This issue of audioXpress opens with an essential report on audio amplification. Titled "Power, Efficiency, and Flexibility," this year's Market Update reflects the industry's recovery from all the previous challenges of the past 3 years and focuses on the few examples of progress. As better products promised in 2023 are now available, and there’s efficient solutions for every application, there's more than enough to discover. As we note in the introduction, audio amplification is on the move with Class-D expanding its domination and improving on all fronts, as the industry is increasingly focused on versatile, load independent, multichannel, and networked systems.And following up on these identified trends, the audioXpress team traveled to visit some of the key players in the audio amplification space, all of which are feeling the urge to diversify and expand.
To start, Jan Didden traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, to take the pulse of what's happening at ICEpower. This dynamic company has developed and manufactured Class-D amplifiers and switch-mode power supply modules for more than two decades. With a rich heritage in amplifier technology and a commitment to innovation, ICEpower caters to a wide range of applications including consumer electronics, professional audio, and automotive systems. The company continues to provide innovative Class-D solutions, but as Jan Didden reports, its portfolio is now much broader than that and ICEpower intends to continue to expand as a strategic, turnkey solution provider.
The next article is the result of several visits, meetings, and conversations at trade shows, leading Ward Maas to schedule an interview with Jan-Willem Winters, the electrical engineer with a passion for audio that has been leading Hypex on a robust growth trajectory. Recognized as one of the firms that pioneered Class-D amplification, today Hypex is an established manufacturer and OEM supplier. Jan-Willem Winters is the CEO leading the strategy behind the expansion, having started with Hypex as a graduate student, before being hired to work in R&D, and eventually appointed as R&D manager. Just before the company's founder Jan-Peter van Amerongen passed away he asked Winters to take over his duties. He took the helm, navigated a pandemic, the AKM fire, parts shortages, and managed to continue to innovate, launch new products, consolidate its production facilities, and expand the company and business.
Still within the realm of audio amplifiers, Oliver A. Masciarotte had the opportunity to live with and review the disruptive WiiM Amp integrated amplifier and multiroom audio streamer. After introducing a series of best-selling audio streamers, Linkplay Technology launched the WiiM Amp, a still-affordable design that combines a TI 3255 Class-D audio amplifier and ESS Sabre premium 32-bit DAC. Oliver had the chance to review the "low cost and feature packed" WiiM Pro music streamer last year and was positively impressed. The WiiM Amp adds the integrated amplifier angle and simplifies the whole audio system setup.
For this month's Sound Control column, Richard Honeycutt looks at the specific class of Acoustical Window Treatments. Recent design trends for classrooms and conference rooms have often featured large areas of glass. An architect’s motivation for including so much glass may involve a desire for visitors to be able to observe activities in the rooms as they walk by, the room occupants’ abilities to view the outdoors, or both. However, the significant drawbacks to this practice must also be considered. Fortunately, there are now specific window treatments that provide effective results.
The next article for this issue is the result of an ongoing effort to follow up with all the exciting things that are happening with Analog Devices' Automotive Audio Bus (A2B). For this mission, which audioXpress intends to expand as much as possible into actual development ideas, we are privileged to have once again enlisted one of the top experts in A2B, Brewster LaMacchia. audioXpress readers will recognize his name from previous articles on A2B, so there was no need to recap on the basics of that technology, as all those previous articles are available online. This time, Brewster LaMacchia expands on 10 Years and 3 Generations of A2B, exploring the release of the AD2437 A2B chip, which now supports up to 16 nodes, connected up to 30m, to transmit 32 channels of 24-bit/48kHz digital audio and optional data with the lowest latency (50μsec). All with a single, plug-and-play cable, allowing nodes to be added and removed dynamically. This makes A2B the ideal technology for all audio multichannel applications in home cinema, studio, stage, musical instruments and much more. Time to update our knowledge of A2B and understand how the technology is ready to connect more audio manufacturers and devices.
This July 2024 issue of audioXpress is also notable because it includes an important contributed piece by Thomas Lund, a renowned researcher and author of papers on human perception, envelopment, loudness, sound exposure, and true-peak level, which contributed directly to loudness standardization efforts. For audioXpress he accepted the challenge to explain and remind us all of the importance of Loudness Normalization, "For the Love of Music" as he says. Loudness normalization not only tremendously improves the listening experience for consumers, but it is also an element in control of sound exposure and prevention of hearing loss. His article hopes to set the facts straight regarding loudness concepts, standards, and implementation.
Already from a practical perspective, Ethan Winer returns with a fascinating DIY project in which he shares all that he has learned trying to build things that didn't work - and eventually finding the right path. His idea was to build a Powerful Speech Compressor, not designed to limit the maximum volume level of an audio signal, like has always been done, but working in reverse, leaving loud parts alone and instead raising the volume when it’s too soft. To complete this design successfully, as luck would have it, he was reminded he could use a famous VCA circuit - the one that David Blackmer of dbx fame developed in the 1960s, whose patent expired long ago. The resulting original design is useful for transcribing conference meetings, court reporting, or any other situation where the volume level of recorded speech can vary by a large amount.
In this month's Hollow-State Electronics column, Richard Honeycutt discovers the new Orange Valve Tester MKII, a microprocessor-controlled testing system from the famous British guitar amplification manufacturer Orange Amplification that features greatly improved algorithms with an updated database containing the test results of literally hundreds of new, used, and faulty valves giving the MKII a much greater intelligence compared to the original Orange VT1000. Requiring no knowledge of valve theory, a user simply inserts a valve into the correct socket, selects the valve type from the list, and presses the ‘OK’ button. The status of the valve under test is quickly revealed.
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