual-Diaphragm Balanced Armature for Premium Sound Performance |
Knowles Corporation announced its new dual-diaphragm balanced armature (BA), a patented design that the manufacturer believes to be a revolutionary advancement in the world of BA technology. The first product to benefit from this advancement is a new in-ear monitor (IEM) intended for the high-end audio market, jointly-promoted by Astell&Kern and Campfire Audio. The new Pathfinder IEM earphone is one of many new products in this segment launched at the High End Munich show by Campfire Audio. Read More
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Sony Improves Leading Noise Canceling Experience with New WH-1000XM5 Headphones |
It's the active noise cancelling headphones that the consumer electronics industry learned to see as a market reference. And Sony knows this, and works to improve the standard for its best-selling product regularly. The new WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones improve adaptive noise cancellation even further, introduce new and improved 30mm drivers, while allowing for industry-leading call quality. The updated model also offers a subtle and yet more elegant design, using new materials for greater comfort. Read More
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NAD Electronics Presents C 389 HybridDigital DAC Amplifier at Munich High End |
NAD Electronics continues to explore the latest audio developments to create new products that combine performance, flexibility, and value for music enthusiasts. The manufacturer confirms it will introduce the new C 389 HybridDigital DAC integrated stereo amplifier, combining exceptional sound quality with the flexibility and the long-term value offered by NAD's latest Modular Design Construction platform, MDC2. Available for retail sale in early Summer 2022, the C 389 will carry a suggested retail price of $1,499 US/EUR. Read More
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L-Acoustics Launches Ambiance Virtual Acoustics System, Powered by L-ISA |
Leading into ISE 2022, L-Acoustics promoted a Reconnect in-person event to launch three new installation-focused products. The French manufacturer managed to impress ISE visitors with an ambitious new LA7.16i amplified controller, new ultra-shallow Soka colinear source wall speakers and a new matching SB6i subwoofer. But the most important announcement by far was the new L-ISA Ambiance virtual acoustics enhancement system, which places the company at the forefront of the next big step for the audio industry . Read More
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Celestion Introduces CF1025BMB 10" Cast Aluminum Pro Audio Woofer |
Celestion, one of the world’s leading suppliers of professional loudspeakers and compression drivers for sound reinforcement applications, announces the introduction of the CF1025BMB 10" (254mm) diameter ferrite magnet, cast aluminum chassis professional audio driver. Well-suited to both bass and midbass applications, the new CF1025BMB particularly excels as a bass unit in compact subwoofer applications. Read More
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Editor's Desk
J. Martins
(Editor-in-Chief)
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As the Industry Was Not Looking
Google Announces Pixel Buds Pro Earbuds with ANC Because...
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As I'm busy traveling between trade shows, and trying to keep things organized and coordinated for our publications, there's always a wild card... or many. Some of those surprises are now highlighted in our news coverage this week, including a great initiative by Knowles, proposing a new target response curve for in-earphones. Something that I intend to discuss in a future article.
Last week, as we attended Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2022 and we're trying to focus on the systems integration side of things, many other technology-oriented companies were also busy making announcements. One in particular caught my attention, because I heard from several companies, that “spatial audio is just a fad” that Apple is promoting with Dolby… Well, apparently, somebody else is paying attention - very late to the game at that - and showing signs that pretty soon, Android-clone users will be able to listen to YouTube streams with spatial audio. And using Google Earbuds "Pro."
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Google's I/O developer conference was just an excuse to announce the new products shown here, which are things that Google doesn't do very well. |
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Google teased about the release of multiple hardware products at its Google I/O developer conference, which included an announcement of new Pixel Buds Pro wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation. The new product will go on sale on July 21, retailing for $199, and will include all the technology features that one would expect from premium true wireless earbuds. Other features will include a firmware update to introduce spatial audio, to arrive later in 2022. Sounds familiar?
