Audio

xMEMS brings speakers plus programmable vent to production

By Peter Cooney / April 20, 2023
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​The SAR audio team visited xMEMS during our recent short tour of the Bay Area. During this time we were treated to a demo from the xMEMS team of its most recent products. SAR has been covering MEMS speakers for a few years now and are well versed on xMEMS products and their competitors (see MEMS […]

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Google ends updates and effectively kills third-party assistant smart displays

By Peter Cooney / April 13, 2023
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​The news from sources that Google will be ending software updates for Google assistant on third-party smart display devices is hardly surprising. According to 9to5Google, Google will be halting all updates for its assistant on Lenovo, JBL and LG smart display devices. It’s important to note that these devices will still continue to function with […]

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PSB Speakers, Sonical and MQA announce partnership to create next-generation headphones

By Peter Cooney / March 29, 2023
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This is another story about the use of UWB for audio streaming, this time with a few more companies added to the mix. Sonical is central to this, offering its CosmOS for use in PSB Speakers’ headphone (due Q1, 2024). Also included is AntennaWare‘s UWB antenna and Qorvo UWB radio chip. MQA has also jumped […]

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ST Strengthens position in the TWS sensor market

By Joe Murray / March 28, 2023
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STMicroelectronics has announced its latest headphone-focused UI chip, the LSM6DSV16BX, an integrated product that is intended to replace 2 or more components in a TWS device. This combines 3-axis wide band accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope with an audio accelerometer, electrostatic sensor (Qvar) and processing. It enables multiple functions needed in many TWS devices: Bone conduction for voice activity detection […]

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NuraTrue Pro earbuds offer custom sound and exceptional spatial audio

By Peter Cooney / March 27, 2023
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​We hear the term ‘spatial audio’ being used a lot in in the tech world. It’s also sometimes referred to as ‘3D audio’, or ‘immersive audio’. It can get quite confusing, especially when there are two technologies which could both be referred to by any of these terms. As these technologies are relatively new, there are not […]

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Will UWB change the world of headphones?

By Peter Cooney / March 27, 2023
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Bluetooth will continue to be the primary technology for wireless audio for many years to come. Its massive ecosystem of devices and the continual improvements made by its 1000s of members makes it a formidable force. It does have inherent limitations however, as it is trying to do many things well. One area where Bluetooth […]

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Sonos releases new line of speakers

By Peter Cooney / March 2, 2023
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​Sonos has announced its new line of speakers. The Sonos Era 300 and 100 are coming in March. One huge update from previous Sonos speakers is that you can now line-in, and use Bluetooth. The Sonos non-portable range has previously only worked through Wi-Fi. The announcement that the Sonos sound will be enabled to other […]

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AAC helps directional MEMS microphone startup get to market

By Peter Cooney / March 1, 2023
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​​​For many years the MEMS microphone market has been dominated by a few major vendors, Knowles and Infineon (plus many companies using Infineon die, including AAC). Few new companies have emerged with new technologies that could possibly upset the status quo. Vesper was one such company, but it only had minimal success before it was […]

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World’s first beamforming soundbar tracks your head

By Joe Murray / February 16, 2023
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​The soundbar market does not enjoy the rapid growth it once did. Even though this has been a market showing superiority to home theatre in box systems—and even AVRs—the trend is a slowing in shipment growth. The use of wireless (sometimes battery powered) speakers incorporated into a multiroom setup may be a good trade off as this […]

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New Netflix spatial audio powered by Sennheiser

By Peter Cooney / February 14, 2023
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​What seems to be the follow on from an announcement in July ’22, it has been publicised for the second time that Netflix will be adding AMBEO spatial audio—powered by Sennheiser—to some of its titles on the streaming platform. After recent price hikes, it’s good to see Netflix adding additional value to the service. Albeit interesting […]

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