Never Stop Disrupting. Good Enough Is Never Enough!

Post-CES 2020 Impressions. "CES is over but we’re just getting started!" That’s the optimistic vision propagated by many companies who just attended the gigantic Las Vegas event and they leave without really knowing if it was a success or not. Because this is no longer the old days when audio companies would leave CES with their order books filled. Currently, all you have are “contacts” and “great meetings” and little else to backup the promises of future business. And that’s the most important game after all at a show like CES. That and the media hallo effect that new product presentations might have caused.

At first glance, the reason for the decision to allow the sale of OTC hearing aids in the US is clear. The market for hearing aids is going to be driven by over-the-counter sales, according to the latest research from analyst SAR Insight & Consulting. This assertion is given weight by the news that Bose — a market leader in home audio, headphones, and automotive audio systems —is the first company to be FDA approved for a patent on OTC hearing aids. As a result, many companies are diverting their attention to the medical hearing aid market.

Promoted every year by the market research firm Futuresource Consulting, Audio Collaborative 2019 full-day conference on November 7 was invaluable, with Futuresource's leading market analysts and researchers sharing some of the latest stats and trends on the topics in the agenda, combined with great panels and in-between keynotes. This is the fourth - and last - of my reports, originally published in The Audio Voice newsletter.

Promoted every year by the market research firm Futuresource Consulting, Audio Collaborative 2019 full-day conference on November 7 was invaluable, with Futuresource's leading market analysts and researchers sharing some of the latest stats and trends on the topics in the agenda, combined with great panels and in-between keynotes. This is the third of my reports, originally published in The Audio Voice newsletter.

Loudspeaker engineers have few choices for professional forums. The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is an outstanding international organization although not entirely focused on speakers. ALTI (formerly ALMA) is loudspeaker-centric but does not have a strong base in China. And although you may not have heard about iSEAT, for most Chinese speaker engineers that is their preferred professional organization. The International Symposium on Electro-Acoustic Technologies (ISEAT), founded in 2007, is held every two years and has successfully conducted six sessions.

Promoted every year by the market research firm Futuresource Consulting, Audio Collaborative 2019 full-day conference on November 7 was invaluable, with Futuresource's leading market analysts and researchers sharing some of the latest stats and trends on the topics in the agenda, combined with great panels and in-between keynotes. This is the second of my reports, originally published in The Audio Voice newsletter.

Promoted every year by the market research firm Futuresource Consulting, Audio Collaborative 2019 full-day conference on November 7 was invaluable, with Futuresource's leading market analysts and researchers sharing some of the latest stats and trends on the topics in the agenda, combined with great panels and in-between keynotes. This is the first of my reports, originally published in The Audio Voice newsletter.

The Audio Builders Workshop offered an expanded program at the 2019 convention of the Audio Engineering Society, held at the Javits Convention Center in New York City, October 16-19. The culmination of this year's program was a three-hour Build Clinic on the last day of the convention. Owen Curtin and Chris Kincaid ran this session, and attendance far exceeded their expectations. There were more than 40 participants, and each person was required to purchase a kit for the session, which they assembled onsite. Participants were given a choice of three kits, depending on their level of experience - the L2A Passive Preamp, the ABW Metronome, or the S-25 microphone.

On Tuesday, October 15, in New York, Sony, together with four music streaming services and an important number of music industry partners promoted a press event to announce the new 360 Reality Audio music ecosystem. This follows the presentations made early at CES 2019 and a repeat of the demonstrations at IFA 2019 in Berlin. At this event, Sony announced the upcoming commercial availability of 360 Reality Audio, an immersive audio experience utilizing object-based spatial audio technology.

When both Amazon and Microsoft promoted their own designs and vision for the true wireless earbuds category, what I found most interesting about Microsoft's Surface Earbuds was the design itself. Yes, they have that big round surface that will confer a distinct "iconic" look to the user - just like the AirPods do in a different way - but inside they also use the loose-fit design that Apple adopted since the EarPods (and which Bose pioneered). Just like Apple's design, they do not go inside the ear and do not completely block the ear canal.