Links of Interest
www.productionaudio.com.au
www.proaudioasia.com
www.radioinfo.com.au
www.12am.com.au
April 2006
NBC
Report:
Retailers Improve Headphones to Curb Hearing Loss
November 2005
iCans - A new world of Sound - Review
March 2005
Ultrasone
Proline 750 Closed-Bank Studio Headphones
February 2005
Ultrasone
Named Exclusive Headphone for SAE
April 2004
Pro Sound News
October 2003
AES Exhibitors Were All EARS For Ultrasone
May 2003
Ultrasone Headphones Reviews
April 2003
Mutec, Smart Merge
In 1979, I started recording synthesizer music with my brother in a small, self-made, home recording studio. The tone productions were monitored exclusively with supra-aural and circum-aural headphones. These headphones caused too much pressure on the ears and irregular closing effects, were too soft, created too much bass reproduction, and provided zero high-frequency listening.
These "normal" headphone sound impressions and the annoying localization of auditory events in the head motivated me to take practical training courses on professional audio techniques and hi-fidelity acoustic labor as a student in the College of Electrical Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany. There, I researched and presented a thesis on "computer-supported, diffuse-field, transmission frequency response determinations of headphones."
After graduation, the research continued at SZV central laboratory (Munich), and I wrote a number of expert reports for companies like Hama, Lufthansa, Market & Technik, Vivanco, Sony and Sennheiser.
In 1989, during a meeting with Mr. Gresser (the inventor of the "open-headphone type" at Sennheiser), the inspiration arose to begin experiments to create a new process for frontal auditory effects in headphones. These experiments helped develop the base technology for S-Logic Natural Surround Sound. The first patent application was for the de-centric driver placement that is found in all Ultrasone headphone ear cups. The near-field sound source produces head related transfer function (HRTF) effects that are commonly found with frontal hearing and through directional filtering by anatomic influences. The human hear construction realizes the HRTF to create a 3-dimensional hearing image.
In 1990, we formed Ultrasone Electroacoustics GmbH (LTD) to take the new invention to the market with a new line of headphone products. AT the same time, the S-Logic patent was pushed for worldwide approval with the tagline: "This is what the whole audio industry is searching for!"
As the business grew, research continued in such areas as room acoustics, psychoacoustics, hearing acoustics and the electro-magnetic effects of headphones. These studies led to the development of a tone-neutral, head-related reinforcement situation for the reproduction of surround sound (the technology for Dolby Pro-Logic/AC3/Dolby Digital).
In all, the research has led to more than 60 patents worldwide, and the findings have appeared in more than 50 top scientific publications.
During this time, I also finished a PhD in "Audio Spectrum Analysis of Natural Alternating Fields in the Atmosphere." This research led to the development of headphones with a natural surround sound, the technology behind the S-Logic, based on the following principles:
- For circum-aural headphones, the speaker needs to be placed at an angle of 30 to 40 degree de-centric (lower/frontally based on the hear channel). The bufferboard should be acoustically hard (reflect for lower frequencies) and damp (for higher frequencies). The upper area of the speaker is to close or damp at about 30 percent of the diaphragm-reflecting zone to optimize the de-centric placement optionally.
- For supra-aural headphones, the speaker needs to be positioned near the centric or slightly lower on the ear channel. The bufferboard should be acoustically hard for the total frequency range. The upper area of the speaker is to close at about 50 percent of the diaphragm-reflecting zone, creating a de-centric placed sound source in front of the ear channel.
- The ear pad needs to be chosen to ensure tone with maximum emphasis free of colorations. For open headphones, a velvet or cloth surface is preferred. For closed headphones, the ear pad should be genuine or synthetic leather.
The speaker should be gold or Titanium-mylar diaphragm
and developed for an extremely hard burst response (THD
spectral delay time at frequencies greater than 1 kHz about
0,9 ms). The drivers allow for very low frequency tone
signals (<40 Hz) without phase-masking effects and without
the perception of the real tone signal (not the THD) first
(transmission frequency could be offered up to 35 kHz).
These tone-neutral aspects are important in the reproduction
of the clearest and cleanest natural spatial sound, effects
and the lateral wall reflections, phases as a function
of high dynamic audio signals (>100 dB).
