Events
Upcoming Events
Online Seminar: Microphone Measurement Basics
Sept 17, 2020. 9.00am and 2.00pm US East Coast time (6.00 am and 11.00 am West Coast time)
Microphone test in Anechoic chamber (photo courtesy of Shure, Inc. Used with permission.)
In this 60 minute online seminar, Listen’s Technical Support Manager, Steve Tatarunis discusses Microphone Measurement Basics.
Listen, Inc’s SoundCheck electroacoustic test system is used by the world’s leading OEMs and their contract manufacturers on thousands of production lines worldwide. Although it can be used for testing a wide range of devices including speakers, microspeakers, headphones, headsets, smart devices, cellphones and more, this seminar will focus on microphones.
In this online session, Steve Tatarunis will cover the basics of microphone testing, including:
- Common microphone types and how they work
- Microphone specifications
- How to measure microphones using the two standard methods available in SoundCheck
- Substitution method
- Equalized speaker method
- R&D and production test environments
- Important measurements such as frequency response, sensitivity, etc.
There is no charge for this seminar, but registration is required. Please sign up below. Note that you will be sent login details the day before. The same login details will offer access at both times, so you can choose to attend the one most convenient to you.
Online Training: Basic Sequence Writing (European Schedule)
Sept 23 at 3pm Central European Time, 2pm UK time, 9am US (East Coast) time [Note: rescheduled from original date of Sept 8th]
The ability to quickly generate test sequences is one of the most powerful SoundCheck skills you can acquire. We are bringing a 2 hour basic sequence writing course to the comfort of your own home with our new online training at a convenient time for our European customers.
This 2 hour course is a condensed version of the basics of sequence writing from our popular 2 day training class. We will start from the beginning, explaining how to determine the test parameters and hardware that will meet your specific test requirements. We will look at best practices for creating a sequence, and finally we will assemble a sequence from scratch. This course is ideal for novice SoundCheck users, or those who have been using SoundCheck with sequences that others have written and who are ready to start developing their own. This training is free to support contract holders and US $79 for others.
Remote Training
Due to the current COVID-19 situation, we are not offering in-person group training classes. These will be resumed when regulations allow and there is the demand for it.
In the meantime, we offer customized online training for groups of people from the same company, and can offer flexibility in timing, session length and schedule. Please contact your sales engineer for more information.
Additionally, we will shortly be announcing some scheduled online training classes and these will be posted here as soon as information is available.
Don’t forget to check out our collection of Working from Home with SoundCheck videos on our Youtube channel. Our support team has created this series of videos that demonstrate features of SoundCheck that can easily be explored offline without full access to your lab.
If you are a new user, our series of on-demand training videos is a good place to start. These cover much of the content from day 1 of our basic 2 day training.
Past Events
Online Training: Advanced Analysis
Sept 15 at 9.00am US East Coast time (3pm Central European Time, 2pm UK time) and 2.00pm US East Coast time (11am US West Coast time)
In this 2 hour training, we will be taking a deeper dive into some of the more advanced features of the analysis editor. This will be useful for anyone with a basic understanding of SoundCheck setup, calibration and sequence writing who is looking to add value to their measurements by optimizing their test procedures. We will be taking a closer look at how to configure various analysis algorithms, and the impacts of the chosen settings on measurement confidence and speed. This training offers value to both R&D and production users. We will cover:
- Understanding and configuring the distortion options in SoundCheck’s Harmonictrak algorithm, including how to select the best option for your application
- Configuring the Loose Particles algorithm to detect transients in waveforms to catch manufacturing defects that may not be highlighted using frequency based analysis
- Using SoundCheck’s measurement confidence option to adjust the stimulus to obtain the best trade off between speed and accuracy
- How to analyze ‘real world’ test signals (e.g. multitone, noise, music, speech) for measuring devices that do not perform well with sine wave signals (e.g. telecoms, those including DSP)
This training is free to support contract holders and $79 for others.
Microphone Measurement Basics
Sept 16, 2020. 10am China time
In this 60 minute online seminar, S&V Samford presents Listen, Inc. Technical Support Manager, Steve Tatarunis discussing Microphone Measurement Basics.
Listen, Inc’s SoundCheck electroacoustic test system is used by the world’s leading OEMs and their contract manufacturers on thousands of production lines worldwide. Although it can be used for testing a wide range of devices including speakers, microspeakers, headphones, headsets, smart devices, cellphones and more, this seminar will focus on microphones.
In this online session, Steve Tatarunis will cover the basics of microphone testing, including:
- Common microphone types and how they work
- Microphone specifications
- How to measure microphones using the two standard methods available in SoundCheck
- Substitution method
- Equalized speaker method
- R&D and production test environments
- Important measurements such as frequency response, sensitivity, etc.
The presentation will be in English, but slides will be in English and Chinese.
There is no charge for this seminar, but registration is required. Please sign up below.