The consumer electronics industry is used to a strange calendar that either precedes or follows whatever events Apple promotes in its fairly regular and consistent calendar. Those events include product launches (computer/mobile) and developers' conferences. As a prime imitator that has not yet decided if it wants to emulate Apple as a complete consumer-focused technology company with its own branded products and retail channels, or just wants to remain a technology provider and licensor that inspires and promotes solutions for other manufacturers to compete with Apple, Google occasionally announces products that are intended to be mere reference designs to "guide the industry" or just attempts to directly compete.
Up to now, Google completely failed at the latter. Google sometimes makes products. Or at least announces products, because very few people actually buy them. Google is a great company in search engines, offers a great email service, and is a pioneer in artificial intelligence, interactive maps, translation engines, etc. It should stick to services, and not do hardware, because that doesn’t help its own strategic partners, and because it doesn’t do well anyway. It’s hard to do everything well, sometimes even for Apple. Also, because there's never been a Tim Cook (let alone a Steve Jobs) at Google.
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Among the new products, Google announced the Pixels Buds Pro with active noise cancellation ...and coming later, also spatial audio. They're Pro because you know... they will have spatial audio because, apparently that's the next thing... |
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Now, among a series of announcements of hardware things to come, Google announced the new Google Pixel Buds Pro earbuds. Pro, because Apple also does "Pro" in its premium wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC). And like the Apple AirPods Pro, Google's Pixel Buds Pro are supposed to offer ANC now, and immersive sound, when they do, eventually.
The main difference between an event promoted by Apple is that everything is tightly planned and organized, so that consumers know exactly how much new products cost and when they can buy them. With Google, which is an organization with much less experience in manufacturing and managing the supply chain, these events are relatively guess exercises meant to compensate Android users from the lack of excitement.
Such is the case with the Pixel Bud Pros, which are "built to work great" across the full "Pixel portfolio," and with other Android phones, and they're "packed with all the helpfulness and smarts you expect from Google." This means that users will be eventually able to buy the Pixel Buds Pro for $199 (plus taxes or VAT), and receive them on July 21, which is by the time Apple should have already announced the AirPods Pro 2.
In fact, the Pixel Buds Pro are just trying to emulate existing AirPods Pro features. And although different in design and color options (Coral, Lemongrass, Fog, and Charcoal), Google doesn't seem to really know where this product belongs, or to whom they are appealing. In terms of technology, Qualcomm already made sure that there are plenty of manufacturers with true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds with best-in-class ANC technology and implementation, supporting as best as possible all the numerous Android products out there - and it's not easy.
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Inside the Pixel Buds Pro, Google reveals a dedicated - and still unnamed - audio SoC, which shows that this is not just an ODM project for the company. |
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To explain a bit why the Pixel Buds Pro exist, Google says the ANC implementation uses the company's own custom six-core audio chip that "runs Google-developed algorithms — all tuned by our in-house audio engineering team — and custom speakers." So, apparently this is about showing that Google is investing in hardware and making the market aware that they will need custom chips for proper hardware/OS/software integration. Familiar territory for Apple, and very bad news for basically any hardware company that uses Android. It could also inspire Qualcomm to invest more in software and eventually operating systems, “just in case.”
Otherwise, the new Pixel Buds Pro use what the company calls Silent Seal, enabling the earbuds to adapt to every ear shape and sizes, to help maximize the amount of noise that’s canceled. The earbuds will also adjust the frequency response and loudness as the user turns the volume up or down. And built-in sensors will measure the pressure in the ear canal to make sure the user is comfortable even during long listening sessions. Again, familiar territory for pretty much everyone in this product segment.
The announcement of Spatial Audio support holds more important implications for the overall music industry. Many have been complaining that Apple's promotion of Spatial Audio and adoption of Dolby Atmos Music only really works for those who use Apple devices (AirPods Pro or Max with head-tracking when connected to iPhones/iPads or Macs) — the fear being that lack of wider OS support would compromise the core technology adoption. Not to fear, many companies have been busy at work emulating the same strategy - it just takes time to catch up with Apple, of course.
