New Active Studio Monitors with Bluetooth from Samson

Samson Technologies has a new addition to their already impressively affordable and reliable line of monitor speakers. The MediaOne BT Active Studio Monitors with Bluetooth are available in three models, sold as packaged stereo pairs. The MediaOne BT3 ($99), MediaOne BT4 ($149) and MediaOne BT5 ($199) monitors are the latest products from Samson that feature the ability to wirelessly connect to music sources via Bluetooth. Samson is hosting a contest starting on July 18 giving away a pair to a lucky winner before they are available in stores. Read on.

From 15 to 18 May 2014, visitors flocked to the Munich MOC and the 33rd High End Show confirmed its position as the world’s most important location for high-quality audio and consumer electronics with 452 exhibitors from 40 countries (+25%) and 17,855 visitors (+10%). The show, promoted by the High End Society is now more international than ever.

Audiofile announced a major update to Spectre, the popular real-time audio analysis suite for OS X. The new version currently featured on the Mac App Store and named a “Best New App”, is available for 50% off the original price for a limited time. Ideal for any audio professional, Spectre is packed with 20 different multi-channel and multi-trace meters including Level, VU, Spectrograph, Oscilloscope, Spectrogram, LU and LU History.

PreSonus announced that it's now shipping free SL Room Control, which is an easy-to-use system-control and performance-monitoring software for StudioLive AI Active Integration loudspeakers. SL Room Control connects to the loudspeaker-management processor on each AI-series loudspeaker. It works wirelessly or over a wired (Ethernet) LAN. SL Room Control provides access to pro system-alignment controls for customizing each StudioLive AI-series speaker on the network. It compensates for room anomalies, eliminates feedback, and more.

Crown Audio expanded its DriveCore Install (DCi) Series amplifier range with the introduction of its DCi Network Display 8|600ND and 4|1250ND power amplifiers, featuring front-panel status displays and AVB (Audio Video Bridging) connectivity. The new eight- and four-channel DCi Network Display amplifiers combine DriveCore technology with AVB and are compatible with Harman’s HiQnet Audio Architect system setup and control software. Both offer direct drive “constant voltage” capabilities for 70Vrms and 100Vrms amplification without the need for a step-up transformer.

This month we bring you a report on some of the highlights from the Prolight+Sound 2014 show in Frankfurt, Germany. The show provided several innovative proposals for the professional audio industry.

Like many technology companies in Silicon Valley, OPPO Digital is continuously working on bringing new ideas and new products to customers. Over the past 8 years, OPPO has developed and released a series of award-winning universal DVD and Blu-ray players. But just as video has entered the Ultra HD era, OPPO Digital acknowledges audio is evolving with the rise of high-resolution music and a renewed interest in personal audio. Aiming at demanding customers in the personal audio space OPPO has announced the new PM-1 Planar Magnetic Headphone and HA-1 Headphone Amplifier. The PM-1's became available middle April and the HA-1 one month later.

Soundcraft released updates for its Si Expression, Performer and Compact digital mixer series, introducing BSS Soundweb London Control and other new features. The focus of the upgrades was on improving performance for networked audio and monitoring applications.

audioXpress is deeply rooted in the R&D and DIY audio communities. So is Elektor, our sister publication that originated in Europe

New England Audio Resource (N.E.A.R., which was originally called New England Audio Research) was founded in 1988 by Bill Kieltyka. Interestingly, the company purchased a lot of the transducer tooling from Rudy Bozak, and its line was always based, as with Bozak, on aluminum cone woofers and tweeters. (For a period of time, I designed the networks for the entire N.E.A.R. line of two-channel and home-theater speakers).