News & Events
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New Support Engineer: Cam Ruffle-Deignan
Listen has expanded its support team with the addition of Cam Ruffle-Deignan. Cam has recently graduated with a BSME from the University of Vermont where he spent his time doing applied polymer research, playing intramural sports, and working in a student-run prototyping lab. He has a keen interest in audio products, having interned for Listen last summer, and looks forward to continue developing his audio test skills. Cam will assist Steve, Mark and Mark in providing front line support to our customers, as well as developing training materials, test sequences and support documentation. When he is not in the office, Cam enjoys going for canoe trips, hiking north-eastern mountain ranges, and tinkering with his 3D printer.
New Operations Director: Eric Johnson
Listen has strengthened its infrastructure with the appointment of Eric Johnson to the role of Operations Director. In addition to internal administrative functions such as HR and facilities management, Eric manages the entire operations team including product supply and finance to ensure that all customer requirements are met efficiently and effectively. Eric has spent his career optimizing business operations for growing technology companies, most recently at Sophelle where he held the position of VP and COO. Eric holds a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from Lawrence University and a Master’s in Information Resources Management from Syracuse University. Outside of work, Eric enjoys photography, listening to music, homebrewing, and cooking for his wife, Jo Anne.
Seminar: Smarter Measurements for Smarter Speakers – Chicago and Boston
Smarter speakers require smarter test methods!
Learn how to test smart speakers, robots, voice-controlled automotive audio and other IoT devices in our practical half-day seminar taught by industry experts Steve Temme, and Marc Marroquin of Listen, Inc.
Although acoustic testing of smart speakers and other voice-activated devices presents challenges such as injecting and extracting response signals, time delays, and triggering the system using voice commands, it is still possible to measure the same parameters as traditional loudspeakers, In addition we can also measure microphone array performance, speakerphone performance and more.
We demonstrate how to do this, focusing on:
- Stimulating and capturing responses from a device where you don’t have direct access to the microphone or speaker (open loop testing).
- Delays, asynchronous stimulus / acquisition, and working with the ‘cloud’
- Testing with real world signals such as speech and music, and how to analyze results from these test stimuli
- Voice Recognition – key word spotting, wake word testing, directionality, and the effect of background noise on voice recognition performance
- Telephony – testing smart speakers for hands-free calling
There is no charge for this one-day seminar and lunch will be provided. Space is limited, so please RSVP today.
Locations and Dates:
Addison (Chicago area): Wednesday July 18th, 2018 – 9.00am – 1.30pm. Hilton Garden Inn, 551 N Swift Rd, Addison, IL 60101
Waltham (Boston area): Friday July 20th, 2018 – 9.00am – 1.30pm. Hilton Garden Inn, 450 Totten Pond Rd, Waltham, MA 02451
Agenda (9am-1.30pm)
- Introduction
- Open Loop Testing
- What is ‘open loop’ testing?
- Can you really measure frequency response and harmonic distortion in an open loop?
- Using Frequency Shifting to time align asynchronous stimuli and response
- Working with cloud based services
- Testing with Real World Signals
- How to use real voice and / or non test tones to evaluate acoustic performance
- Analysis techniques used for evaluating non test tone stimuli
- Voice Recognition
- Key Word spotting / Wake Up word testing
- Room effects, environmental distractors, and SNR…how they affect voice recognition performance
- Measuring directionality
- Telephony
- What voice quality metrics are important for speakerphones?
- Challenges of testing speakerphones in different environments
- Networking lunch
New Software Manager: Rick Spada
Listen is excited to announce the appointment of Rick Spada to the position of Senior Software Manager. Rick holds both Bachelors and Masters degrees, and has over 30 years’ experience in software development. Prior to joining Listen, Inc. he has worked in control systems and robotics, programmed software, and managed software development teams, most recently at Yesware and MathWorks, Inc. Rick is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts and in his spare time enjoys cooking for his family (wife Peg, son Dominic, and dog Olive) and fishing with his son on Cape Cod.
Korea Headphone Seminar
Over 150 people attended the Listen, Inc./G.R.A.S. headphone seminar in Seoul on Tuesday March 6th, where Steve Temme, Peter Wulf-Andersen, Dr. Sean Olive and Prof. Lee spoke to a packed room about headphone measurement, perception and design and tuning. It was a great event and exciting to meet so many of Korea’s top audio design engineers. Thank you for coming! And of course a huge thank you to our very special guest speakers, Dr. Olive and Prof. Lee.
