Program

Home | Key Dates | Program | Invited Speakers | Venue | Travel Info | Accommodation | Committee | Registration

Preliminary Program

More information about the sessions, tutorials, and invited speakers can be found by clicking the links in the program.

Additional information on the tutorials: Active Loudspeaker Design Masterclass.

Papers and speakers accepted for the conference

More information on authors and topics can be found by clicking the name/title if available. 

Keynote Speaker

• Ilpo Martikainen: Evolution and history of the monitoring loudspeakers

Invited Speakers

• Axel Grell: Headphones - From Alexander Graham Bell to a mass phenomenon
• Siegfried Linkwitz: Finding the Prototype for Stereo Loudspeakers

Tutorials

• Wolfgang Klippel : Loudspeaker Data – Reliable, Comprehensive, Interpretable
• Peter Larsen: Designing Transducers for Compact Active Speakers
• John Richards: Optimizing Compact Loudspeaker Performance - the role of DSP
• Simon Woollard: Audio System Analysis - Tips and Tricks to Verify Your Designs
• Lars Risbo: Louder, Cheaper & Better Through System-Level Optimization of Speaker, Amplifier, Power Supply & Intelligent Signal Processing
• Anthony Waldron: Audio Power Amplifiers; EMC Best Practice Revealed

Audio Design Workshop LIVE will be webcast live around the world from the AES conference tutorial session. Please click here for more information and to register for the webcast.

Contributed papers

Loudspeakers and applications - Thusrday 22 Aug

• 11.00-11.30 - Mark Dodd: The Development of the KEF LS50, a Compact Two-Way Loudspeaker System
• 11.30-12.00 - Daniel Beer, Lutz Ehrig, Lorenz Betz: The Influence of Flat Loudspeaker Enclosures on the Vibration Properties of Electrodynamic Transducers
• 12.00-12.30 - Hans R.E. van Maanen: Requirements for Loudspeakers and Headphones in the “High Resolution Audio” Era
• 13.30-14.00 - Balázs Bank: Loudspeaker and Room Response Equalization Using Parallel Filters: comparison of pole positioning strategies
• 14.00-14.30 - Steve F. Temme, Pascal Brunet, Parastoo Qarabaqi: Measurement of Harmonic Distortion Audibility Using a Simplified Psychoacoustic Model
• 14.30.15.00 - Darren Rose: The Feasibility of Class D Amplifiers for Active Loudspeaker Applications

Testing and Measurement - Thursday 22 Aug

• 15.30-16.00 - Wolfgang Klippel: Auralization of Signal Distortion in Audio Systems Part 1: Generic Modeling
• 16.00-16.30 - Liang NaiZhong, Chen Gang, Wang LiShi: New Approach and Instrument for Measuring Young’s Modulus and Loss Factor of Loudspeaker Cone
• 16.30-17.00 - Jorge Moreno, Raúl Medina: Measurement of Loudspeaker Parameters Considering a Better Fitting for the Mechanical Impedance – A Fast Way to Do It

Headphones - Friday 23 Aug

• 10.00-10.30 - Jussi Rämö, Vesa Välimäki, Miikka Tikander: Live Sound Equalization and Attenuation with a Headset
• 10.45-11.15 - Asta Kärkkäinen, Leo Kärkkäinen, Tomi Huttunen: Practical Procedure for Large Scale Personalized Head Related Transfer Function Acquisition
• 11.15-11.45 - Anders T. Christensen, Wolfgang Hess, Andreqs Silzle, Dorte Hammershøi: Magnitude and Phase Response Measurement of Headphones at the Eardrum
• 11.45-12.15 - Pablo E. Hoffmann, Flemming Christensen, Dorte Hammershøi: Insert Earphone Calibration for Hear-Through Options
• 12.15-12.45 - Sean E. Olive, Todd Welti, Eisabeth McMullin: A Virtual Headphone Listening Test Methodology

Loudspeakers - Industry Applications - Friday 23 Aug

• 14.00-14.30 - Alan Trevna, Tom Cantillon: Loudspeaker Specifications and Reliability in Automotive
• 14.30-15.00 - Anders Weckström, Chao Jiang: Study of Power Compression of Miniature Speaker Box

