AXYS Beam Shaping Subwoofers to be launched at Prolight and Sound

Having started the beam steering revolution back in the 1990’s with their Intellivox range audio industry pioneers Duran Audio are once again embarking on another adventure with their range of Beam Shaping Subwoofers which will be launched at Prolight and Sound in Frankfurt.

The AXYS range of Beam Shaping Subwoofers are designed to be totally versatile, scalable and easy to use. Those who invest in the technology can achieve maximum control for the minimum of investment. One day you could use a huge array of subs to control the low end at a large arena or stadium gig

and the next day you could use one unit on its own in a simple conference setup or 3 units combined in a hyper cardioid set up in a theatre.

Bass with precision and punch: being able to control the dispersion of the bass array in a reverberant space, such as a large indoor arena or concert hall you can add more definition & punch to the low end and banish that flabby undefined bass sound that you normally experience due to the poor the direct to reverberant ratio at low frequencies. Basically you can aim the bass where you want it, at the audience, and excite them and not the room.

Reduce noise pollution! Controlling the dispersion of a bass array can also help deal with the tricky problem of noise pollution at large outdoor events. By shaping and steering the dispersion of the array you can really maximise the experience for the audience whilst keeping the neighbours happy too! At last bass with fewer complaints.
 
Don’t just follow the crowd, lead from the front by finding out more about AXYS Beam Shaping Subwoofers on Stand D70, Hall 8 at Prolight and Sound.

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AXYS OctaDrive DSP and AXYS PB400 to launch at Integrated Systems Europe

Duran Audio will be showing two new products on Stand C41 in Hall 1 of the ISE Show in Amsterdam. On display will be the AXYS Octadrive DSP and the AXYS PB400.

The PB400 is the latest product in the AXYS IndustryAmp range, which was first introduced to complement the AXYS ADC and ABF loudspeaker ranges. The PB400 is a 4 channel 250W per channel power amplifier, with built in DSP, which is available with either low impedance or 70V/100V line output stages.  The 100V unit has a CobraNet® interface and a huge range of features as standard. The PB400-CN can have up to 10 inputs, 8 digital inputs via CobraNet® and 2 analogue inputs; all of which have independent volume, EQ and delay processing thanks to the powerful on board DSP. The processing doesn’t stop there, there is also the same processing for each of the four outputs as well as an overall delay, EQ and volume control for the amp. And that’s just scratching the surface! The amplifier also has an input for an ambient noise sensing mic, an on board risc processor (which provides surveillance functionality), load monitoring on the output stages, pilot tone detection on all inputs and an on board failure relay. The unit can be controlled and monitored using the AXYS WinControl Software which connects to the units via either the RS-485 network or the CobraNet® serial bridge.

The Octadrive DSP is designed for use as a high performance line driver that can be used for a variety of situations and forms the perfect interface between 3rd party systems and AXYS products. The unit has 8 analogue line level outputs (all with pilot tone generators and individual processing) and on board DSP. The unit also comes complete with a CobraNet® interface. The functionality is very similar to that of the PB400; can have up to 10 inputs, 8 digital inputs via CobraNet® and 2 analogue inputs. In addition to this 8 digital outputs are also available via CobraNet®. All the DSP and monitor functions then mirror those available on the PB400.

AXYS WinControl Server, which is designed to monitor and control AXYS systems, has also seen an increase in features to properly support the new products and make use of their features. WinControl server is now available with an on board CobraNet® soundcard which means that the server can also act as a message store on a CobraNet based system. A whole range of external control features have been added so that messages/zones/inputs/presets can all be triggered/selected from 3rd party devices using the serial port on the WinControl server. And for systems that require a high level of redundancy two WinControl Servers can now be placed on the network in a “hot” “hot” configuration.

