All items written by audioXpress Staff
McIntosh Introduces new MHA50 Portable Decoding Amplifier with aptX Bluetooth 4.1
October 10, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

McIntosh Introduces new MHA50 Portable Decoding Amplifier with aptX Bluetooth 4.1

McIntosh has announced its first Portable Decoding Amplifier (DAC/headphone amp) the MHA50, which offers wireless connectivity to devices via aptX Bluetooth 4.1. With a price tag close to that of a top of the range smartphone, this portable music playback device is targeted at enthusiasts of the famous brand, also looking to match their McIntosh headphone experience everywhere. The new device features a high-quality amplifier plus a high-performance 32-bit digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) with high-res audio playback.
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Infineon High SNR MEMS Microphones Complement Amazon AVS Far-Field Development Kit from XMOS
October 9, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Infineon High SNR MEMS Microphones Complement Amazon AVS Far-Field Development Kit from XMOS

XMOS' VocalFusion 4-Mic Dev Kit for Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) for far-field applications integrates Infineon’s high SNR MEMS microphones to ensure highest performance and reliability, creating the first Amazon AVS development kit with a linear mic array for far-field applications. The 4-Mic Development Kit features crystal clear voice capturing even in noisy environments. This enables commands to be accurately captured from across the room for processing by the Alexa cloud-based speech recognition system.
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iZotope Releases Ozone 8 and Neutron 2 Mixing and Mastering Software
October 9, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

iZotope Releases Ozone 8 and Neutron 2 Mixing and Mastering Software

iZotope introduced its new generation of mixing and mastering software with the joint release of Neutron 2 mixing console and Ozone 8 complete mastering suite, plus the Music Production Suite. Combining over fifteen years of innovations with new machine learning and inter-plugin communication, the new software tools boast innovative workflows, and groundbreaking visual and analysis tools, creating completely new ways of working.
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New COMSOL Multiphysics Software Unveiled with Major Acoustics Improvements
October 9, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

New COMSOL Multiphysics Software Unveiled with Major Acoustics Improvements

Once again, the 2017 COMSOL Conference in Boston brought together the COMSOL community. Attendees got a chance to test the latest features for COMSOL Multiphysics 5.3a and COMSOL Server, scheduled to be released in Q4 2017. New features include acoustics and acoustic-structure interactions based on a hybrid boundary element-finite element (BEM-FEM) method, impulse response for ray acoustics, magnetostatics, shape memory alloy (SMA) materials for structural analysis, and much more!
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Sound Devices Expands MixPre Series with New MixPre-10T Audio Recorder
October 9, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Sound Devices Expands MixPre Series with New MixPre-10T Audio Recorder

When it comes to field recording, Sound Devices continues to push the envelope with its expanded range of solutions. With the new MixPre-10T, the Reedsburg, Wisconsin, -based company now offers a compact, 10-input/12 tracks of polyphonic WAV file recording and mixer with an expanded feature set, including built-in Timecode generator and reader, balanced outputs, diverse powering, and auto copying. An ideal solution for production sound mixers, field recordists, sound designers, and musicians.
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Aiming for the Top: The New Focal Clear High-End Headphone
October 6, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Aiming for the Top: The New Focal Clear High-End Headphone

Leading French speaker and headphone manufacturer, Focal unveiled Clear, the company’s newest reference headphone. Clear is Focal’s new circumaural open-back headphone for audiophiles and represents a new evolution of Focal’s now famous open-back, full-range speaker headphone family. With this new introduction, the French brand consolidates its market position in the high-end headphone segment with a reference open-back model under $2,000.
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Periodic Audio Premieres New Nickel Headphone Amp at RMAF 2017
October 6, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Periodic Audio Premieres New Nickel Headphone Amp at RMAF 2017

Periodic Audio announced the world premiere of the Nickel Portable Amplifier, at the CanJam section of the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2017, working with Periodic Audio’s trio of in-ear monitor (IEM) headphones: Be, Ti, and Mg. The Nickel amplifier is designed to provide nearly-unlimited clean power for nearly every headphone in an extremely compact and portable package, supplying 150 mW into 50 Ohms, 250 mW into 32 Ohms, and 270 mW into 16 Ohms, and stable into an 8 Ohm load.
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Synopsys Delivers Industry's First USB 3.2 Verification IP and Test Suite for Higher Performance USB Designs
October 6, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Synopsys Delivers Industry's First USB 3.2 Verification IP and Test Suite for Higher Performance USB Designs

Synopsys announced the availability of the industry's first verification IP (VIP) and UVM source code test suite to support the latest USB 3.2 specification. USB 3.2 enables new hosts and devices with USB Type-C to be designed as multi-lane solutions, allowing for up to two lanes of 5 Gbps or two lanes of 10 Gbps operation, doubling the data rate over the existing USB Type-C cables. It also supports re-timer enhancements.
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Sonos Unveils Sonos One Smart Speaker with Support for Multiple Voice Services
October 5, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Sonos Unveils Sonos One Smart Speaker with Support for Multiple Voice Services

Sonos unveiled Sonos One, an all-new, voice-controlled smart speaker capable of supporting multiple voice services and audio content from more than 80 streaming services. Sonos One launches with Amazon Alexa support, and Google Assistant to follow in 2018. The Sonos One is priced at $199 USD and will be available globally on Oct. 24. The company also confirmed that additional free software updates will unlock Alexa voice control for current Sonos owners, as well as Apple AirPlay 2 and Siri support.
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Google Unveils New Home Smart Speakers and Wireless Pixel Buds
October 5, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Google Unveils New Home Smart Speakers and Wireless Pixel Buds

Google is all-in in its determination to compete with Amazon, Apple and everyone else on the hardware front. On the same day, Google unveiled its second-generation family of consumer hardware products, including new Pixel 2 smartphones, Google Home Mini and Max smart speakers, an all-new Pixelbook tablet/laptop, Google Pixel Buds wireless earbuds, and more. No longer releasing "reference hardware" for its software ecosystem, Google is apparently determined to emulate Apple's successful strategy.
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