AES 2019 New York Expanded Audio Builders Workshop Program

The Audio Builders Workshop offered an expanded program at the 2019 convention of the Audio Engineering Society, held at the Javits Convention Center in New York City, October 16-19. The culmination of this year's program was a three-hour Build Clinic on the last day of the convention. Owen Curtin and Chris Kincaid ran this session, and attendance far exceeded their expectations. There were more than 40 participants, and each person was required to purchase a kit for the session, which they assembled onsite. Participants were given a choice of three kits, depending on their level of experience - the L2A Passive Preamp, the ABW Metronome, or the S-25 microphone.

On Tuesday, October 15, in New York, Sony, together with four music streaming services and an important number of music industry partners promoted a press event to announce the new 360 Reality Audio music ecosystem. This follows the presentations made early at CES 2019 and a repeat of the demonstrations at IFA 2019 in Berlin. At this event, Sony announced the upcoming commercial availability of 360 Reality Audio, an immersive audio experience utilizing object-based spatial audio technology.

The 147th Audio Engineering Society International Pro Audio Convention rocked the Javits Center with four days of everything audio. Under the banner Inspire, the association's annual family reunion returned to New York City’s Javits Center, where inspiration was abundant as leading audio innovators shared their knowledge and experience alongside gear designed to spark creativity and imagination while enhancing productivity.

The book “High-Quality Horn Loudspeaker Systems" by Bjørn Kolbrek and Thomas Dunker is being released this month on different channels and the official launch took place at the 147th AES Convention in New York. The massive 1070-page hardcover book caused quite an impression among AES members and the visitors who attended the two signing events on Wednesday and Friday. Several audioXpress and Voice Coil authors were very impressed with the book and took copies for review.

Following the company's first public presentation at Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt, Germany, in April 2019, Austrian Audio's first product, the OC818 large diaphragm microphone, was displayed for the first time at the AES NY show courtesy of Cranborne Audio. The new OC818 not only features multiple polar patterns, but also offers innovative remote control possibilities, using the same CKR12 ceramic capsule as the OC18 microphone, which is a fixed cardioid version.

Californian high-end audio headphone manufacturer, Audeze announced a new reference audio headphone, the Audeze LCD-1. Available now for $399, this headphone combines Audeze’s renowned planar magnetic technology with a new lightweight foldable design. The LCD-1 has been engineered to provide a response that is matched with the brand's LCD series, within a compact, travel friendly package that is both perfect for industry professionals and audio enthusiasts.

During the 2019 AES Convention in New York, Zylia unveiled two major additions to its industry-leading 3D audio recording and production portfolio of solutions, designed around the Zylia ZM-1 spherical microphone array. The new Zylia ZR-1 portable recording device and 6DoF VR/AR Development Kit add greater flexibility to 360-degree and 3rd order Ambisonics recording applications, responding directly to market demand, particularly field applications.

Solid State Logic (SSL) decided it was time to revisit the company’s analog origins with a new studio classic console. Visitors to the AES NY 2019 convention had the chance to witness the first preview of the Origin analog console, the latest in a long heritage of SSL studio mixing consoles. Origin has a traditional analog studio workflow at its heart whilst providing the perfect partner for a modern DAW driven ‘hybrid’ production studio.

Waves Audio introduced the new eMotion LV1 Proton 16-Channel Live Mixing System at the 147th AES Convention in New York. Expanding on the concept of the original eMotion LV1 software mixer, the LV1 Proton is now Waves’ most affordable complete live mixing system, ideal for 16-channel live setups that aspire to combine sound quality with a live mixing system controlled from a touchscreen control surface, offered for an unprecedented cost of under $5K.

At the 147th AES New York 2019 convention (October 16–19), the Acoustics and Psychoacoustics Track will feature nine events over the convention’s four days that explore the way we hear and the ways the spaces we listen in affect perception. Acoustics and Psychoacoustics Track chair Alex Case has curated the program, which is dedicated to the prospect that, as Case notes, “all who listen hear better when they know more about the science behind acoustics and psychoacoustics.”