September 2023

Audio Optimizations
Simulation tools now allow us to validate completely new loudspeaker technologies.
Editorial By J. Martins

  During the recent 2023 High End show in Munich, I had the opportunity to attend a cutting-edge home theater demonstration. The room was set up with a full THX Certified Dominus Perlisten 11.7.6 surround sound system, with a StormAudio ISP Elite MK3 Immersive Sound Processor for continuous demonstrations of the state-of-the-art in home cinema. And I could enjoy the full immersiveness of the cinema experience in a properly treated room, seats and large screen in darkened conditions.

When I attend this type of demonstration I always say to myself that I don't want to see a movie in anything less than that ever again. I still recall similarly unforgettable experiences with an Ascendo Immersive Audio demo in Munich, or the more recent CEDIA 2022 demo theater promoted in partnership by Absolute Ultimate AV, Christie Digital, and Steinway Lyngdorf, with 3D audio processing by SPATIAL.

Still, there was something truly unique in this year's High End presentation, which was the special "intelligence" of the new Dirac Live Active Room Treatment software. This was how the audio output of those amazing Perlisten speakers was being optimized through the StormAudio processor — mind you, a technology that works on any room, regardless of its shape, size, or interior design.

audioXpress readers were privileged to anticipate the possibilities in the December 2021 article "The Arrival of Spatial Room Correction Technology" by Lars-Johan Brannmark, inventor and algorithm designer at Dirac Research.

Dirac Live Active Room Treatment uses all speakers in a sound system working cooperatively to control decay times, bass resonance, and even remove modes. When I wrote about active acoustics and electroacoustic enhancement for our previous issue, I couldn't help thinking about the enormous impact that this new Dirac room optimization technology will eventually have for all sorts of audio applications.

Already after the Munich show, French audio processing specialists Trinnov Audio followed up with its own announcement to improve home theater design. With WaveForming, Trinnov combines passive and active room acoustics. Trinnov says that WaveForming will "significantly advance low-frequency reproduction, with the potential of profoundly transforming home theater design guidelines." To be showcased at CEDIA 2023 in Denver, CO.

When talking about pushing the envelope in audio and electroacoustics, our readers will notice the article in this issue, describing the analysis of the Dinaburg Concentric Coplanar Stabilizer (C2S) loudspeaker technology. Roger Shively describes the COMSOL modeling work that was done to verify the benefits and potential uses of C2S — a technology that is about to reach first commercial implementations. Listening to a demonstration of the Dinaburg Technology allowed us to confirm precisely what the Shively analysis illustrates and how it enhances sound reproduction in very effective ways. And we wouldn't be surprised to see it applied in very effective compact home cinema designs... or even in headphones.

Shively presented this Dinaburg C2S analysis at the High End show in Munich as well as at the ALTI-Expo 2023 in Orlando, FL. In Munich, Peter Larsen, the founder of Loudsoft, also presented how speaker designers can model and optimize a C2S system using his Loudsoft FINEBox software, accurately predicting SPL, Xmax, and bass extension.

It was also at the High End 2023 show, as part of the International Parts Supply (IPS) Show conferences, that we had the opportunity to learn about the new 180° Bay Radial Speaker (BRS), which borrows technology from the 360° BRS (fully omni and flat to 50kHz) — one of the most outstanding tweeters available to the audio industry, introduced by BayZ Audio in 2017. The new 180° BRS (500Hz to 20kHz) is now available for OEM licensing and a complete COMSOL acoustic model was presented at the event. This allows full validation of any design using this radial tweeter, with considerations for structural deformations, magnetic field calculations, coil design, and allowing designers to run several iterations with various membrane materials and shape configurations. In this case, this was the work of Dr. Arpad Forberger, who modeled the high power-handling tweeter in close cooperation with its creator Bay Zoltán.

Notice how simulation tools now allow us to validate the benefits of completely new loudspeaker technologies, while the latest digital audio processing tools allow full optimization of room acoustics and of the speakers' response? 

J. Martins
Editor-in-Chief

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