Videos of the event (in English and Korean) can be viewed using the links below (videos will open in a new tab).
Peter Wulf-Andersen – G.R.A.S.: https://youtu.be/sTZpShVDaoI
Steve Temme – Listen, Inc.: https://youtu.be/35TtshAENdo
Prof. Lee – New Media Communication Joint Institute of Seoul National University: https://youtu.be/mhLW03PvLmw
Dr. Sean Olive, Harman International: https://youtu.be/B8cNf0Q3tNs
Photo Gallery
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- Listen Presentation
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- Steve Temme, Listen, Inc.
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- Peter Wulf-Andersen, G.R.A.S.
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- Dr. Sean Olive, Harman International
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- Prof. Lee, New Media Communication Joint Institute of Seoul National University
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- G.R.A.S. Presentation
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- Demos
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- Presenters and organizers
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- Presenters and attendees
Headphone & Headset Measurements – Tokyo, Japan – March 9, 2018
Presented by:
Due to popular demand, we are now holding our headphone testing seminar in Tokyo!
Learn about the latest in headphone test systems and methods from design to EOL Test. Industry experts Steve Temme (Listen, Inc.) and Peter Wulf-Andersen (G.R.A.S.), as well as guest speaker Dr. Sean Olive (Harman International) will discuss test equipment (ear couplers, test fixtures, test software and hardware) and demonstrate practical test setups for both R&D and QC headphone testing. It will cover in-ear monitors, Bluetooth, lightning/USB, noise-cancelling and high resolution headphones, in addition to conventional analog headphones. You can even measure your own headphone using our equipment in the hands-on session. Please see the full agenda below.
There is no charge for this one-day seminar. Lunch will be provided. Space is limited, so please RSVP today.
Location and Dates:
Tokyo: Friday March 9th, 2018. Otemachi SUNSKY ROOM 27th floor, room #B Asahi Seimei Otemachi Bldg. 2-6-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo.
See what people are saying about this event (we presented similar last year in the US)
Agenda (10am-4pm)
- Introduction
- Overview of Headphone Test Systems and tools
- Traditional tools vs. modern consumer demands
- Introduction to head and ear related terminology and definitions.
- Historical perspective and background for the tools and standards used today.
- Limitations vs. Possibilities in term of the measurement capabilities. How does that relate to the modern challenges with Bluetooth and ANC related testing tasks?
- Tools for Next Generation Headphone Testing
- Solutions to some the challenges addressed above.
- Examples based on products and measurements.
- What about frequencies above 20kHz? Science or marketing? Measurement Consistency – Development vs. Production
- Progress in measurements from Head and Torso Simulator (KEMAR) to Production Test Fixture (45CC – flat plate). How the different components affect the measurements:
- Software and hardware for headphone testing including typical headphone measurements and test setups
- Traditional tools vs. modern consumer demands
- Practical examples of headphone measurements on.
- Analog Headphones
- Bluetooth Headsets
- ANC Headphones
- Lightning/USB Connected Headphones (using triggered recordings)
- Hi-Res Headphones
- In-ear monitors
- Measurements including:
- Frequency Response relative to a target response
- Left/Right tracking
- Impedance
- Noise attenuation
- Distortion including Non-Coherent Distortion
- Standards including Max SPL EN-50332 & IEC-60268-7
- Headphone Design: Perception and Measurement of Headphones – What is the Preferred Target Response? (Guest Speaker: Dr. Sean Olive, Harman International)
- Hands-on testing: Bring your own device and test it using one of our measurement setups
Headphone & Headset Measurements – Seoul, Korea – March 6, 2018
Presented by:
Due to popular demand, we are now holding our headphone testing seminar in Seoul!
Learn about the latest in headphone test systems and methods from design to EOL Test. Industry experts Steve Temme (Listen, Inc.) and Peter Wulf-Andersen (G.R.A.S.), as well as guest speakers Dr. Sean Olive (Harman International) and Prof. Lee (New Media Communication Joint Institute of Seoul National University) will discuss test equipment (ear couplers, test fixtures, test software and hardware) and demonstrate practical test setups for both R&D and QC headphone testing. It will cover in-ear monitors, Bluetooth, lightning/USB, noise-cancelling and high resolution headphones, in addition to conventional analog headphones. You can even measure your own headphone using our equipment in the hands-on session. Please see the full agenda below.
There is no charge for this one-day seminar. Space is limited, so please RSVP today.
