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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb 27, 2009
Contact: Zarina Bhimani, Listen, Inc., 580 Harrison Avenue,
Suite 2A, Boston, MA 02118
Phone: (617) 556-4104 email: zbhimani@listeninc.com
New AmpConnect Simplifies Audio Test
AmpConnect is a new rack-mounted hardware interface which simplifies loudspeaker and microphone testing, as well as reducing overall equipment cost. It replaces an impedance box, amplifier, microphone power supply and digital I/O card with one simple USB controlled piece of hardware. AmpConnect provides all the necessary calibration, voltage, & current signals to perform acoustic and electronic tests such as frequency response, sensitivity, distortion, and impedance. It can also drive sound sources (e.g. mouth simulators) for testing microphones.
This reduces operator error as multiple hardware items are replaced by a single rugged, rack mountable unit with fully labeled connections. AmpConnect is fully controllable via Listen’s SoundCheck audio measurement software which means that adjustments of parameters such as gain can be included in test sequences. It also self-calibrates with SoundCheck and is more immune to ground loops than off-the-shelf components.
AmpConnect can be controlled either using the switches on the front-panel, or remotely via a USB-connected PC. This makes it equally suitable for use as a standalone device (e.g., in a lab or during production line setup), or with a PC on a production line. An eight-bit digital I/O port provides digital control and/or status monitoring of external devices for operator feedback, test fixture control, etc. Simplicity and ease of use have been carried through to the user display, with three-color indicators on the front panel (as well as a signal to the computer via the USB) to provide a clear visual signal to the user that the reference, device-under-test, and power amplifier levels are operating within range.
AmpConnect routes and selects all test signals, and contains an integral power amplifier to drive the device under test (or mouth simulator). Two selectable internal reference resistances to measure device impedance offer much simpler impedance measurements than conventional methods. No additional external equipment is required to realize a complete acoustic test platform for a wide range of devices – your device under test simply needs to be connected to AmpConnect and SoundCheck, and you are ready to start testing.
Connection to SoundCheck (or any other test system) is simple via balanced (XLR) or single-ended (BNC) connections. Two simultaneous user-selectable inputs enable 2 measurements to be made simultaneously. In the case of a loudspeaker test, this may be an acoustic signal and an electrical signal such as impedance, and in the case of a microphone test a reference microphone may be measured at the same time as the microphone under test for comparison purposes. Two sets of output connections for the devices under test, either of which can be selected as the active output, permit one test to be performed while simultaneously setting up a test on the other output, thereby increasing production line testing throughput.
A reference input connection allows the output from an external electrical test signal (typically the output of a measurement microphone) to be routed through and selected by AmpConnect and communicated to SoundCheck, freeing the operator from having to handle any external signal switching during testing. This reference input also provides voltage and IEPE bias, supporting transducers requiring either type of powering. The bias can be removed to allow direct connection to a microphone power supply or preamplifier. .
The amplitude of signals can be adjusted for optimal levels without the need for external amplifiers or attenuators. Both the reference input signal and the signal from the device under test, can be attenuated by 10 or 20 dB, or amplified by 0, 10, 20, 30, or 40 dB before being output to SoundCheck.
The NEW AmpConnect from Listen, Inc.
About Listen, Inc.
Listen, Inc. (www.listeninc.com) is a world-leading developer of audio test and measurement software tools and complete measurement systems for R&D and production test of electroacoustic products including loudspeakers, microphones, handsets, headsets, telephones, cell phones, VoIP telephony products, and hearing aids. Formed in 1995, Listen’s electroacoustic test systems have become the standard test platform at many of the world’s largest manufacturers of audio and audio electronic devices.