The annual tradition of ALTI Expo goes back to the many decades of the former ALMA events that traditionally took place just before every CES show in Las Vegas and was a sort of "the audio industry's best kept secret" since it was always the largest and best networking and business event for the loudspeaker industry. Since 2019, when the former Association of Loudspeaker Manufacturing & Acoustics (ALMA) International changed its identity to become the current Audio & Loudspeaker Technologies International (ALTI) Association, it was decided to held ALTI Expo & Conference, working closer with the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association (AVIXA) and its annual trade show, InfoComm. Held just prior to InfoComm, ALTI Expo takes place one year in Las Vegas, Nevada and every other year in Orlando, Florida. The location at the DoubleTree by Hilton at Universal Orlando, has been the home of the event since 2019, when held in Florida.
This year, to reinforce the educational aspects of the ALTI Expo & Conference, the Audio Product Development Alliance (APDA) joined forces with the ALTI Association to promote a three day program. With a very strong schedule of sessions, presentations and workshops, the APDA-ALTI Education Symposium 2023 covers Sourcing and Supply Chain topics on the first day, followed by a full day focused on the Modeling and Measurement experience, and extending into a education-only third day centered around Voice and DSP.
The first 2 days of APDA content are included for attendees with All Access Pass, or Exhibitor Pass. The 3rd full day of APDA content, on June 13, and is an additional $200 for the full day. That is $699 for 3 days of content and networking, breakfast and lunch all 3 days, and the gala Banquet on Sunday, Day 1.
An optional 3rd day is focused on Audio Experience Design for Conferencing: From AEC to AI.
DSP Concepts will be leading the educational session and this full day event will include overcoming the challenges of high-quality conferencing, neural network design for voice on the edge, the evolving use cases for video conferencing and advanced Audio Weaver training.
An added full day of content held in Universal D & E on June 13. Only $200 more for this 3rd day.
The Audio Product Development Alliance (APDA) was founded by a team of audio industry experts committed to furthering the knowledge and skills of professionals involved in the development of audio products. The Alliance promotes education and training events focused on the methodologies, practices and technologies involved in developing and bringing audio products to market.The Audio Product Development Alliance is composed of long-term professionals in the audio product development area who saw the dramatic increase in audio products leveraging voice interfaces, and a new generation of wireless, network, signal processing technologies, and other advanced technologies, creating a huge demand for development professionals with multidisciplinary and highly specialized skills. The Alliance concept was originally founded within the scope of the Audio Engineering Society to expand the reach of the Product Development Track of the AES Conventions. In 2023, the founding team decided to pursue the APDA initiatives independently, and work together with multiple associations and institutions to broaden its scope of activity with a larger focus on the consumer electronics industry.
The APDA aims to offer the audio-specific and hands-on development skills that developers, manufacturers and supply chain partners need to advance at the demanding pace of new audio application segments. As Audio has entered as a major component into many new product areas, APDA will also offer specific audio training and the opportunity to learn best practices to new and seasoned professionals from any product areas.
APDA-ALTI Education Symposium 2023
Sunday June 11 - Sourcing and Supply Chain
9:00-9:45
Product Management
Introduction to APDA Day 1 – Scott Leslie (Chief Product Architect, PD Squared - APDA Managing Director)
Product Management and Supply Chain Walk Into a Bar
Product Management has become a well-developed and business function today. In this session you will see how detailed Product Management practices from Concept to Definition to Design to Validation to Verification integrates into all facets of the Supply Chain. We will cover these development phases in detail on how each related to key Supply Chain Sourcing decisions and actions.
9:45-10:30
Supply Chain Fundamentals – Circa 2025
Mike Klasco (CEO, Menlo Scientific - APDA Chair)
“Speed, Quality, Cost – Choose 2”
The triad of product development success. How to deal with these conflicting dimensions, why it is important to your product development journey and how it impacts your stakeholders.
10:30-10:40
Break
10:40-12:00
Supply Chain Fundamentals – Circa 2025
Cris Cataudella (VP Pro Audio, Tymphany)
Supplier Partner Models and Relationships
CM, OEM, ODM and now JDM, which is right for you and why?
In this session you will learn about the modern supplier models that are reshaping how products are developed and delivered.
12:00-14:00
Lunch Break
14:00-14:45
Leveraging Partners for Technology and Marketing advantage
Jason Marr (Sr. Manager, Strategic Alliances, Logitech)
Getting the Logo on Your Box
What it means from a performance and product perspective plus how brands cooperate with leading embedded technology suppliers to improve their products and increase their profile. “The Intel Inside strategy for audio”.
