Welcome to another year of Voice Coil, the periodical for the Loudspeaker Industry. In this edition, we kick off 2017 with an overview of what the 2017 NAMM Show will bring. The Winter NAMM Show is being held from January 19–22, 2017, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, and will break all previous records in attendance and exhibitors numbers, while promising to be an exciting moment for many loudspeaker and audio electronics manufacturers. NAMM 2017 will also focus on intellectual property issues, with many educational sessions devoted to the topic, from “IP Issues for Audio Manufacturers,” to Music Publishing and Global IP Protection.In Industry News & Developments, this month we also preview the forthcoming Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) trade show - February 7–10, at the Amsterdam RAI, in The Netherlands. ISE, a joint-venture between InfoComm and CEDIA is now larger than the two US shows combined. ISE 2017 promises to expand even more, as a crucial stage for the AV and commercial and residential installation and integration industries. Increasing attendance from key audio manufacturers and OEM suppliers is making this show one of the most important events in the industry calendar.
The Voice Coil Spotlight for this edition features an important article by Marian Liebig (Klippel GmbH), discussing the specific challenges of Testing Mobile Devices such as Bluetooth headphones, smartphones, and tablets. Those devices have become part of people’s daily lives but increasingly pose important new challenges in terms of quality assurance, where defect symptoms need to be detected sensitively and quickly while measured under tough acoustical conditions.
For this month's Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes the recently released SB Acoustics 6.5” MR16P-4 Satori midrange driver, as well as a recent midwoofer from Italian pro sound OEM, B&C Speakers’ new MBX line of pro sound mid-bass woofers, the 6.5” 6MBX44. The new SB Acoustics MR16P-4 Satori driver is nominally a midrange version of the SB Acoustics MW16R-4 (first reviewed in the November 2011 issue of Voice Coil) with higher sensitivity and shorter Xmax. The MBX series mid-bass woofers from B&C Speakers, especially well suited for small two-way loudspeaker applications, already includes the 8MBX51 (reviewed in the November 2016 issue of Voice Coil) and the 6MBX44, with similar features. Vance Dickason looks in detail at the these new innovative drivers and their detailed behaviour while under test.
This edition also includes the usual slate of industry stories, in Industry Watch, now available to download. This latest issue of Voice Coil - as well as previous archived issues - is available to read online or download here: www.gotomyvcoil.comTo download the January 2017 issue, renew your subscription, or qualify for a free subscription to Voice Coil, just go here: audioxpress.com/page/Voice-Coil-Subscriber-Services.html
Best Wishes for the New Year!
