Q: Which of your instruments do you target for the
high-performance market, such as sophisticated home
audio speakers?
A. For those kinds of products, we still have our AP
2700 family of two-channel analyzers, which are still
regarded as the gold standard in the industry. For
example, Dolby specifically states that you must do
their compliance testing using an AP 2722 analyzer.
Here, engineers are looking for measurements with the
utmost in integrity. This product also offers incredible
versatility in the R&D environment. There are very few
audio measurements that you can't do with this family of
analyzers.
Q: What are some of the cutting-edge systems that
you've seen at this year's audio shows?
A: One that was very impressive at the National
Association of Broadcasters Expo was NHK's "Super High
Resolution HDTV." It features 24-channel sound and would
be targeted to large venues, such as museums. Though you
certainly wouldn't expect such systems to be used in
home theater, we always look at these futuristic
products to see if they could be leading indicators for
new trends in the industry.
The take-away from the NHK system was not only the
clear demonstration of the power of multichannel but the
fact that the sound was in three dimensions—not just
your classic left, right, rear. It was left, right,
rear, both up and down, plus a speaker directly overhead
for good measure. This was all coupled with a super
high-resolution projection system.
Q: What kinds of feedback did you get from
engineers at such shows as NAB Expo and AES Paris on
their most important audio test needs?
A: Engineers still need to measure all the same types
of parameters that they've measured in the past. The
bigger concern is how to deal with the logistics issues,
noted earlier, such as how to get good, dependable
production tests at contract manufacturing facilities
located halfway around the world from the R&D site for a
product. So, the ability to communicate is a challenge.
As a result, engineers want measurement techniques
that are easy to implement. They also need to write
clear, unambiguous specs for their tests. Also, we are
seeing more and more instances of test engineers at R&D
sites who are being called on to remotely control
production tests. The Internet, of course, makes it a
lot easier to transfer large data files around the
world.
Q: What are some of the steps you are taking to
bolster your application support?
A: Engineers want more and more application support,
and they are looking for complete solutions. This is
especially true of engineers who don't have decades of
experience in audio test. They find themselves in
positions where they must quickly progress up the
learning curve. So, we've developed a new "Quick Test"
for play-back only audio devices. And for more
sophisticated engineers, we've developed a series of
macros for the AP 2700 to help them meet Dolby Digital
5.1 DVD certification. In general, we are relying more
on our Web site to support our products and our
customers. For example, we have an ever-expanding
library of white papers and tech notes.
Q. What are some of the key topics that you're
covering in your recent "New Measurement Techniques"
customer seminars?
A: Over the last few months, we've met with more than
1000 engineers. A lot of this training deals with
revisiting fundamentals, such as analog signal
connections. Again, we are often dealing with engineers
who have not had sophisticated training in audio, so we
need to explain and demonstrate such things as the
difference between a balanced and an unbalanced signal.
In terms of new measurement techniques, a good
example is our training on continuous sweep methods, a
variant of the logarithmic chirp. Here, the test signal
is a continuously changing frequency sine wave, but it
is doing so in a logarithmic fashion. We've included
this continuous sweep technique with our new APx585
analyzer. Not only do we get the benefit of speed from
testing multiple channels simultaneously, but the
continuous sweep technique drives a whole bank of
measurements from a 1-s chirp. In the end, you get a
wealth of data.
Q: Looking ahead, what do you see as some of the
fastest-growing audio test applications? It seems like
we've entered a golden age for audio.
A: Yes, the consumer is certainly going to benefit
from all of the innovation that is going on. From our
viewpoint as a maker of test devices, not all of these
markets hold a lot of growth potential.
For example, in some low-cost audio products, some
manufacturers want to minimize testing time—or want to
avoid tests altogether. That's like spinning the
roulette wheel. But there are other manufacturers out
there who remain totally dedicated to 100% testing.
We see several solid growth markets for the future.
Besides multichannel applications, such as
home-entertainment systems and automotive, we see a
great deal of potential in audio testing for cell phones
and the microphone transducers embedded within them.
Another really interesting area is the tremendous growth
of class D or switch-mode amplification versus
traditional class A linear amplifiers, especially in
portable devices like MP3 players and other personal
sound devices. And who knows what else is just around
the corner?
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