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Posted: Thursday, July 28, 2016
AES incoming President-Elect, David Scheirman
The AES has released the list of winning candidates from the balloting in the 2016 Audio Engineering Society international elections. The newly elected officers will assume their roles in October, shortly after the end of the 141st International AES Convention in Los Angeles. Entering the office of President-Elect is David Scheirman, who will serve first on the AES Board of Governors and Executive Committee as President-Elect, assuming the Presidency in October, 2017 for a one-year term.
Newly elected Governors and new and re-elected Vice Presidents, all beginning two-year terms in October are:
Secretary: Valerie Tyler
Vice President Eastern Region, US & Canada: Anthony Schultz
Vice President Western Region, US & Canada: Leslie Gaston-Bird
Vice President Northern Region, Europe: Per Sjosten
Governor:
Jim Anderson
Masataka Nakahara
Agnieszka Roginska
Within the stipulations of the AES bylaws, the overall function and direction of the AES is established by the Society’s Board of Governors, which is elected by voting members of the Society. The Society’s Executive Director operates and manages the AES headquarters in New York City, NY, and reports to the Executive Committee, which consists of the Society’s corporate officers. In turn, the Executive Committee reports on its activities and on issues facing the Society to the full Board of Governors. The AES President serves as the CEO of the Society, under the supervision and direction of the Board of Governors.
The Board of Governors consists of:
(1) the Society’s corporate officers (President; President-Elect; Immediate Past-President; Secretary; and Treasurer)
(2) the Treasurer-Elect (when there is an incoming Treasurer)
(3) the eight Regional Vice-Presidents (Eastern USA/Canada; Central USA/Canada; Western USA/Canada; Northern Europe; Central Europe; Southern Europe; Latin America; International)
(4) and eight Governors-at-Large
For more information on the AES and how to become involved visit aes.org.
Posted: Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Register Now for the AES Los Angeles Convention, September 29 — October 2
Use promo code AES141WEB at checkout for FREE Exhibit-Plus badge to the year's largest pro audio event!
The Audio Engineering Society International Convention returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center, Thursday, September 29 – Sunday, October 2, 2016. Exhibits-Plus badges are FREE with advance registration, by using the promo code AES141WEB at checkout. Exhibits-Plus access includes the gear exhibition (September 29 – October 1), as well as the Project Studio Expo, Live Sound Expo, Special Events and more. Premium All Access badges offer access to all of these, the full Technical Program, and more. Visit aesshow.com to Register Now!
Posted: Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Listeners can hear a difference between standard audio and better-than-CD quality, known as high-resolution audio, according to a new study published in the June issue of the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society (JAES) by Dr. Joshua Reiss of the Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).
The meta-study compared data from 18 studies involving 450 participants listening to samples of music in different formats. In total, the studies involved over 12,000 different trials where participants were asked to discriminate between formats. Overall, listeners could distinguish between the formats, especially if they had been trained to hear a difference. This is the first time that formal meta-analysis techniques have been applied to audio engineering research.
In addition to training, the research suggested that careful selection of stimuli, including use of long duration samples, may play an important role in the ability to discriminate. Studies that did not show an ability to discriminate were generally more prone to biases or flaws in their design. Reiss concluded that “the perceived fidelity of an audio recording and playback chain is affected by operating at a resolution higher than the CD standard.”
“Audio purists and industry should welcome these findings,” said Reiss. “Our study finds high-resolution audio has a small but important advantage in its quality of reproduction over standard audio content. Trained listeners could distinguish between the two formats around sixty percent of the time.” Dr. Reiss explained, “One motivation for this research was that people in the audio community endlessly discuss whether the use of high-resolution formats and equipment really makes a difference. Conventional wisdom states that CD quality should be sufficient to capture everything we hear, yet anecdotes abound where individuals claim that hi-res content sounds crisper, or more intense. And people often cherry-pick their favorite study to support whichever side they’re on.” He continued, “We gathered 80 publications in the field, and analyzed all available data, even asking authors of earlier studies for their original reports from old filing cabinets. We subjected the data to many forms of analysis. The effect was clear, and there were some indicators as to what conditions demonstrate it most effectively. Hopefully, we can now move forward towards identifying how and why we perceive these differences, and better experimental design.”
When asked about the type of content for which high-resolution recording and playback most made a difference, Dr. Reiss responded, “The jury is still out. The studies that most showed an effect mainly used jazz and classical music, but this wasn’t exclusive. We looked at lots of factors like choice of content and equipment. Results suggested that listeners often needed to listen to each sample for more than 30 seconds, but possible factors were mostly overshadowed by training test subjects in critical listening skills specific to the test, and in general, good experimental design.”
The Journal of the Audio Engineering Society features peer-reviewed papers reporting research in the audio arts and sciences, along with Section and AES event coverage. Full JAES access is a member-benefit. As an Open Access document, Dr. Reiss’ research can be freely downloaded here: http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=18296
Posted: Monday, July 11, 2016