The development of new headphones is a permanently growing
process led, in part, by new technology and market desires,
but the metamorphosis of steps from mono to stereo to S-Logic
(natural surround sound) has had to proceed sequentially
to fully understand the effects of each on future technology.
A documentation of the results of the past makes it possible
for bi-directional observations of the acoustics effects.
In studying the past, it is clear that S-Logic is the only way to influence stereo or channel tone signals to produce a 3-dimensional auditory event without any digital, binaural processing, apart from the mean human HRTF of a dummy-head (hint: recordings with more ambient feeling, but the old well-known above in the head localization). The human outer ear (pinna) fluctuates more than 15dB at frequencies less than 1kHz (standard deviation 6 KHz =7dB!). These individual hearing realities cannot be served with only one headphone. HRTF is the only logical consequence. And, since the tone recordings offer no 3-directional information regarding common pan-pot stereophonic recording techniques, the only solution is S-logic.
Unique to the Ultrasone is its patented S-Logic technology. S-Logic utilizes decentralized transducer position to reflect sound off the listener's pinna, or outer ear, creating a natural 3-dimensional sensation without the use of processing. Whereas standard headphones create the impression of stereo image within the listeners' head, S-Logic produces a stereophonic surround sound field that is perceived to be broad, detached, and located in front of the listener. Ultrasone is the only headphone manufacturer to directly address the physiology of the ear rather than use electronics to generate a stereophonic sound field.
Moreover, since the headphone transducers are not aimed directly at the auditory canal, listeners perceive the same volume with up to 40 percent lower sound pressure levels. This may significantly reduce risk of hearing damage while ensuring hours of fatigue-free listening - an absolute must if you spend half of your life in headphones.
Finally, most headphone drivers today convert an electric signal into an acoustical signal, producing low-frequency magnetic fields. Medical research shows that these emissions can be hazardous to our health. In response, we developed special MU metal shields to reduce the radiation up to 98 percent compared to current headphones. The patented PROline (ultra low-emission) technology has stood the test of international review and is recommended by technical surveillance organizations.
Recommended and scientific papers around S-Logic and PROline are available from the Audio Engineering Society (ww.aes.org) published in 1995/1995/1997/2001/2004.
Florian M. Koenig is the founder and chief technical officer of Ultrasone.
Ultrasone
www.ultrasoneusa.com
Linda Albright of EARS Audio Distribution reports New York was exceptionally good for business. The company, which was co-founded by Albright to import and distribute Ultrasone headphones in North America, supplied more than 200 pairs of Ultrasone headphones, incorporating the company's patented S-Logic(tm) Natural Surround Sound technology, to over two dozen exhibitors at the show.
Ultrasone's HFI-550 and HFI-650 headphones were in use for key product demonstrations on booths throughout the show floor, including 40 pairs on the Digidesign booth alone. Other exhibitors relying on the headphones, which utilize decentralized transducer positioning to offer a safe and natural sounding listening experience, included Allen & Heath, DPA, GML, Grace Design, Royer Labs, Steinberg, Summit Audio, Trident, and Universal Audio. ADK, ATR Services, Audix, Aviom, Crane Song, Daking, Great River Electronics, Independent Audio, PMI, Lawson Microphones, Plus-24, Pro Audio Design, Telefunken, and Wave Distribution also offered audio demonstrations on their booths using Ultrasone headphones.
Gil Gowen, Digidesign's senior product specialist, commented, “The Ultrasone headphones sounded really good. They have lots of isolation but still have lots of natural sound. I think a lot of people think that when you have really isolated headphones they sound really closed off and boxy, but these have a really open sound to them.”
Reviews
Ultrasone iCans Review - iCan….
You Will !
By André Cato for 12am.com.au | Gear Media | andre@12am.com.au
Personal audio players have been enticing us since Sony first developed the Cassette Walkman back in 1979.
In this millennium, there has been no larger consumer product than Apple’s iPod, and with good reason. Personal audio is now what we want, in the format we want. No longer do we have to purchase standard discs, records or tapes as we can use our iPod to record and play it all. It’s a hard-drive, a high quality audio player and even plays compressed MP3 format audio.
