ACQUA is HEAD acoustics's reliable software foundation for complete voice and audio quality measurement chains. With ACQUA, users can effortlessly and comprehensively conduct measurements for any wired or wireless transmission scenario based on the latest standards and technologies, and measure the latest smartphones, ANC headphones, ICC systems, or smart speakers. With the release of the latest ACQUA 6.1.100 update, HEAD acoustics added substantial improvements to the software's already extensive feature set.
ACQUA users will be glad to know that the ViBRIDGE pinna is now seamlessly integrated into the ACQUA measurement procedure. HMS II.3 ViBRIDGE is a full-band-capable artificial head measurement system with anatomically correct ear replication, including structure-borne (bone-conducted) sound simulation. With this integration the corresponding filters are automatically loaded from the pre-defined workplace settings, making them just as easy to use as other filters, such as mouth equalization or binaural equalization of the ears. And managing different ViBRIDGE pinna filters is also possible with ACQUA 6.1.100.
Another welcome update is the support for the latest move°S, the first silent motorized artificial head, recently introduced by HEAD acoustics. ACQUA support includes a graphical user interface for precise head movement control in 0.1-degree steps. Users will be able to access the new ACQUA database tree that allows pre-defined position of the move°S head for each measurement, as already possible with HEAD acoustics HRT I.
Echo Quality Evaluation of Speech in Telecommunications (EQUEST), HEAD acoustics measurement solution for assessing the echo performance of terminals based on the ECMA 418-2 hearing model for time-varying loudness, was further developed for more robust results across all bandwidths. The new version of EQUEST is also standardized in ETSI TS 103 802. With this latest ACQUA release, both the classic and standardized versions are now available in ACOPT 29.
And MDAQS (Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Score, ACOPT 36) is now available in version 1.1. This version of the world's first binaural perception-based software tool that replaces human evaluation with novel metrics in the audio device development process, now provides an even more robust computation of the D-MOS Value (Distortion) and, therefore, an improved prediction of the perceived audio quality. According to HEAD acoustics, the more efficient implementation leads to lower computation time than the previous MDAQS version.
Among the new features, ACQUA 6.1.100 now includes a 64-bit version of the labCORE ASIO driver; it allows adding jitter, delay, packet loss, and packet duplication simulations to mimic the behavior of actual network transmissions in the labCORE coreIP extension coreIP-IMP; and updates Speech Transmission Index (ACOPT 29) measurements according to the latest IEC 60268-16 (2020) standard.
And ACQUA coreBT2‑LC3‑HFP now enables measurements with super-wideband signal transmission of Bluetooth devices applying the hands-free profile. Since the new LC3 codec supports high speech and audio transmission quality (super-wideband), the EVS speech quality in VoLTE calls is maintained while using Bluetooth.
More information about the latest ACQUA release and the various ACQUA Options and Standards is available in the HEAD acoustics website and through HEAD acoustics sales channels.
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