14:45-15:15
USA Sourcing
Clement Fert (Field Sales Engineer, Acoustics and Sensors, Seltech)
Local and Remote Sourcing: An Update
What are the positives and challenges of sourcing in the US? What has changed and why you might consider the US as the next frontier of an ever changing supply chain landscape.
15:15-15:45
Asia Sourcing Part 1 - What to consider
Mike Klasco (CEO, Menlo Scientific - APDA Chair)
Asia Sourcing: The key factors and considerations
Asia as a sourcing region has matured and expanded from a parts and manufacturing destination to offer all types of service & product offerings. In this session we will cover the challenges and benefits of committing to the services portfolio of companies across Asia versus keeping these functions local to your company. This will include:
• Product Design
• Project Management
• Industrial Design
• Hardware Engineering
• Software Development
• Parts and Materials
• Legal Protection
• Language Barrier
• Time Zone Challenges
15:45-16:00
Break
16:00-17:00
Asia Sourcing Part 2 - Country by country
Mike Klasco (CEO, Menlo Scientific - APDA Chair)
Cris Cataudella (VP Pro Audio, Tymphany)
Dwight Tobiano (Executive Officer, Dai-ichi Electronics Manufacturing)
Asian Geography Panel
Our panel will present and hold an open discussion on what you should know about sourcing today in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, China and others throughout Asia.
17:00 – 18:00
End of Day Session
Dave Lindberg (DB Enterprises - APDA Chair) via video (Q&A by Scott Leslie)
Product Development Process – Success Factors with your Supplier Partners
Monday June 12 - Modeling and Measurement
Introduction to APDA Day 2 – Roger Shively (JJR Acoustics - APDA Chair)
9:00 – 10:30
Modeling Techniques COMSOL
Jinlan Huang (Principal Applications Engineer for Vibration and Acoustics, COMSOL)
Advancements in Multiphysics Simulation for Electroacoustic Products
Advancement of the COMSOL Model Builder will show the application of multiphysics features in the Acoustics Modules, including the couplings with structural mechanics, piezoelectricity, and fluid flow and specialized formulations and material models, like thermoviscous acoustics, used in miniature transducers and mobile devices, or Biot's equations, used for modeling poroelastic waves.
10:35 – 10:45
Break
10:50 – 11:15
Audio System Analysis with Digital Twins
Steve Hutt (Equity Sound Investments - APDA)
Roger Shively (JJR Acoustics - APDA Chair)
Digital Twins Part 1
Utilizing the Digital Twin method, a case study is reviewed that analyzes how loudspeaker production variance affects audio system performance. This method enables interchanging components without perturbing the system, effectively eliminating measurement uncertainty between comparisons. Binaural Room Impulse Responses are convolved to create auralizations of different scenarios that are then subjectively evaluated by a listening panel to compare audible differences.
11:15-11:45
Paul Beckmann (Chief Technical Officer, DSP Concepts)
Digital Twins Part 2
Signal Path Modeling and Simulation explores the transformative potential of Digital Twins in optimizing the development of audio signal chains. This approach is particularly valuable in scenarios involving parallel development, where multiple team members collaborate on a shared product, or remote development, enabling seamless collaboration across geographically dispersed locations. Our study showcases the practical implementation of these techniques in diverse domains, including automotive and consumer applications, highlighting their benefits and real-world impact.
11:50 – 12:00
Q & A - Digital Twins Discussion
12:00-14:00
Lunch Break
14:00-15:30
Modeling and Measurement COMSOL and Klippel
Jinlan Huang & Mark Cops
Robert Werner (Applications Engineer, Klippel)
Integration of Simulation and Measurement Data.
Modeling and Simulation has advanced greatly with the innovation in software tools brought to market by companies like COMSOL.
Measurement systems today can and do collect vast amounts of data about product performance, quality, consistency, etc. The next frontier is bridging the gap between simulation data and measurement data from leaders from both discpilines in that industry for audio products. Covered will be the data management, comparison, and model updates for optimization, the most powerful part of the Audio Production Simulation and Production Cycle.
15:30-16:15
Measurement Techniques
Jacob Soendergaard (Principal Engineer, HEAD Acoustics)
Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Score
How to you measure Audio Quality put it into an objective and easy to grasp (and compare) format. The MDAQS algorithm: Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Score.
16:15 – 17:00
Directional Measurements for Spatial Audio Research
Steve Temme (Founder and President, Listen)
In addition to traditional frequency response, distortion, phase etc., a complete set of measurements increasingly includes directional characteristics. In this short demonstration, Listen will show how directional measurements can be made quickly, accurately and in an ordinary room to help develop products for spatial audio applications.