Location and Dates:
Seoul: Tuesday March 6th, 2018. Korea National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul.
See what people are saying about this event (we presented similar last year in the US)
Agenda (9am-4pm)
- Introduction
- Overview of Headphone Test Systems and tools
- Traditional tools vs. modern consumer demands
- Introduction to head and ear related terminology and definitions.
- Historical perspective and background for the tools and standards used today.
- Limitations vs. Possibilities in term of the measurement capabilities. How does that relate to the modern challenges with Bluetooth and ANC related testing tasks?
- Tools for Next Generation Headphone Testing
- Solutions to some the challenges addressed above.
- Examples based on products and measurements.
- What about frequencies above 20kHz? Science or marketing? Measurement Consistency – Development vs. Production
- Progress in measurements from Head and Torso Simulator (KEMAR) to Production Test Fixture (45CC – flat plate). How the different components affect the measurements:
- Software and hardware for headphone testing including typical headphone measurements and test setups
- Traditional tools vs. modern consumer demands
- Practical examples of headphone measurements on.
- Analog Headphones
- Bluetooth Headsets
- ANC Headphones
- Lightning/USB Connected Headphones (using triggered recordings)
- Hi-Res Headphones
- In-ear monitors
- Measurements including:
- Frequency Response relative to a target response
- Left/Right tracking
- Impedance
- Noise attenuation
- Distortion including Non-Coherent Distortion
- Standards including Max SPL EN-50332 & IEC-60268-7
- Design & sound tuning of earphones (Guest Speaker Prof. Lee, New Media Communication Joint Institute of Seoul National University)
- Headphone Design: Perception and Measurement of Headphones – What is the Preferred Target Response? (Guest Speaker: Dr. Sean Olive, Harman International)
- Hands-on testing: Bring your own device and test it using one of our measurement setups
Boston SoundCheck and Electroacoustics Training – April 11-13, 2018
We are holding a 3 day training event on April 11-13 in Waltham, MA (Boston area). This event will feature a 1-day course on electroacoustics testing, presented by Marty Alexander of Alexander Acoustics, followed by a 2 day SoundCheck training class.
Electroacoustics – April 11th
In the Electroacoustics class, you will learn about the theory behind your audio measurements. The content will cover:
- Hearing and psychoacoustics
- Basics of acoustical measurements
- Basic quantities and how to describe them
- Sound sources, room acoustics and radiation
- Acoustic Instrumentation
- Loudspeaker measurements
- Microphone measurements
- Headphone/Earphone Measurements
- Communication System Measurements, e.g. telephones, mobile phones, speakerphones
Course presenter: Marty Alexander – Alexander Acoustics, LLC.
Cost: $495 ($350 with valid SoundCheck support contract)
SoundCheck – April 12th-13th
This hands-on class covers all the major features of SoundCheck version 16, including writing sequences, test signals, analysis, distortion measurements and more. The class is a combination of presentations interspersed with hands-on exercises to ensure that you are comfortable with all the concepts and methods taught before you leave the classroom. Although no previous SoundCheck experience is assumed, the course still offers plenty to users familiar with writing basic sequences. Content includes:
- Overview of SoundCheck software
- Software Options
- Hardware
- Configuring audio interfaces and external equipment
- Listen Certified Sound Cards
- Calibration
- Calibration of different DUT types (telephones, speakers, etc.)
- Virtual instruments
- Spectrum Analyzer, RTA, Multi-meter, Signal Generator, Oscilloscope
- Virtual Instruments – hands-on
- Online forum, bug and wish lists
- SoundCheck Steps & Sequences
- Philosophy & Architecture
- Creating and editing SoundCheck Test Sequences and Steps
- Using the Sequence Wizard
- Stimulus & Acquisition Step details
- Basic analysis
- Display
- Data Management Hands-on
- Limits
- Sequence Development – hands-on
- Printing
- Serial numbers
- Autosave and recall
- Messages – user prompts, calling external devices
- Post-processing
- Sequence Development (part 2) – hands-on
- Statistics
- Sequence loops and jumps
- Advanced sequence development
Course presenters: Steve Tatarunis, Mark Latshaw – Listen, Inc.
Cost: $950 ($665 with valid SoundCheck support contract)
Location / Dates / Time
Hilton Garden Inn, 450 Totten Pond Rd, Waltham, MA 02451
April 11-13, 2018. Coffee / snacks / sign-in starts at 8:00 AM and the training course runs from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM each day.
