Learn, Plan, and Build with audioXpress October 2018

Another edition of audioXpress is now available, and this is another one of those issues you don't want to miss. On our cover, we call your attention to Tom Perazella's amazing Egg Speakers, a project which we continue to detail this month. Next, Stuart Yaniger reviews the latest Phantom Power Microphones from PCB Piezotronics, we discuss advanced test methods for improving Active Noise Cancellation headphone performance, and we interview Michael Goodman, CEntrance Founder and CEO. And there's more speaker projects, and great audio theory articles. Download it now or subscribe!


Following up on our September 2018, Speaker Focus edition, the October edition of audioXpress continues to celebrate the spirit of Speaker Builder. In this edition, Tom Perazella continues to detail the construction of his flagship Egg Speakers. Inspired by the latest generation of SB Acoustics' Satori high-end drivers, and the original Mach 17 speaker design built in the 1990s by Waveform Research of Canada, in this second part of the series, Perazella details the construction and assembly of his three-way double cabinet design. A fascinating build!

Next up, Ron Tipton offers another interesting DIY project on Designing and Testing the Omni Pipe, an Omni-Directional Stereo Speaker Pair. As he explains, the project was inspired by Ken Birds’ write up of his Omni Hex speaker pair in the December 2017 issue of audioXpress, expanding the original design on what he decided to call the Omni Pipe. As Ron explains, in this project he wanted to use a design that avoided parallel walls to minimize internal reflections, and he also wanted to include performance data on the finished system.

This month, Richard Honeycutt continues to explore the topic of Modulation Distortion in Loudspeakers and its Detectability, A Theoretical Approach to Evaluating the Detectability of Doppler Distortion. Following an introductory article on the topic, in this second article he discusses a theoretical rationale upon which a criterion for detectability of Doppler distortion can be based.

From speaker practice and theory, the October edition expands into headphones and earphones, with an article on advanced test methods for improving Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) headphone performance, by Hans W. Gierlich (HEAD acoustics). This article attempts to gain better data to draw stronger conclusions about the ANC performance and is a must-read for product developers and anyone interesting in learning how to evaluate those systems.

Also a cover highlight in this edition, Stuart Yaniger reviews the latest Phantom Power Microphones from PCB Piezotronics with a new mic body/preamp, the 426A14, which runs off standard studio phantom power and has a standard balanced XLR connection. After having tested some of the company's constant-current self-polarized measurement microphones, PCB Piezotronics sent the latest 426A14 preamp bundled with three capsules (the 377C01—a 1/4”, the 377B02—a 1/2”, and the 377A06—a 1/2”), which can be used by the installed base of studio recording and loudspeaker measurement equipment designed to use phantom power (typically +48 V to +200 V) with balanced lines. With this system, the advantages of the stability, calibration accuracy, and reliability coming with industrial measurement mics can be directly translated to audio-related acoustic measurement.

For this October edition, Shannon Becker interviewed Michael Goodman, the founder and CEO of CEntrance, and discusses the recently launched MixerFace R4, a portable mixer and mobile recording device that can transform a smartphone into a full-featured portable recording studio. Founded in 2000, CEntrance develops, licenses, and distributes cutting-edge audio products worldwide. The Chicago, IL, company CEntrance is known for its co-development work with audio industry leaders and its innovative designs, inspired by its founder and admittedly powered by...coffee and tacos. Michael Goodman, leads a dedicated team of engineering, manufacturing, and marketing professionals in bringing quality products to market in record time both as an outsourced technology provider and product manufacturer.

And because we don't want to forget about the software, Pieter Stenekes, the founder of software house Sonoris, which specializes in multiplatform solutions for recording and mastering professionals, discusses why “Audio Software Doesn’t Have to Be Complex or Expensive to Be Powerful.” In the article, Pieter explains how Sonoris' solutions were created and adopted by leading mastering studios and facilities around the world and are still powering all types of deliverables in current digital audio formats.

Finally, Gary Galo shares his reading of Electronics for Vinyl, the recent book published by Douglas Self. As an expert in this field, and author of many projects to do with turntables and phono preamps, Gary provides an in-depth exploration of every chapter and basically adds another valuable one.

All this is now available on print and online. Get the October 2018 edition of audioXpress now at: www.gotomyxpress.com

And of course you can also subscribe here: www.audioxpress.com/page/audioXpress-Subscription-Services.html

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