For more information about the products visit the Duran Audio stand at ISE or visit www.duran-audio.com

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Duran Audio BV has announced that they shall be launching the latest version of their Digital Directivity Analysis (DDA) software at ISE in Amsterdam.
The very first version of DDA was designed as a tool to allow AXYS Intellivox and Target users the ability to shape the vertical dispersion of their Intellivox DDS and Target DDS arrays. In addition to this it was also a modelling tool for Intellivox DDC arrays. Over the years DDA has continued to develop and now offers a very comprehensive range of features. Obviously providing system designers with the ability to “steer” or “shape” the beam from their array is still at the heart of DDA but the software now offers the ability to model: Direct Sound, Total SPL, Direct to Reverberant Ratio, Speech Transmission Index (STI), Delay Spread and receiver responses. All of which are calculated using a statistical method. In addition to this DDA also includes some very unique functions such as the delay optimiser, which calculates the optimum delay for each source (loudspeaker position) in order to align your system for the best possible intelligibility and/or clarity. DDA has all that already; so what else could you need?
Version 3 sees many significant leaps forward. Probably the most significant new addition to the software is the introduction of “Materials”. Rather than users having to enter the Reverberation Time for their room manually in octave bands the RT can now be calculated from the defined materials within the model. Users can choose to define which material is associated to each of the planes within the model. These materials can either be created by the user and stored in their DDA Material library or the user could choose to use one of the existing defaults within DDA. When importing models from CATT Acoustic (using the .CAD format) the absorption co-efficient for the materials are automatically imported into the DDA geometry, therefore saving valuable time.
In addition to this DDA V3 also supports the more conventional AXYS ScopeG2 and SourceG2 products; meaning that systems which may have a combination of steerable arrays and conventional loudspeakers can now be modelled within the one environment.
Looking Good! The visual output of DDA has also been greatly enhanced. The introduction of more realistic loudspeaker rendering combined with the ability to colour planes depending upon their material means that stunning visuals can be created for design proposals. The added ability to adjust the lighting also helps to enhance these visuals further.
What if I want to Ray Trace? Once system designers are satisfied with their design and the investigation that they have carried out within the DDA environment they can then choose to export their loudspeaker directivity data to CATT Acoustic, Odeon or EASE for further investigation.
DDA V3 shall be available to new and existing users from February 1st 2010 via downloaded from the Duran Audio website.

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Duran Audio will be hosting a DDA3 seminar on Wednesday 3rd February at the ISE show in Amsterdam. DDA, digital directivity analysis, is Duran Audio’s modelling and beam shaping software. DDA supports all AXYS Intellivox, Target, ABF, Scope & Source products.
The DDA3 seminar at ISE is designed for existing DDA users and will act as an introduction to DDA version 3, which will be launched by Duran Audio at the show. Attendance is free and all existing DDA users are welcome to attend. Further information about the seminar can be obtained from the Duran Audio stand at ISE: Hall 11 - Stand C41

The venue for the seminar is Room 407 which can be accessed via RAI entrance D and is located on the 4th Floor of The Elicium. The seminar shall commence at 14.00 on Wednesday 3rd February and shall be hosted by Dr Evert Start, Duran Audio’s in house acoustician.

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Duran Audio BV has recently teamed up with Danish company Odeon A/S to create a unique interface between Duran Audio’s Digital Directivity Analysis software (DDA) and Odeon Room Acoustics software.

This new interface allows sound system designers the ability to carry out their loudspeaker system design (using AXYS loudspeaker products) in DDA; within the DDA environment the critical “beam steering” parameters of Intellivox and Target arrays can be set and modelled, using statistical methods. Once they are satisfied with the performance of the system the loudspeaker data can then be easily exported to XML format so that it can be imported into Odeon. Further modelling work can be carried out using the ray tracing method. In addition to this export functionality DDA users can also import the room geometry from Odeon into DDA models using the .CAD export function in Odeon.

These new import/export features are available in version 3 of DDA which will be launched at Integrated Systems Europe (February 2-4, Amsterdam) and in the latest release of Odeon (version 10).

“We are very pleased with the Odeon interface; it’s very elegant, accurate and simple to use. The ability to import multiple XML files into Odeon at once means that the whole process is very efficient and that you do not need to repeat the work done in DDA once again in Odeon” commented Dr Evert Start, who leads the DDA development team at Duran Audio.

www.odeon.dk

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Duran Audio adds Steel

Duran Audio BV has recently acquired the Netherlands based specialist sheet metalwork manufacturer Hieselaar BV. For more than 30 years, Hieselaar BV has been a leading Dutch sub-supplier for precision products in sheet metal for both the industrial and designer market. The company positions itself as a co-maker in sheetmetal solutions.
 
“It has always been my intention to produce as many parts in house as possible” said Mr Gerrit Duran, founder and president of Duran Audio “for this reason we have invested heavily in recent years. Our new production facility has a state of the art CNC system in place for wood working, and also a full electronics production “street”. This ensures that all the components within our AXYS branded products meet the demanding quality standards that I set for the company.”

