In-Ear Technology Meets Music Fidelity in audioXpress April 2024!

Read the latest Earbuds and Hearables market update. sensiBel experts explain everything about the advantages of Microphone Array Beamforming with Optical MEMS Microphones. GRAS' researchers share their findings about Ear Canal Geometry for In-Ear Headphone Testing. Learn how Hearing and Audio affects our perception of music fidelity. Jan Didden interviews Menno van der Veen. Andrew Russell shares his High-Performance 60-Watt Class A Amplifier project, and Tom Perazella explains how to build a Comprehensive AC Power Controller.

With the availability of the HEL/HER 4.4 ViBRIDGE Flexible Pinna for HMS II.3/5, the industry as gained a vital testing tool for in-ear headset designs that utilize bone conduction sensors. Evaluating these systems is vital to optimize near-end structure-borne sound to improve speech quality in the presence of background noise, improve echo cancellation, and double-talk performance. The unique technology developed by HEAD acoustics is being enthusiastically embraced by the industry.

This article looks at the practical test and measurement of bone conduction technology, as used in product development for headsets and in-ear devices. It showcases new possibilities for manufacturers to better evaluate device performance, since no appropriate test equipment and methods were commercially available until now. The approach, complements a Head-and-Torso Simulator (HATS) with an actuator capable of generating structure-borne sound in the artificial ear. This way, a realistic simulation of the human structure-borne voice signal for in-ear headsets is possible.. This article was originally published in audioXpress, January 2023.

IFA 2020, in Berlin, Germany, was "the first major global fair for consumer and home electronics" to physically take place since the pandemic. This limited push to promote a trade show again, lead some major consumer electronics companies and brands to converge their announcements in the week from September 1-5, with showcases streamed to the world live from the Berlin exhibition grounds. Some announcements were relevant to the audio industry and included the Qualcomm press conference, which used the opportunity to launch its latest Adaptive ANC platform, an important step towards smart true wireless earbuds.

Sonion, the manufacturer of components and solutions for hearing aids and in-ear headphones, announced that it is now a member of the Qualcomm Extension Program and will offer the Sonion Voice Pick Up Bone Sensor on the Qualcomm Ultra-Low Power QCC5100 Bluetooth SoC series in Q1 2020. The combination will allow other audio manufacturers to implement reliable voice quality and voice recognition applications that are not hindered by surrounding noise.