Audio Collaborative 2019: Way Beyond the Trends
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.
ATC Loudspeaker Technology Launches C1 SUB MK2 Active Subwoofer
Built to provide a dynamic low-distortion bass foundation for ATC’s Entry Series speakers, its C1C and C3C center speakers, HTS Series on-wall speakers and all but the largest satellite speaker systems, the new C1 Sub Mk 2 is a compact real wood veneered design, incorporating a hand-built 12” (314mm) ATC bass driver and a fully discrete ATC 200W MOSFET power amplifier. Faithful to the signal, the new C1 Subwoofer design will generate deeper, cleaner bass in the sub-$3,500 market.
Røde Introduces New 3.5mm and USB-C VideoMic NTG Microphone
Røde Microphones introduced the latest addition to its best-selling VideoMic range, the VideoMic NTG. Released fresh off the back of the NTG5 broadcast shotgun microphone, the VideoMic NTG is introduced by the Australian company as "another gamechanger," and "an incredible-sounding, supremely versatile on-camera shotgun microphone unlike anything else out there." And there's a reason for excitement, since a lot has been happening lately at Røde to support a development like the NTG.
Sonos Announces Acquisition of Snips to Expand Voice Efforts
Sonos announced the acquisition of Snips, a French company that provides embedded voice assistants and interfaces for connected devices that run locally and offline. The acquisition adds a talented group of employees and strategic IP to Sonos. Following the company's presentation at CES 2019, Snips received a Best of Innovation Awards in the Embedded Technology category. Snips will enable Sonos to design speech-enabled devices that can operate offline and to market them faster without sacrificing its own brand identity.
HEAD acoustics Launches New Artificial Head for Low Noise Measurements of ANC Headphones and More
Measuring very low signal levels like idle noise of Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) headphones requires highly accurate measurement equipment. With the new binaural artificial head measurement system HMS II.3-LN (Low Noise), German test and measurement specialists HEAD acoustics offers a new artificial head that is suitable for low noise measurements of close to the ear sound sources. The ear simulators with highly sensitive microphones assure a very low inherent noise of 16 dBSPL(A).
VB-Audio Updates Voicemeeter Audio Mixer Applications
One year after the Voicemeeter Potato Release, VB-Audio Software updated all the Voicemeeter series to version 1.0.7.0 for Voicemeeter Standard, 2.0.5.0 for Voicemeeter Banana and 3.0.1.0 for Voicemeeter Potato. Voicemeeter is a virtual audio mixer and a virtual audio device for Windows able to connect any audio points and any audio applications together. It does everything Windows should do at the OS level and doesn’t.
Genelec Signals the Rise of Smart IP with Launch of 4430 IP-Connected Installation Loudspeaker
Genelec announced the availability of the new 4430 two-way active installation loudspeaker, the first model to incorporate the company’s ground-breaking Smart IP technology, a development effort initiated in 2005. Now supporting Dante and AES67 audio transport over PoE+ infrastructures - requiring a clever combination of a new high efficiency power supply and built-in processing - Genelec believes it can offer an ideal ideal solution, combining exceptional sound quality with single cable convenience.
Global True Wireless Earbuds Market Reaches 33 Million Units in Q3 2019
The true wireless earbuds market for 2019 is expected to reach 120 million units and global tech giants’ strategies focused on voice communication will help sustain the strong growth momentum. The size of the global market for true wireless earbuds reached 33 million units (USD 4.1 billion) in Q3 2019, growing 22% QoQ, according to the findings of Counterpoint Research’s Hearables Market Tracker (Counterpoint applies the term “hearables” loosely to describe TWS products, which the company’s report actually differentiates).
Enclave Audio Introduces World’s First THX Certified and WiSA Certified Wireless Home Theater System
Thanks to the Wireless Speaker and Audio Association (WiSA) efforts, home theater systems can finally meet consumer's demand for more immersive home audio experiences with the convenience of wireless. Enclave Audio, a manufacturer of immersive wireless audio systems for home entertainment environments, expanded its CineHome product portfolio with the introduction of two new WiSA Certified wireless multi-channel surround speaker systems: the CineHome II and CineHome PRO and the new CineHub wireless audio transmitter.
Version 5.5 of COMSOL Multiphysics Is Now Available
COMSOL, the multiphysics modeling, simulation, and application design and deployment software company, announced the latest version of its COMSOL Multiphysics software. COMSOL Multiphysics version 5.5 introduces powerful geometry modeling tools, faster solvers, and two new products: the Metal Processing Module and the Porous Media Flow Module. Most of the new features and tools benefit directly all developers working with the COMSOL Acoustics module.