Q&A with Steve Temme – Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook 2022
Want to get to know Listen Founder and President, Steve Temme, a little better? Each year, Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook features interviews with industry leaders in which they ask their opinions on current events, issues and trends in the audio industry. Read what Steve Temme had to say.
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Question 1: How did your current business evolve in the past 12 months and what were the main trends and factors (good and bad) affecting your business?
Temme: I am sure that no one will dispute that these are challenging times! COVID-19, working from home, travel restrictions, global parts shortages, and the AKM fire, which temporarily wiped out one of the world’s largest audio chip vendors, have all played a part in making it a tumultuous year or two. That said, there have been some bright spots. On an industry level, the demand for improvements in communications quality due to continued remote work has diversified measurement opportunities far beyond traditional telecommunication devices into other communication devices, such as smart speakers, Bluetooth speakers, headsets, microphones and more. We’ve thrived on the challenges of developing software features that enable these devices to be accurately measured, such as including the POLQA algorithm and expanding capabilities to facilitate the measurement of Doubletalk and other metrics required for communications standards.
Question 2: What are the perspectives for your business in the next 12 months?
Temme: I believe the next 12 months will continue to be a phase of continual re-adjustment based on changing global situations. Personally, I can’t wait to get back visiting customers and attending events again! While I am sure things won’t be the same as they were back in 2019, there is no substitute for visiting customers in their labs and production facilities where you can truly understand their measurement challenges. Of course, some of the activities that we invested over the past couple of years, such as the development of our online training courses, applications seminars and popular video series, have been so well received that they are here to stay, even as we start to travel again.
Question 3: What were the most exciting developments, technology innovations, and trends happening in your field of interest over the last 12 months?
Temme: This is what I love about audio—there is always so much going on. In my specific area—audio measurement—the most exciting developments are in the area of perceptual measurement. Perceptual measurement metrics are extremely valuable for end-of-line tests as they offer significant impact on yield and waste reduction in a world of ever-shrinking margins. This has been a field of research for Listen, and for me personally, for more than 10 years now. We led the way with our first perceptual metric in 2011, but our recently launched enhanced Perceptual Rub & Buzz (ePRB) algorithm is the first time any perceptual metric has truly delivered the repeatability necessary for widespread end-of-line testing, and it has the potential to make a huge impact, worldwide. Outside of my own company, I am always fascinated by those innovations that will present interesting measurement challenges. Right now, many of these involve spatial and perceptual audio in applications, such as automotive infotainment sound zones and virtual and augmented reality hardware. Communications devices are also posing some interesting measurement challenges as they incorporate increasingly sophisticated digital signal processing in pursuit of higher quality audio.