Loudspeaker Modeling - Saturday 24 Aug

• 09.00-09.30 - Jaakko Nisula, Juha Holm, Aki Mäkivirta: Calculating Sound Radiation from Loudspeaker Enclosures Using the Finite Element Method
• 09.30-10.00 - Ulrik Skov, René Christensen: Overview of 2D and 3D Linear and Non-Linear Electromagnetic, Structural, Vibroacoustic and Viscothermal Finite Element Analysis Simulations on Transducers and Cabinets
• 10.30-11.00 - Juha Holm, Aki Mäkivirta: Quantifying Diffraction in Time Domain with Finite Element Method
• 11.00-11.30 - Pasi Marttila, Mads Jakob Herring Jensen: A Hybrid Electroacoustic Lumped and Finite Element Model for Modeling Loudspeaker Drivers

Demonstrations

Sponsor Demonstrations

Genelec

Since founding in 1978 professional audio monitoring has been the core of our business for Genelec. Genelec’s unrivalled commitment to research and development has resulted in a number of industry-firsts and established Genelec as the industry leader in active monitoring. In AES 51st Conference in Helsinki, Genelec demonstrates two-way, three-way, and subwoofer products in the Smart Active Monitoring (SAM) line. SAM enables accurate automatic calibration and alignment of a professional monitoring system for acoustically challenging environments using the Genelec Loudspeaker Manager (GLM) software running in Windows and Mac computers. GLM uses the AutoCal measurement and calibration system for obtaining the system response at the listening location or area, and calculating the calibration for the monitor and subwoofer system.

Sennheiser/Neumann

Sennheiser is well-known for its extensive ranges of headphones, wireless and wired microphones, monitoring systems, conference and information technology, products for assistive listening, and aviation headsets. Sennheiser will be showing some of its high-end headphones (HD 800 and HD 700) and the new digital headphone pre-amplifier (HDVD 800).

Neumann has an unequalled history and reputation for its studio, broadcast, and stage microphones. More recently Neumann launched a range of studio monitors and so the critically acclaimed KH 120 A two-way and KH 310 A three-way active studio monitors will be on show at the conference.

Demo Session - Friday 23 Aug

• Wolfgang Klippel (KLIPPEL GmbH) - Klippel Measurement Systems:
  KLIPPEL R&D SYSTEM is a universal tool for loudspeaker development. It provides acoustical, electrical and mechanical measurements, nonlinear and thermal diagnostics, distortion measurement, numerical simulation and digital auralization. It evaluates speakers under normal working conditions both at small and high amplitudes and detects the cause of distortions. This system assists the designer to optimize driver and system in respect of cost, weight and size and develops transducers giving more output at higher quality.

KLIPPEL QC SYSTEM is dedicated to very fast testing of loudspeaker drive units and complete systems at the assembling line or for incoming goods control. Aside from usual tests, we offer unique features for voice coil position testing, large signal measurements, sensitive Rub + Buzz testing, leak detection and ambient noise monitoring.

There will also be information available on the KLIPPEL NEAR FIELD SCANNER 3D which is still under development. It is designed for fast 3D directivity measurements. It embodies a fully automated measurement system to analyze the 3D radiation characteristic of any sound producing device. Utilizing a moving microphone arm the setup enables free microphone positioning in all dimensions around the device. Cutting-edge field separation technology allows various approaches to compensate the effects of arbitrary sound sources.

• Ville Pulkki (Aalto University) - Spatial sound research at Aalto University Dep Signal Processing and Acoustics:
  The technologies and psychophysics of spatial sound are studied in the team. The capturing and reproduction of spatial audio is approached using parametric time-frequency-domain techniques adapted for different microphone configurations, and for either loudspeaker or headphone playback. The head-related acoustics are studied with 3D PU-probe measurements of physical models and with advanced acoustical simulations. A complete understanding of mechanisms related to perception of spatial sound is approached by building functional models of brain nuclei in auditory pathway and by listening tests designed to test and refine the auditory model.

• Sean Olive (Harman International) - A Demonstration of the Virtual Headphone Listening Test Methodology:
  Comparative listening tests on multiple headphones are challenging to conduct in a controlled, double-blind manner. One solution is to present the listener virtualized versions of the headphones through a single reference headphone that is equalized to simulate the linear magnitude response of the different headphones under test. This demonstration will allow listeners to hear different virtualized headphones that were used for the validation experiments described in the paper presented at this conference where we compared listeners' sound quality ratings of both real and virtual headphones in terms of preference and perceived spectral balance. They can compare the virtual headphones with some of the actual headphones that were virtualized.

