all future in-person / real life events including trade shows, seminars, etc.

SoundCheck Basic & Advanced Training, Feb/Mar 2023 – Denmark

We’re excited to be back training in-person later this month in Copenhagen – a great location easily accessible from much of Europe.

We’re offering both our 2 day basic training and our 1 day advanced training consecutively. Attend either, or if you want to seriously power up your SoundCheck knowledge, come to both for 3 action-packed days!

Dates: Basic Training Feb 27th-28th. Advanced Training Mar 1st

Location : IDA Copenhagen, Kalvebod Brygge 31-33, 1780 København V (just 15 minutes from the airport).

Presenters: Mark Latshaw and Steve Temme

This training is being held in partnership with our Scandinavia distributor, Vibrakustik. You can find full information about the training including course outlines and cost here: SoundCheck Training 2023.

If you would like to register for the training, or have any questions please contact Vibrakustik directly.

AES 2022, New York, October 19-20, 2022

At AES New York, Steve Temme will participate in presentations and discussions on ‘In-car audio measurement’ (with Jayant Datta) and ‘Moving beyond traditional measurements’ (with Jayant Datta and Jonathan Gerbet). Exact schedule and timings are yet to be announced.

ISEAT 2022,October 29-30 2022, Shenzhen, China.

Listen President, Steve Temme, will be presenting a paper entitled ‘Enhanced perceptual rub & buzz measurement for loudspeaker production test’.  Due to Covid-19 regulations, this paper will be presented by video.

ISEAT Web Site

 

ALTI Expo 22

Come and see us at ALTI Expo 2022 in Las Vegas, June 5-6. We’ll be exhibiting SoundCheck 20, the latest release of our popular audio measurement software, as well as AmpConnect 621, our new multichannel hardware interface. Company founder and president, Steve Temme will present a paper on our new enhanced Perceptual Rub & Buzz algorithm, and Sales Manager Les Quindipan will introduce the new features of Soundcheck 20, as well as participate in the speaker builders workshop event.

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AES 2022 International Automotive Audio Conference

We’ll be attending and exhibiting at the AES International Automotive Conference in Detroit, June 8-10. Stop by and visit our booth to learn more about the latest version of SoundCheck, including a host of new features designed for multichannel and communications testing, as well as the new enhanced perceptual Rub & Buzz algorithm. Listen founder and president, Steve Temme, will be presenting a paper on June 8th (paper session 1, 10.30 am) detailing this new algorithm, and will also participate in a panel discussion on Max SPL measurement in cars at 4.00pm on June 9th.

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The Future of Audio Measurements – SoundHub Denmark

Weds May 25th, 8.30-12.30

Presenters: Steve Temme, Listen Inc.; Michael Trolle, VibrAkustik

Join us at SoundHub in Struer for a great day of presentations and discussion on the latest in audio measurement. The presentations will cover a variety of audio test topics including the end of line testing for improved efficiency and yield, measurement in real-world conditions, free-field measurements without a test chamber and more. There will also be consultation time when we are happy to answer your questions or discuss any aspect of audio test. This event is highly relevant for anyone needing to test audio products, both in R&D and production.

Schedule

8.30-9.00: Check-in, coffee & Welcome by VibrAkustik & Sound Hub Denmark (Michael Trolle and Rie Kold Pripsø)

9.00-9.30: Perceptual distortion measurements

9.30-10.00: Accurate measurement of headphones and hearing assistance devices under real world conditions

10.00-10.30: Coffee and discussion time

10.30-11.00: New features in SoundCheck version 20

11.00-11.30: Free-field speaker measurements without an anechoic chamber

11.30-12.30: Consultation time: Bring us your audio devices and your measurement challenges and we’ll discuss your measurement options and demonstrate how your devices can be measured

Note: there will be live demonstrations on all topics, and a display of hardware for a complete measurement chain including fixtures, measurement microphones and sensors, audio interfaces and turntable.

 

Detailed Content Information

Perceptual Distortion Measurements: Perceptual distortion measurements enable production line yield to be increased by rejecting only devices with audible Rub & Buzz defects rather than any distortion defects, and Listen’s new enhanced Perceptual Rub & Buzz (ePRB) algorithm is the first to perform even better than the human ear! Through proprietary noise reduction technology and advanced perceptual algorithms, its performance in a noisy factory environment is comparable to the performance of a trained listener under normal listening conditions. Learn more about the science behind this algorithm, see the results, and learn how to implement it in your end-of-line tests.