Coming later this year, Pixel Buds Pro will also support spatial audio. So when users watch a spatial audio-supported movie or TV show "on compatible Pixel phones," at least those users will feel like they're "in the middle of the action." And that's about as much as Google reveals about spatial audio, which is "coming with Android 13" and probably means they are talking to developers to understand the priorities.
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The engineering team working on the new earbuds did a great job and this would have been a reference TWS design if it had been launched in 2020. |
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Other features in the Pixel Buds Pro at launch will of course include a tight integration with Google's ecosystem, since that is what the company is about. Knowing everything about the user and anticipating every move. "Pixel Buds Pro adapt throughout your day by anticipating your next move." In hardware terms, Google's engineering for these products also reveals that the company is not very happy with Bluetooth and the way it complicates users' lives. The hardware is specified as Bluetooth 5.0 (they could have used the opportunity to promote Bluetooth 5.2 and eventually LE Audio for Android devices), and to compensate on the hardware side, the company added Multipoint connectivity, to allow the Pixel Buds Pro to automatically switch among previously paired Bluetooth devices - including laptops, tablets, TVs, and Android and iOS phones.
Of course, the Pixel Buds Pro take calls even in challenging environments, support Google Assistant interactions (and most likely also Alexa or Siri), offer "real-time" translation in 40 languages and the ANC implementation also offers Transparency mode - at least the marketing team didn't bother creating a new name for "transparency mode," which makes sense.
The earbuds include capacitive touch (tap and swipe) sensors and have IPX4 water resistance, and the case is IPX2 water resistant. Hardware specifications also confirm that the Pixel Buds Pro USB-C case will also charge wirelessly and that the earbuds will sustain up to 11 hours of listening time or up to 7 hours with Active Noise Cancellation turned on. The charging case holds enough capacity for 33 hours of total listening time with the charging case (20 with ANC on) and will deliver up to 3 hours of listening time or up to 2 hours of talk time when the user places the earbuds inside the case for just 15 minutes.
This would have been a great design if it had been launched in mid 2020, or even early 2021. Even before launch, in 2022, the Pixel Buds Pro only score well when compared with the AirPods Pro in the improved battery life, if it’s for real - not a small engineering feat given that they are not larger in size. Otherwise, the new product - if it launches as specified and delivers on the spatial audio promise - will be an important competitor for virtually every manufacturer of true wireless earbuds that until now only needed to copy Apple. Now they need to worry also about a possible reference for Android users.
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KEF KC62 Subwoofer with Uni-Core Driver Technology
By Oliver Masciarotte & Kent Peterson
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Following the review of the KEF LS50 Meta speakers for audioXpress (available online here), this article offers a detailed review of the KC62 compact subwoofer, which combines KEF's force-canceling and Uni-Core technologies in a new approach to allow maximizing bass in a minimum space. Masciarotte did the listening and spoke with Jack Sharkey, Senior Technical Engineer at GP Acoustics, about this fascinating design. The subwoofer was also measured by Kent Peterson at Warkwyn’s facility using the Klippel measurement system. This article was originally published in audioXpress, March 2022. Read the Full Article Now Available Here
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A Speaker Device Offering Extended Bass Performance
By James Croft
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This review discusses an intriguing speaker design patented by Walter Ka Wai Chu, from Taiwan. The invention describes a speaker that includes a main cabinet and a speaker mounted on the cabinet body, complemented by an extendable cabinet composed of a bellows tube and a passive diaphragm, the bellows tube having a front end connected to the cabinet body and a rear end closed by the passive diaphragm, and the passive diaphragm being axially aligned with the speaker. The design also includes a damping assembly being arranged in the cabinet body and in the bellows tube, and having a front end connected to the cabinet body and a rear end to the passive diaphragm. This design allows the speaker device to potentially improve the bass performance in the entire low-frequency band instead of being limited to only a few low-frequency points, the inventor claims. While Croft confesses to being somewhat skeptical of whether, in its current disclosed form, the device will provide a useful advantage, he found the design sufficiently interesting to be analyzed in more detail. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2016. Read the Full Article Now Available Here
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