Recently an opportunity arose for Duran to purchase Hieslaar and they acted quickly.
 
Gerrit Duran adds, “The relationship with Hieselaar is not new. For over 20 years Hieselaar has produced parts for AXYS Intellivox and AXYS amplifier modules and we have been extremely happy with their performance as a sub contractor. The opportunity to add Hieselaar to the Duran family was one that I simply could not pass up.”
 
As well as the sheet metalwork, which they carry out for Duran Audio and other clients all over The Netherlands and beyond, Hieselaar also manufacture a very fashionable range of office furniture.

Hieselaar Nederland BV, as it is called now, will continue to work for a wide variety of clients from their factory in Schoonhoven.

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Achieving intelligible speech reproduction in highly reverberant and acoustic complex spaces has never been easy. Over the last two decades Duran Audio has developed a comprehensive set of products to help Sound System Designers solve this problem. AXYS® Intellivox and ABF products together with Digital Directivity Control and Digital Directivity Synthesis technologies have set new benchmarks in people’s perception of what can be achieved in these troublesome acoustic environments.

But what happens when a specification demands that you need to meet a specific STI (Speech Transmission Index), in difficult circumstances? For example, when a high Sound Pressure Level is required and you have a poor signal-to-noise ratio?

Even with highly directional & low distortion AXYS® loudspeakers, you face significant difficulties. Changes in recent years to the STI standard (IEC60268-16) mean that you now get “penalised” when the sound level exceeds 85 dB(A) (male speech spectrum). In fact if your system is operating at 105 dB(A) then the maximum achievable STI in an anechoic environment is around 0.72, and around 0.79 at 100 dB(A). So when you then factor in a space with difficult acoustics and high background noise levels then all of a sudden it becomes even more of a challenge to achieve a specified STI value.

The graph above shows how your STI measurement is penalised as the Sound Level increases. The 'stair cased' curve is generated using the current STI standard. The smooth one is calculated in a way which the level dependent masking is not divided into 10 dB intervals, as in the current standard, but an interpolated function of SPL.

This data is based on a loudspeaker with “a perfect transfer function” in an anechoic space”

For example: PA/VA (Public Address/Voice Alarm) systems in Europe are required to achieve a rating of the space (i.e.: average STI minus standard deviation) which equates to a STI of 0.5. This criteria needs to be met with typical background noise levels present. This, in a busy road tunnel for example, could be as high as 90-95 dB(A). The sound system needs to operate at very high sound pressure levels to achieve a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio under these conditions. However, at such high levels the STI algorithm applies a penalty and increasing the signal-noise ratio (which would normally increase the measured STI value) further constrains the achievable STI value as the penalty is increased.

In this situation the system equalisation could have a significant effect on the measured STI value!

A new service from Duran Audio

Duran Audio now offers AXYS® users and AXYS® System Designers the ultimate service to help achieve the highest possible STI from their system design.

Using the AXYS® OpSTImizer®; a PC based measurement and equalisation tool, our engineers measure STI using the STIPA method. However, In contrast to most handheld STIPA measurement devices on the market, we can enter the background noise spectrum directly into the OpSTImizer®. There is no need for data export and post-processing in a spreadsheet, so we are able to evaluate the sound system's performance, under various noise conditions whilst on site.

A further benefit of the OpSTImizer® is the ability to very quickly calculate an optimised EQ curve, which can be applied to the measured AXYS products. This maximises the achievable STI values for the defined background noise conditions. Finally, this EQ setting can be easily uploaded into AXYS IndustryAmp and Intellivox products and reviewed by ear.

The OpSTImizer® service is now available as part of Duran Audio’s factory approved commissioning services. At present we are offering the service for AXYS® ABF and IndustryAMP products. We will however, be including the highly successful AXYS Intellivox range, very soon.

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New Role for Nick Screen

Duran Audio, manufacturer of AXYS loudspeaker products, has appointed Nick Screen as its new International Business Development Manager. As part of this newly created role he will be working with Duran Audio’s partners to help them maximise the potential market for AXYS products in their territory. 