Accurate Headphone Measurements in Real World Conditions: In this demo-focused session, we will demonstrate how to accurately measure Headphones and Hearing Assistance Devices under real world conditions with real world signals such as speech and music. For example, we will demonstrate, in real time, how to adjust the headphone fit for a proper seal on the head and torso simulator and measure headphone ANC with real background noise with our Multi Signal Real Time Analyzer

New Features in SoundCheck: The newly released SoundCheck 20 is at the forefront of audio measurement with new features for multichannel and communications, increasing its capabilities for audio measurement of smart speakers, infotainment systems, headphones and hearables, and other voice-activated and multichannel devices. In this 30 minute session, we will demonstrate the new features and explain how they are used for testing a variety of audio products and applications.

Free-field Speaker Measurements without an anechoic chamber: Can’t afford or get time in an anechoic chamber? That’s not a problem if you have SoundCheck! In this practical session, we will demonstrate a method first developed by Listen president Steve Temme back in 1993, known as the ‘splice’ technique. This measurement technique is easy to configure and enables you to make highly accurate free-field measurements in an ordinary room, avoiding the expense of an anechoic chamber and enabling measurements in your home or office.

Registration is not available as this event has passed.

 

The Listen Roadshow: Schedule a Visit

Covid times call for different ways of meeting our customers, and our solution is to go retro with the Listen Roadshow.

While we are happy to visit you in your offices (our entire sales team is fully vaccinated and masked!), we recognize that many of our customers are still not permitting external vendor visits. While we use online demos and seminars to great effect, we value face-to-face time with you, as it better enables us to truly understand your measurement needs and challenges.

We had a blast at our Fall roadshows in the San Jose area, and are planning further events on the West Coast in the Spring. Once the weather warms up, if Covid still prevents traditional visits, we’ll tour the East Coast and Midwest.

How it works

We schedule a day or half-day with you, where we will bring our truck and equipment and set up in your parking lot, or in one of your conference rooms (if allowed). We need permission to do this from the relevant people at your organization, and 3-4 parking spaces. Our vehicle is a large rental car, and we bring a pop-up table for demos. Depending on the event and weather conditions, we may also have a small (10’x10’) gazebo. We very much appreciate access to power and restrooms if available, although we can operate without it. We’ll bring giveaways, pre-packaged snacks, drinks and copious supplies of masks, hand sanitizer and wipes to disinfect the equipment after each touch.

In order to successfully plan, we need to schedule a date approximately 6-8 weeks in advance. This gives us time to plan a logical route, book flights and rentals, and promote the event. We’ll do this by contacting all whom we know in your organization, and inviting them to schedule a time to stop by. We also appreciate your help promoting the event internally.

To get on our schedule, or discuss further, please contact sales@listeninc.com or your local sales engineer.

FAQ

How much space do you need?   Indoors, any conference room will work.  Outdoors, about 3-4 parking spaces. Our preferred spot is close to a building to facilitate power supply, but this is not critical – anywhere in your parking lot or building grounds could work. A small outdoor area with tables such as a patio or dining area also works well. The photos on this page are from one of our larger set-ups. We can be more compact if required.

How many people from Listen will attend?   Likely 2 or 3

How long will you be here for?   Our visit may last anything from a couple of hours to all day, depending on how many visitors we expect and what demos we are bringing.

Do you need power?   If outdoors, it helps us immensely if we can run a power cord from your building, although we can run demos for a limited time period from the car battery if needed (we may need a jump start afterwards!)

Will you be noisy or disruptive?   No – this isn’t a ‘party’ roadshow. There is no band, no amplified music, no entourage of trailers. Just 3 of us with a car and some audio measurement demos.

Do you need to come into our building?   No. While we obviously have a preference for a comfortable conference room and are happy to meet in your building if it is permitted (we are all fully vaccinated, masked and follow Covid protocols responsibly), we can arrange for the entire event to be outdoors to minimize Covid risk. We appreciate, but do not require, bathroom access.

What are you doing about Covid Safety?   Maintaining the entire event in the open air minimizes risk. Our entire visiting team is fully vaccinated and boosted. We wear masks and maintain social distance, and ask that attendees from your company do the same. We will provide hand sanitizer and disposable masks. All demo equipment will be cleaned with disinfecting wipes after each touch. Any food and drink offered is pre-packaged in single-serve portions. Please share any concerns or questions with us in order that they can be addressed.

What about crowds?   This is not a crowded event. Usually people visit alone or in groups of 2-4 with other members of their team. We schedule meetings throughout the day to avoid congestion. Typically we have 20-30 visitors over the course of the day.