麦克风测试基础篇网络研讨会
中国时间2020年9月16日星期三上午10点
在这个60分钟的在线研讨会中，声振环保仪器有限公司以及Listen，Inc.技术支持经理Steve Tatarunis，会与大家探讨麦克风测量的基础知识。
Listen公司的SoundCheck电声测试系统广泛用于全球领先的原始设备制造商及其合约制造商的成千上万条生产线。虽然它可以用于测试各种各样的设备，包括扬声器、微型扬声器、耳机、耳麦、智能设备、手机等等，但本次研讨会将着重讨论麦克风。
在这次在线研讨会中，Steve Tatarunis将涵盖麦克风测试的基础知识，包括：
- 常见的麦克风类型及其工作原理
- 麦克风的规格
- 如何使用SoundCheck的两种标准方法测量麦克风
- 对比测试法
- 标准均衡音源测试法
- 研发和产线测试的环境
- 重要的测试如频率响应、灵敏度等.
这次研讨会将会以英文进行，演示文稿将以中英文显示。不收取任何费用，但是需要提前注册。请在下面注册。
Headphone Measurement Basics
耳机测试基础篇网络研讨会
Aug 5, 2020 at 10.00am (China time)
中国时间2020年8月5日星期三上午10点
在这个60分钟的在线研讨会中，声振环保仪器有限公司授权Listen公司的创始人兼总裁Steve Temme先生，与大家探讨耳机测试的基础知识。
Listen公司的SoundCheck电声测试系统广泛用于全球领先的原始设备制造商及其合约制造商的成千上万条生产线。虽然它可以用于测试各种各样的设备，包括扬声器、微型扬声器、耳机、耳麦、智能设备、手机等等，但本次研讨会将着重讨论耳机。
在这次在线研讨会中，Steve Temme先生将涵盖耳机测试的基础知识，包括：
- 耳机的工作原理
- 如何测试耳机（包括不同种类的耳机和声学耳模拟器）
- 研发和产线测试的环境
- 重要的测试如校正的频率响应、左右声道平衡度、失真等等。
In this 60 minute online seminar, S&V Samford presents Listen, Inc. founder and president, Steve Temme, discussing Headphone Measurement Basics.
Listen, Inc’s SoundCheck electroacoustic test system is used by the world’s leading OEMs and their contract manufacturers on thousands of production lines worldwide. Although it can be used for testing a wide range of devices including speakers, microspeakers, headphones, headsets, smart devices, cellphones and more, this seminar will focus on headphones.
In this online session, Steve Temme will cover the basics of headphone testing, including:
- How a headphone works
- How to measure headphones (including considerations for different types of headphones, and acoustic ear simulators)
- R&D and production test environments
- Important measurements such as corrected frequency response, left/right tracking, distortion etc.
View Recording
Viewers in China WATCH HERE
Online Training: Basic Sequences
The ability to quickly generate test sequences is one of the most powerful SoundCheck skills you can acquire. We are bringing a 2 hour basic sequence writing course to the comfort of your own home with our new online training.
This 2 hour course is a condensed version of the basics of sequence writing from our popular 2 day training class. We will start from the beginning, explaining how to determine the test parameters and hardware that will meet your specific test requirements. We will look at best practices for creating a sequence, and finally we will assemble a sequence from scratch. This course is ideal for novice SoundCheck users, or those who have been using SoundCheck with sequences that others have written and who are ready to start developing their own. This training is free to support contract holders and $79 for others.
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.
AES International Conference on Headphone Technology – San Francisco – August 27-29, 2019
Listen is a gold sponsor and exhibitor at the AES International Conference on Headphone Technology in San Francisco on August 27-29.
Listen founder and president, Steve Temme, will be presenting a poster session on ‘The Challenges of Testing Smart Headphones’ in which he discusses various test methodologies for measuring smart headphones and hearables, covering such topics as active noise cancellation, assisted listening, communications, augmented reality, background noise measurements and more. He will also be running a series of demonstrations on these topics at the Listen booth through the show to enable attendees to see more in-depth testing and analysis on specific areas of testing.
On display at the the booth will be a complete set-up for testing smart headphones and hearables, featuring Listen’s flagship SoundCheck software, along with an AudioConnect audio interface, SoundConnect 2 microphone power supply and a Kemar head and Torso simulator.
AES International Conference on Automotive Audio – Munich – September 11-13, 2019
Listen is a gold sponsor and exhibitor at the AES International Conference on Automotive Audio in Munich, Germany on September 11-13.
Listen founder and president, Steve Temme, will be presenting a tutorial on ‘Testing Voice-Controlled and Smartphone Integrated Infotainment Systems’ at 2pm on Sept 11th. In this tutorial he will discuss the challenges of implementing audio tests in cars when the signal path is often via a smartphone and/or the car’s own voice-controlled system, and demonstrate how modern test systems can use techniques such as frequency shift and resampling to enable accurate measurement of car audio characteristics ranging from simple frequency and distortion measurements to voice control and communications in the presence of background noise.
On display at the the booth will be various options for testing automotive audio including the SoundCheck test system, Listen’s own audio test hardware, and 3rd party hardware such as 6 microphone arrays and head and torso simulators. On the booth, Listen will also be demonstrating how SoundCheck fully integrates with, and controls, the Mentor A2B interface to enabled rapid automated testing of systems and components that use the A2B bus.