Tuesday June 13 - Voice and DSP
8:30 – 9:00
Introductions and Welcome
Steve Willenborg (VP Sales, Linkplay - APDA Chair)
The continued development of improved audio products relies on new techniques and development tools. At APDA we strive to showcase the technologies and methods that are essential to product development engineering using the most advanced tools available including many that will be presented today. The use of DSP and AI/ML will continue to influence and enable new and exciting audio designs. These technologies are rapidly evolving and with the combination of deep learning and electro-acoustic engineering it is a very exciting time in the audio/acoustics products field.
9:00 – 9:50
Overcoming the Challenges of High-Quality Conferencing
Paul Beckmann (Chief Technical Officer, DSP Concepts)
Voice conferencing products are notoriously difficult to build. Even relatively basic designs such as a single mic “voice puck” requires hours of testing and tuning to achieve a satisfying user experience. More advanced designs with microphone arrays and satellite microphones introduce finicky, potentially time consuming problem-solving at both the hardware and software levels. Meeting the rigorous standards for Microsoft Teams and Zoom certification requires significant expertise and specialized facilities. In this talk, DSP Concepts CTO Paul Beckmann discusses the challenges in making high-quality conferencing and the key steps to achieving a differentiated product.
09:50-10:00
Break
10:00 – 11:30
Neural Network Design for Voice on the Edge
Josh Morris (Senior Manager, ML Development, DSP Concepts)
Learn about neural network design for always-on streaming audio classification for the edge. We'll cover important topics including feature selection, layer selection, and tips and tricks for shrinking a model size. We'll show real world use cases including keyword spotting and profiling using Audio Weaver and Tensorflow.
11:30 – 13:00
Lunch – Buffet
Demos and networking
Product Development Table demonstrations
TalkTogether: Full-Duplex Comparison (Acer vs. Jabra)
Real-time Audio System Check (R-TASC): Common Issues
Audio Weaver ML Module Pack: Multiple Targets
Acer B-Flex Conference Speaker
13:00 – 14:00
The Evolving Use Cases for Video Conferencing
Eric Skup (VP Customer Acquisition and Success, DSP Concepts)
Michael Halloran (Sales Engineer, DSP Concepts)
Video conferencing has become an essential communication tool for businesses, educational institutions, and individuals worldwide. The rise of remote work and online learning has made video conferencing essential to conduct meetings, interviews, webinars, and classes. As the technology advances, new use cases are emerging such as telemedicine, virtual events, remote collaboration, augmented reality meetings, and watch parties.
Built with Audio Weaver, the TalkTogether: Virtual Co-Viewing solution elevates watch party experiences for streaming video with remarkably robust ML noise reduction. Even against loud action movie soundtracks, VCV delivers clear, full duplex conversation. Attendees will learn about the key elements in the processing chain followed by a live demonstration that steps through the signal flow and shows performance for distant far-field use cases.
14:00 – 15:30
Audio Weaver Training Part 1
Michael Halloran (Sales Engineer, DSP Concepts)
Audio Weaver Training – 1
Discover how Audio Weaver makes audio innovation easy in this introductory training session. This short session is a preview of the full online training offered once per month by DSP Concepts.
Audio Weaver Overview
Audio Weaver Designer GUI
Standard Designer Processing Modules
Audio Weaver Core Embedded Libraries
Audio Weaver Use Cases
15:30 – 16:00
Break
16:00 – 17:30
Audio Weaver Training Part 2
Michael Halloran (Sales Engineer, DSP Concepts)
Audio Weaver Platform Training – 2
Part 2 of the Audio Weaver training session provides hands-on experience with Audio Weaver centered on a conferencing use case. Participants will learn how to navigate the TalkTogether voice comms layout and tune playback running on the STMicro STM32H747 MCU.
The first 2 days of APDA content are included for ALTI-Expo attendees with All Access Pass, or Exhibitor Pass. The 3rd full day of APDA content, on June 13, is an additional $200 for the full day. That is $699 for 3 days of content and networking, breakfast and lunch all 3 days, and the gala Banquet on Sunday, Day 1.
Participation on the 3rd day only, focused on Audio Experience Design for Conferencing: From AEC to AI is available for $200.
More information is available here.
Eventbrite registration is available here.
APDA-ALTI Education Symposium 2023
June 11 - 13
ALTI-Expo and Conference 2023
DoubleTree by Hilton Universal, Orlando, FL
www.altiassoc.org/alti-expo-conference-2023
