Grimm Audio: Building the Dream

audioXpress visited Grimm Audio in The Netherlands to learn more about the people behind this unique company, its products, and philosophy. There's nothing better to learn about product development than to visit an audio company and learn from its history and business journey. As a relatively young company, Grimm Audio has consistently put its mark on both the pro audio and hi-fi scene and Jan Didden shares what he learned about their unique in-house development philosophy. This article was originally published in audioXpress, July 2023.

audioXpress July 2023 provides an updated market and technology overview of Audio Amplifiers, includes the review of the Hypex Nilai500DIY 500W Power Amplifier Kits, a visit to Dutch company Grimm Audio, and an interview with Rémi Guastavino to discuss the new GRAS EQset measurement microphone series. Plus a review of the new WiiM Pro Music Streaming System, a new article series about Bass Reflex speaker performance, and a lot more.

Grimm Audio introduced the successor of its LS1s-DMF motional feedback subwoofer: the SB1. The new design takes Grimm's Digital Motional Feedback approach to a whole new level. The new subwoofer uses a new and improved driver, over which Grimm Audio could build a better electronics implementation and leverage significant evolution in sensors and DSP, creating an even better match for its LS1 series speakers.

For years, BeatRig Grimm Audio’s LevelNorm has been a standard software tool of choice for one click audio loudness normalization in Avid Pro Tools and Media Composer. Many broadcasters around the globe rely on LevelNorm for program normalization by their editors and journalists. With the release of version 2, compliance to EBU R128, ATSC A/85 and CALM act requirements extends to every DAW, with both realtime (AU/VST/AAX) and offline (AAX).

The 2018 High End show promised to be the best one ever, in part because of the most pleasant weather conditions experienced in Munich - almost summer like - turning the Bavarian region into a tourist postcard and making any outing a true pleasure and the entire experience of beer and German food even more enjoyable, particularly in the fantastic nearby Englischer Garten esplanades and restaurants.

Always looking to differentiate its music streaming service with higher quality experiences, Tidal has now adopted the loudness recommendations of Eelco Grimm, HKU University of the Arts Utrecht and Grimm Audio. In Tidal’s recent update of their iOS and Android apps, loudness normalization is now turned ON by default. With this move, Tidal follows the trend towards automatic loudness normalization that was initiated by Spotify and Youtube.

Dutch company Grimm Audio announced the introduction of its LevelOne V2 software with new exciting features. LevelOne has been a standard desktop loudness normalizer tool from the early start of the loudness revolution. The new version improves on existing functionality, adding user-requested features such as a True Peak Limiter function, multiple ‘hot folders’ automation and FFmpeg compatibility to support more file formats. LevelOne Version 2 is available from Grimm Audio’s loudness software partner, BeatRig.