How will people know about the event?   We will email the people we know at your organization. However, we greatly appreciate the assistance of your team leaders in sharing news about the event.

Interested in hosting us? Please contact sales@listeninc.com or your local sales engineer.

West Coast Audio Measurement Roadshow Nov 8th-12th 2021

Visit us next week at our West Coast Audio Measurement Roadshow! We’re bringing our truck to various outdoor locations in the Bay area for Covid-safe product demos, previews, refreshments and giveaways (details below). If you haven’t received a personal invite yet, please let us know and we’ll send you full details!

Audio Testing with SoundCheck at Sound Hub Denmark

February 25th, 2020. 8.30-17.00

Learn how to measure audio quality of both simple and complex modern audio devices, in both R&D and production environments. Get to know the basics of SoundCheck; one of the world’s most popular audio test software systems, and learn about how to build a test sequence incl. recommendations for the equipment used. Additionally, you will get familiar with specific methods and conditions applied for voice-activated audio testing for e.g. automotive among others.

Join us for an inspiring day, where the Founder and President of Listen, Inc., Steve Temme from US together with Danish representatives and people from GRAS share knowledge about do’s and don’ts.

Sound Hub Denmark has the software and recommended equipment in house to further assist you after this course.

Program Outline

8.30–9.00: Sign-in & welcome

9.00-12.00: Audio Measurement Basics: What to measure and why

  • Learn about different test configurations and the products you need for a test system (software, microphones, interfaces, chambers etc.)
  • Understand the basics of SoundCheck – one of the  world’s most popular audio test systems used on over 10,000 production lines worldwide
  • Learn how to build a simple test sequence for speakers and microphones in SoundCheck, and how to adapt this for different products
  • Common challenges and pitfalls with audio testing
  • Transitioning test from the R&D lab to the production line

12.30: Light lunch

13.15-16.00: Voice-Activated Device Testing, Automotive, smart speakers, hearables

  • Automotive infotainment systems, hearables, smart speakers and many other audio devices are now voice-activated. Such devices are complex to test as they have numerous wired and wireless connections and often contain signal processing, both on the record and the playback side. This means that their characteristics change according to ‘real world’ conditions of the environment that they are used in, such as automotive cabin and roaad noise, background noise, playback levels, and room acoustics. Furthermore, many aspects of the device may need to be tested, ranging from voice recognition to music playback, operation as a hands-free telephone, and even hearing assistance. Often measurements need to be made at different levels and different environmental conditions. In this session, we will discuss the test configurations, tools and techniques that enable accurate measurement of the audio performance of such devices under the many various real-world conditions in which they are used.

16.00-17.00: Hands on and drinks

Space is limited so please sign up on the event page on the Sound Hub Website.

AES Convention– New York – October 16-19, 2019

Although Listen won’t be exhibiting, president Steve Temme will be at the event and will be participating in two product development sessions detailed below.

 

Product Development: PD09 – Does Automotive Audio Need a Systems Approach?

Thursday, October 17, 1:30 pm — 3:00 pm (1E09)

Chair: Roger Shively, JJR Acoustics, LLC

Panelists: John Busenitz, Bose Corporation, Pietro Massini, Ask Industries S.p.A, Greg Sikora, Harman International, Steve Temme, Listen, Inc.

Some component specifications do not translate to good system performance. A good example is resonance frequency. This often does not correspond well to performance characteristics in the automotive environment. Some potential improvements would be low-frequency SPL, or a parameter combination such as Fs/Qts or EBP (Fs/Qes). The system performance goals should drive the transducer component specification. Hence, this workshop will host leading industry experts in automotive audio and test/measurement solutions to discuss pros and cons of component vs. system specifications.

 

Product Development: PD10 – Diagnostics for Production Vehicle Audio Systems

Thursday, October 17, 3:15 pm — 4:30 pm (1E09)

Presenters: Jonathan Gerbet, Klippel GmbH, Steven Hutt, Equity Sound Investments, Steve Temme, Listen, Inc.

Audio systems in production vehicles are known to exhibit vehicle to vehicle performance variance [1]. The root causes of variance can include loudspeaker driver manufacturing tolerance, mounting issues such as missing or misaligned gaskets, or wrong loudspeaker drivers mounted in the system. A diagnostics method to compare actual production vehicle audio systems is defined along with a method for correction and calibration of production vehicle audio systems. The diagnostics procedure may be implemented at production end-of-line, at vehicle distribution center or at a dealer service center in the field after delivery to a customer.

Full AES Schedule