All items in category Blogs
Niron Magnetics: Green High-Performance Magnets Get More Green From Samsung
by Mike Klasco and Salvador Magdaleno-Adame

Niron Magnetics: Green High-Performance Magnets Get More Green From Samsung

Back in 2020, Barry Vogel, the director of the Audio & Loudspeaker Technologies International (ALTI) Association called me excitedly about Niron Magnetics and about a new magnet material developed from research at the University of Minnesota. Iron Nitride (FeN) was perhaps the biggest news in magnets in 40 years. Composed of common elements — Iron and Nitrogen - the potential of permanent magnets from Niron could be a breakthrough and a game-changer for the audio industry.
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Integrated Systems Europe 2024 - What Does It Mean for the Audio Industry?
by Joao Martins

Integrated Systems Europe 2024 - What Does It Mean for the Audio Industry?

I returned from Barcelona, Spain, after five exhausting days, which were not easy for anyone in the audio industry who was forced to fly from the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA directly to Europe. I wrote this First Impressions ISE 2024 report in an effort to summarize this extremely well organized and successful event - celebrating the show's 20th anniversary. I discuss what is sustaining this systems integration event that everyone understands as many different things, and what does it means for the audio industry.
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The IEC 60263:2020 Standard - Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?
by Geoff Hill

The IEC 60263:2020 Standard - Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?

With the proliferation of different electronic formats and screen grabs, aspect ratios, scales, and sizes for plotting frequency characteristics and polar diagrams, presenting audio measurement results in a clear and informative way is an even greater problem today than in the past! Geoff Hill explains what there is to know about the IEC 60263:2020 updated standard: Rules for scales and sizes for plotting frequency characteristics and polar diagrams... and what could go wrong.
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CES 2024 Lasting Impressions: The Highlights
by Joao Martins

CES 2024 Lasting Impressions: The Highlights

CES2024 was the best in a long time. I said that in my First Impressions article, and as we distance ourselves from the whirlwind of those hectic six show days, the stronger that feeling grows. And one of the reasons has to do with the fact that important technologies are already making a difference in the audio products that we will soon see in the market - while many others are about to. And there are clearly companies that left us with very positive, lasting impressions that we can and need to share.
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CES 2024 First Impressions - An Audio Development Perspective
by Joao Martins

CES 2024 First Impressions - An Audio Development Perspective

CES 2024 was the best in a long time. audioXpress attended to report about the solutions and technologies that will enable the audio products of tomorrow, exploring the many hospitality and business suites where the audio industry is at during CES. We focused on attending closed demonstrations - about which we can reveal very little at this stage - because that's the only way to truly share the product developers’ experience, and gain a real perspective about the audio technologies that matter for product development and those that will determine the products in 2025 and going forward.
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Selecting Electrolytic Capacitors for Lowest Distortion
by Douglas Self

Selecting Electrolytic Capacitors for Lowest Distortion

Douglas Self shares real experiments when selecting electrolytic capacitors to achieve the lowest distortion. An experiment inspired by his recent audioXpress article, "Optimizing Variable-Frequency Tone Controls," available online. This short piece is an interesting closer examination on the subject for audio circuit designers. Originally published in The Audio Voice newsletter, #453, January 11, 2024.
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What About Loudspeaker Damping Factor and How Much Do I Need?
by Jan Didden

What About Loudspeaker Damping Factor and How Much Do I Need?

A loudspeaker is a mechanically moving system and like any such system, it cannot stop moving in zero time. For example, if a tone is reproduced, and the amplifier outputs a zero voltage at the end of the tone, the speaker cone will not stop immediately but will tend to keep on moving with lower and lower amplitude and eventually come to a stop. Jan Didden explores Loudspeaker Damping Factor in simple terms.
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First Magnet Powder Presses to Produce Neodymium Permanent Magnets in the United States
by Mike Klasco

First Magnet Powder Presses to Produce Neodymium Permanent Magnets in the United States

Most of us assume that neodymium must only come from China. Yet, rare earth ore is available in California, and reshoring neo-magnet production, including recycling neodymium, is now accelerating in the US. Mike Klasco (Menlo Scientific), tipped off by Salvador Magdaleno (Salvador Consultant), writes about the first manufacturing operation that is ready to deliver neodymium permanent magnets in the United States. This article was written originally for The Audio Voice newsletter.
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OTC Hearing Aids One Year Later – Mission Accomplished?
by Andrew Bellavia

OTC Hearing Aids One Year Later – Mission Accomplished?

The White House blog of August 2022 announcing the FDA’s release of the Over-the-Counter (OTC) hearing aid rule, which would take effect that October, highlighted the rationale for its creation: “Drive down costs, increase access, and open up a market space for creative innovation.” Andrew Bellavia (AuraFuturity) writes about the first year of the Over-the-Counter (OTC) hearing aid rule. It seems that just 2% of those with hearing difficulties purchased an OTC hearing aid in this time.
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Bandwidth, Slew Rate and All That Jazz
by Jan Didden

Bandwidth, Slew Rate and All That Jazz

To reproduce an audio signal faithfully over the whole audio band, your circuit needs to have a bandwidth at least as large as the audio band. But that’s not the only requirement: your circuit needs to maintain that bandwidth from the lowest to the highest signal level. That’s where the crux lies: it is relatively easy to get a nice wide bandwidth for small signals, only to have it breakdown with high signal levels due to the dreaded slew rate limiting.
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