Hearing More: First Impressions from Aalborg, DK

The 2016 Audio Engineering Society (AES) International Conference on Headphone Technology took place August 24-26, 2016, in Aalborg, Denmark, at the Nordkraft building - an old power station converted into a mix of community and events center near the city's new music center, Musikkens Hus. Approximately 160 registered participants had the opportunity to attend more than 40 paper and keynote presentations, while 20 companies promoted demonstrations. One of the most successful AES international conferences ever!

With the popularity of “smart and wearable” devices driving developments in low-power processors and sensors that are enabling the augmentation of headphones with features more typically associated with hearing aids or smartphones, the 2016 AES International Conference on Headphone Technology, held in Aalborg, Denmark, will certainly be a well-attended event. This AES conference will focus on technologies for headphones with a special emphasis on the emerging fields of Mobile Spatial Audio, Personal Assistive Listening, and Augmented Reality.

This VC Spotlight article, from Mike Klasco includes some really great insight on upcoming developments and new companies active in the MEMS field. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) loudspeakers are just now appearing. As Mike explains “this is a really new technology, so new that only recently were functional lab prototypes operational.” Article originally published in Voice Coil, May 2015.

A new analysis for 2014 titled “The Global and China Micro Electronic-Acoustics Component Industry Report, 2013-2014” was published in October 2014 by Research in China and shows that the earphone and headphone categories have been the main growth areas since the second half of 2013. The 95 pages report provides the most recent data and information on the micro electronic-acoustics industry, detailing profiles of 21 micro electronic-acoustics manufacturers.

GoerTek Inc., a leading hi-tech consumer electronics company from China has acquired the majority shares of Danish loudspeaker manufacturer Dynaudio. Wilfried Ehrenholz, the founder of Dynaudio, will remain as a minority shareholder and continue to participate in Dynaudio´s product and marketing strategy. With Goertek, Dynaudio gains engineering experience in electronic and wireless technology, considered critical for the company’s latest product developments.