Nick is no stranger to the company or its products as he has been the MD of Duran Audio UK since it was established in Cardiff in 2002, prior to that Nick worked for London based Autograph Sales where he was a product specialist. 
(Screen comments) “I first met Gerrit Duran back in 1998 at the 104th AES show in Amsterdam and was immediately drawn to Duran Audio’s ambition and vision. The company has always strived to push the boundaries of technology to create truly innovative solutions that solve real world problems. We were one of the first manufacturers to offer self powered loudspeakers for touring back in the mid 80’s and the Intellivox was the first commercially available steerable loudspeaker array in the mid 90’s. Working within a company that has such vision, desire and engineering strength makes it very easy to get excited about work. I am really proud and honoured to have been appointed to this new role and am looking forward to all the challenges that lie ahead.”

Nick will also remain as MD of Duran Audio UK Limited who will be appointing a new UK Sales Manager - Commercial Audio in the near future.

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Duran Audio receives praise from the Ministry of Environment

Duran Audio’s new R&D and Production Facility (Zaltbommel, The Netherlands) has recently been showcased on the SenterNovem, a website created on behalf of the Ministry of Economics, as an example of how a production facility can be built to maximise energy efficiency and energy performance.

The architectural challenge for Duran Audio’s new facility included creating a building which also expressed the personality and qualities of the company. Qualities that we would describe as:
• Striving for perfection
• Innovation and research
• Sustainability
• Creating beautiful designs

This led to a design that was rather refreshing and environmentally aware. The facades of the building, where the offices are located, are covered in handmade ceramics, which contrast with the rigid metal elements of the production facility at the rear of the building.

An integral part of the design is the single curved wall, which runs the entire length of the building. This substantial construction, not only acts as an acoustic barrier between the office area and the noisy production area, but it also plays an important role in the climate control of the building. The wall with it’s lime coating absorbs heat in the summer,

which helps to cool the building and then during the colder months the heat is released helping to warm the air.

The main energy saving feature of the building is the ground source heat pump, which has a well of some 60 metres in depth, and delivers heat to the building through a combination of under floor heating, climate ceilings and the ventilation system. The ventilation system itself is also rather innovative as it provides a constant flow of fresh air through the building, which has no opening windows. Heat is added and removed from the system using a heat exchanger. These energy efficiency measures are complimented by a highly efficient occupancy based lighting system and the materials used within the building.

The entire building is a sustainable system that combines optimal indoor climate control and maximum CO2 reduction with a very well planned, almost minimalist use of materials and colour.

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The Right ‘Start’ for ALMA symposium

Dr Evert Start, from Duran Audio's R&D department, shall be taking part in the ALMA European Symposium 2009 entitled “Loudspeaker Design – Science and Art” which will be held at the ProLight and Sound Show in Frankfurt, Germany on Saturday April 4, 2009. The event shall take place in Hall 8, Conference Level 8.1.


This unique event, like ALMA’s US and Asian Symposiums, is dedicated to loudspeaker systems and drive units used in professional and consumer applications. Audio industry experts are invited to give an overview on current technologies and trends, addressing everyone who is interested in reproduced sound quality and the physics behind. The first sessions describes the power of loudspeaker modelling which is the basis of modern design. In a second session the relationship between objective and subjective evaluation of loudspeaker quality is investigated and the meaningful measurement standards are discussed. The last session addresses the design of passive and active systems and the emerging role of digital signal processing.        

Dr Start shall be giving a paper entitled “DSP-controlled loudspeaker arrays; advanced directivity control concepts”
The design of public address (PA) or sound reinforcement (SR) systems in large, complex-shaped spaces can be quite challenging. Particularly in highly reverberant spaces, it is difficult to achieve the desired level of speech intelligibility or musical clarity. Traditionally, numerous spatially distributed loudspeakers are used, causing a strong excitation of the reverberant sound field. Nowadays, the number of sources can be dramatically reduced by applying highly directional loudspeaker arrays, capable of covering large audience areas. In this presentation, first an overview will be given of classic and existing directivity control techniques. After a short recapitulation of the basics of array physics, two advanced digital directivity concepts, developed by Duran Audio, will be addressed: Digital Directivity Control (DDC) and Digital Directivity Synthesis (DDS). The signal processing behind these techniques will be revealed and a practical design and optimisation tool for loudspeaker arrays based on these concepts will be demonstrated.

More information about the Symposium can be found at: http://www.almainternational.org/2009_european_symposium.php

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