At AISE, the ALMA International Symposium and Expo (Jan 3-4 at the Tuscany, Las Vegas), Listen demonstrated its range of audio measurement hardware and software, including the new SoundCheck 14.1 for Mac, the first commercial audio measurement system that runs natively on Mac OS. Also on show was the company’s entire hardware lineup including the AmpConnect ISC all-in-one audio interface, along with test microphones, microphone power supplies, audio amplifiers, and various interfaces for testing Bluetooth, MEMS and other audio devices.

Steve Temme presented a paper entitled “Headphone Response: Target Equalization Trade-offs and Limitations” which discussed the effects of headphone response and equalization with respect to the influence on perceived sound quality (co-written with Chris Struck of CJS Labs).

He also presented a tutorial on the challenges of measuring high resolution audio. In this presentation he discussed the correlation of hearing and measurement at high frequencies, and the challenges of measuring out to, and beyond 20kHz. He also discussed the trade-offs in performance, such as audible intermodulation distortion. Steve also participated in the panel discussion on high-res audio.

Les Quindipan, a recent addition to the Listen team, presented a session on How to Measure Bluetooth Speakers and Headphones. In this demonstration, Bluetooth speakers and headphones were tested using a Listen SoundCheck system with the Portland Tool & Die BTC-4148 Bluetooth interface. Frequency response and distortion measurements were compared on the same speaker with both Bluetooth and wired stimuli, and he demonstrated how the BTC-4148 is paired and controlled via message steps in SoundCheck for simple test development and implementation. Sequences were also created and modified for other Bluetooth-specific test applications such as headphones and headsets.

ALMA Symposium and Expo Web Site

Steve Temme presenting at AISE

Panel Discussion on Hi-Res Audio

Photos courtesy AudioXPress