• Geoff Hill - Tetrahedral Loudspeaker Measurements
  A major problem for the loudspeaker and transducer industries throughout the world, is an inability to rely upon measurements that are routinely exchanged between suppliers and customers.This is primarily due to the lack of a consistent measurement environment and measurement geometry. Which unfortunately our current standards both the IEC and JIS do not address effectively.
  
  In this paper I propose using a Tetrahedral based measurement enclosure based upon three identical right angle triangles and one equilateral triangle. The main enclosure walls being covered with acoustic absorption, whilst an appropriate microphone is set at a 45 degree angle from the corner so that it retains a fixed distance from the triangular measurement baffle. This baffle has within it provision for an interchangeable Sub-Baffle that retains the loudspeaker under test.
  
  This system thus removes the underlying variability plaguing most of our current acoustic measurements - I say most advisedly because there are some instances where measurements are reliable and consistent, the problem is no one can agree which one’s they are! The proposed solution to this dilemma in effect replaces a whole series of ad hoc solutions with a defined series of test environments where the design concept, size, geometry and absorption are known.
• Ulrik Skov (iCapture ApS) - Making it possible to do efficient and decomposed 3D vibroacoustic simulation driven investigations of transducers with non-axisymmetric geometric featured cones, surrounds, spiders and back volumes.
  2D linear vibroacoustic harmonic analysis is used with great success to analyse and investigate frequency responses of rotational symmetric transducers. If non-axisymmetric geometric features such as ribs are added to the cone, surround, spider og back volume the designer must apply 3D linear vibroacoustic harmonic analysis. Changing from 2D to 3D the computational burden results in an inappropriate very high simulation time. Typically a 2D simulation takes few minutes, while the same simulation in 3D typically takes 25-100 days for an identical frequency resolution (for example 1/12-octave). The demonstration show how to overcome this significant computational barrier by a practical, efficient and productive post-processing technique. The technique is based on removal of the acoustic computational demanding FEA domain in front of the transducer, combined with application of a newly iCapture develop proprietary interpolation algorithm of structural FEA results and Klippels existing scanning software. The interpolation algorithm transform an unstructured mechanical FEA mesh to a structured grid making it possible to import the FEA data in Klippels existing scanning software. Once the FEA data is uploaded in the Klippel scanner software the radiated acoustic signal is computed based on the surface deformation by the Rayleigh integral as if the FEA model was scanned with a laser. The technique is called “3D pseudo-vibroacoustic linear harmonic analysis” and offers designers to eliminate unacceptable high 3D computational time. Further to this the technique also offers to use all the Klippel scanner software build-in decomposition methods to better interpret simulated results by proficiently splitting the radiated signal into in-phase, anti-phase and quadrature components. The algorithm will be available as a licensed MAT-module in the Klippel portfolio for both ANSYS and COMSOL Multiphysics and it handles 3D full, 3D half-/quarter-mirror symmetric, 3D cyclic periodic and even 2D axisymmetric simulation models. The techniques can also be used to virtual scan loudspeaker cabinets, car doors or any other approximately flat vibrating engineering system to analyse and investigate unwanted resonances. It is not a requirement the virtual scanned surface is continuous – the surface can have holes such as a loudspeaker port/grill or a key hole in a car door.
  
• Jorge Moreno Ruiz - Measurement of Loudspeaker Parameters Using a Laser Velocity Transducer - A Way to Do It
  A simple an fast method to measure the parameters of a loudspeaker will be presented. The evolution of the technique will be explained. Only three parameters have to be measured, voltage in the terminals of the loudspeaker, current circulating in the voice coil, and the velocity of the cone to calculate the parameters. The method calculate the traditional Thiele- Small parameter plus the parameters of a truncted generalized Maxwell model representing the losses and the compliance components of the mechanical impedance of the loudspeaker.
  
• Balázs Bank - Loudspeaker and Room Response Equalization Using Parallel Filters
  In audio filtering and equalization, a logarithmic frequency resolution is desirable since that matches the properties of hearing. The direct design of fixed-pole parallel second-order filters is a very effective way of obtaining such equalizers at low computational cost.
  
  This demonstration will show equalizer design applied to loudspeaker-room responses. The key point in parallel filter design is the choice of pole frequencies, since that determines the frequency resolution. Therefore, different approaches for choosing the pole frequencies will be shown, including the simplest manually chosen pole set and various automatic approaches.