audioXpress Magazine July 2024

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audioXpress Magazine July 2024

audioXpress remains the authority on audio and reproduced sound by connecting manufacturers and distributors with developers, buyers and consultants around the globe! It's readers are the audio product designers, consultants, integrators, DIY enthusiasts, opinion leaders and your best customers. All of them agree that the coverage of trending topics, unique in the audio industry, make audioXpress a must read.

Every month, audioXpress combines the best educational articles on topic such audio electronics, speaker and headphone design, amplifiers (from tube to Class D), acoustics, practical test and measurement, audio engineering praxis, and standards. audioXpress provides inside stories on new audio developments, on R&D Stories, the most complete objective reviews of innovative products and software, and selects some of the best DIY audio projects from worldwide experts.

From the Editor's Desk
Making Music Louder
Maximizing and optimizing everything to create something that stands out.
Editorial By J. Martins
I doubt many of our readers have a deep understanding about how music is "made" these days. Yes, a lot of music elements are still fundamentally recorded in studios where everything from microphones to preamps, to dynamic processors, and well-treated rooms are vital. Human voice remains one of those key elements, but even the "voices" we hear are far from what was recorded. A lot of the music we listen to today is done from pre-existing sound elements that are either sampled or synthesized, often overlayed with actual recorded parts. There's hardly any long section of music that relies on a continuous recorded element that stays true to what was recorded. Basically, everything is transformed, stretched, pitch-manipulated, then sequenced, and heavily processed, before being mixed. Many times, multiple mixed elements are further sampled, inserted in the sequence and remixed.
---> Making Music Louder.

5 Supporting Companies

Features
36 WiiM Amp Integrated Amplifier And Multiroom Audio Streamer
Streaming Audio Simplified
By Oliver A. Masciarotte
After a series of best-selling audio streamers,
Linkplay Technology launched an integrated amplifier
and multiroom streamer, the WiiM Amp. The still affordable
design combines a TI 3255 Class-D audio
amplifier and ESS Sabre premium 32-bit DAC.

46 Automotive Audio Bus (A2B) Part 1
Ten Years And Three Generations
By Brewster LaMacchia
Extremely successful as an in-vehicle communication
system, Analog Devices has continuously updated its
A2B technology, recently releasing the AD2437 IC.
Time to update our knowledge of A2B and understand
how the technology is ready to connect more audio
manufacturers and devices.

52 For the Love of Music: Loudness Normalization
By Thomas Lund
Wild theories about level normalization "destroying
sound" continue to reappear, as if decades of
loudness normalization efforts have been for nothing.
This article hopes to set the facts straight regarding
loudness concepts, standards, and implementation.

56 Designing A Powerful Speech Compressor
By Ethan Winer
Audio volume compressors have been a staple in
recording studios, live sound venues, and broadcast
studios for decades. Most are designed to limit the
maximum volume level of an audio stream. The
compressor described in this article works in reverse,
leaving loud parts alone and instead raising the
volume when it’s too soft.

Columns
Sound Control
42 Acoustical Window Treatments
By Richard Honeycutt
Recent design trends for classrooms and conference
rooms have often featured large areas of glass.
However, the significant acoustical drawbacks to this
practice must also be considered.

Hollow-State Electronics
62 The Orange Valve Tester MKII
By Richard Honeycutt
British guitar amplification manufacturer Orange
Amplification released the much improved and useful
Orange Valve Tester MKII, a microprocessor-controlled
testing system.

Audio Amplifiers
Market Update
8 Power, Efficiency, And Flexibility
By J. Martins
Audio amplification is on the move with Class-D expanding
its domination and improving on all fronts, as the
industry is increasingly focused on versatile, load
independent, multichannel, and networked systems.
Better products promised in 2023 are now available,
and there’s efficient solutions for every application.

18 ICEpower
An Audio Company That Also Does Amplifiers
By Jan Didden
Europe’s Nordic countries have long been the birthplace
for high-quality and innovative audio products,
particularly excelling at speakers and amplifiers. Located
near Copenhagen, ICEpower has traditionally been known
as a purveyor of high-performance Class-D amplifiers and
associated switch-mode power supplies. ICEpower
continues to provide innovative Class-D solutions today, but its
scope is now much broader than that, as this report discloses.

28 High-Quality Class-D – The Hypex Way
Getting To Know Jan-Willem Winters
By Ward Maas
Hypex is recognized as one of the firms that pioneered
Class-D amplification. Today, Hypex is an established
manufacturer and OEM supplier. Jan-Willem Winters is
the CEO leading the strategy behind the expansion that
made Hypex one of the major players in the market for
high-quality Class-D amplifiers. He started in R&D in
2010, and loves talking about audio amplification.