R&D Stories: Getting Started with Automotive Audio Bus (Part 3)

audioXpress continues Brewster LaMacchia's article series on Automotive Audio Bus (A2B) technology from Analog Devices. The first two parts of this article examined the overall A2B system operation and how its features can enable new types of digital audio applications. Now, the author takes a deeper look at A2B data transport and how to interface between peripherals and the A2B bus using Analog Device's AD242x series of parts. This article was originally published in audioXpress, December 2020.

In this article for Voice Coil, Mike Klasco (Menlo Scientific) recaps MEMS Drivers and related hot technologies for 2021, providing an update about products and companies that stood out in 2020. The article, which summarizes the more extensive reports published by audioXpress in January 2020 and 2021, looks at the impact of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for audio and discusses the implications for other game-changing technologies that reduce size, increase performance, extend battery life, and enhance features and functionality in headphones, wearables and compact speakers.

This Test Bench characterizes the very recent BWX-6501 Midbass driver from MISCO’s Bold North Audio Line. MISCO (Minneapolis Speaker Co.) is the oldest OEM driver manufacturer in the US, founded in 1949, and Bold North Audio is its new brand, launched in 2019. The Bold North lineup was recently expanded to include two new 6.5” XBL2 motor woofers. These new models, all designed and manufactured in MISCO’s own facility in St. Paul, Minnesota, feature dual inside-outside copper shorting rings in the motor to greatly reduce distortion. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, December 2020.

This short article by Chris Struck (CJS Labs) is mainly focused on the definition and interpretation of phase, helping to make sense of complex data. This reference article is an expanded version of a previous Lab Note published by CJS Labs, and is certainly a great summary of essential knowledge in speaker design. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, December 2020.

On the cover of audioXpress December 2020, many of our readers instantly recognized the familiar look of the increasingly popular QuantAsylum QA401 audio analyzer. What many readers didn't recognize by then was the second module, the completely new QA451 programmable load, so new that audioXpress tested a pre-production version. In this review article, David Logvin shares his valuable perspective on this modular solution for audio measurements from QuantAsylum.

This article explains the issues resulting from measuring a wireless audio connection and how wireless multi-tone testing can help us to overcome those obstacles. The article is particularly focused on the needs of manufacturers and designers of modern wireless audio devices and offers valuable insights on multi-tone testing, a technique that has been around for many years, and which Klippel perfected in its own multi-tone measurement module (MTON). This article was originally published in audioXpress, December 2020.

In this article, Mike Harkins reviews the versatile Puffin Phono DSP by Parks Audio. For those of you who are not familiar with Parks Audio, this company was founded by Shannon Parks, who has also contributed fantastic articles published by audioXpress. After experimenting with several other products, Parks Audio has achieved notoriety for its phono stage Puffin, which adds a programmable DSP and is able to be updated and improved constantly with simple firmware updates. A new approach that truly takes the concept of a phono stage to a different level. This article was originally published in audioXpress, December 2020.

Voice Coil December 2020 offers a diverse set of articles for loudspeaker professionals and anyone in the audio industry. Mike Klasco writes about MEMS Drivers and related hot technologies for 2021. Next up, James Croft discusses a new patent granted in October 2020 to inventor Eric Jay Alexander, and in Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes the recent BWX-6501 Midbass driver and the BDT-2901 Silk Dome Tweeter, both from MISCO’s Bold North Audio Line. Now Available in Print and Download!

Ending the year with great content, as we do 12 times per year, audioXpress December 2020 is now available in print and online. In this edition, we pay tribute to Jeff Bagby, explore the QuantAsylum QA401 audio analyzer combined with the new QA451 programmable load, and explain the process of measuring wireless audio products using multi-tone testing. Plus, Brewster LaMacchia expands on A2B designs, Gary Galo details how to improve low-output moving-coil cartridges with his Jensen-based step-up transformer, and Mike Harkins reviews the versatile Puffin Phono DSP by Parks Audio. And much more, now available!