Included with just about every available MP3 or audio player on the market, you will receive a set of standard and generally terrible headphones or headphone buds. The sound that these headphones create is not only less than desirable, but also can be extremely dangerous to your hearing as they spray cheap dirty sound directly into your ear drum as opposed to bouncing off the sides of your ear as you would normally hear things in your surroundings.
Surprisingly until now, there have been few quality headphones designed for these small mobile players. Even those that do sound good with an iPod are generally the size of a set of studio monitors, are not exactly convenient to carry around on public transport and certainly don’t exactly look very… well stylish let’s say.
iCans are headphones specially designed and developed for use with the iPod and any other MP3 or audio players. All design and manufacturing of the iCans is done in Germany and I have to say they are very strong, yet very comfortable and ultimately… Sexy!
How does iCan ?
iCans are developed with several patented technologies found in
only the highest quality headphones made by Ultrasone in Germany.
One of these is S-Logic - a technology developed by Ultrasone is
based on listening to music the way your ear hears sounds in any
normal environment, therefore giving you a more dynamic listening
experience.
iCans are no different in terms of their audio quality from any of the high quality Ultrasone headphones. By use of the S-Logic technology, the sound bounces off your ear giving you a very rich, full and totally consuming encounter. Ultrasone headphones also have a large reduction in magnetic field emissions meaning that by wearing Ultrasone you are taking care of your hearing, while being treated to one of the most exquisite sounds headphones can offer.
Ok, so that all sounds pretty cool but what does it mean
and how does it compare?
Well, I’m glad you asked. iPods come with headphones, well…
ear buds. These ear buds are made using Neodymium transducer magnets
to create the sound. Apple chose them as they create a much greater
sound for their relatively small size (18-mm drivers), compared
to that of other driver materials used in larger headphones such
as aluminum or cobalt. If you use your iPod a lot however, these
ear bud headphones will do you no favours in later life as they
have a remarkable tendency to send distorted signals if and when
they overheat, permanently ruining your ear buds. Admittedly it
does need to be a high temperature for the neodymium transducer
to lose its magnetism, but it’s far from uncommon to overheat
your ear buds when listening to loud, poorly recorded portable music.
The iCans are a completely different style altogether, which I am sure you noticed by the picture! For starters, iCans deliver up to 101dB of sound pressure meaning that even with your iPod, computer, or other audio device, you can experience the feeling you only get in a club. In an article found on one of the Australian Government websites about ‘Average dB levels experienced by hospitality staff’, it states that even a bartender in the environment of a club listens to only an average of 93dB! iCans have a frequency range of 20-20,000 Hz and have an impedance of 35ohm. Impedance? Basically, the higher the impedance, the more work the headphones have to do to get a good quality sound. At 35ohm iCans deliver a very powerful, yet gracefully produced sound, without putting any pressure on the driver of the headphone.
Simply by looking at them you can tell they were designed with iPod’s iStyle in mind, capturing the chrome and white look. Whether they are folded up in their metal tin or sitting comfortably on your head, they are sure to impress!
They look good, sound good, so…How can I?
iCans are available throughout Australia at Myer, Encell, DoDo and
other leading Audio/Hi-Fi stores. For a full list of stockists please
go to www.icans.com.au or
by email info@icans.com.au.
Back to Top
More Reviews
Click here to read the general Ultrasone headphone Review.
Sound Technology Ultrasone Review, click here to read.
New Ultrasone headphone Proline 2500 Review, click here to read.
New Ultrasone headphone HFI-650 Review, click here to read.
Ultrasone headphone HFI-650TM Review, click here to read.
Ultrasone headphone HFI-500DJ1 Review one, click here to read.
Ultrasone headphone HFI-500DJ1 Review two, click here to read.
Ultrasone headphone HFI-15G Review, click here to read.
Contact:
Robert Bontschek,
East Coast Audio
Phone: +61 3 9525 6611,
Fax: +61 3 9525 6867, Mobile 0418 381 481
Email: robert@eastcoastaudio.com.au
Media Contact:
Graeme Kemlo,
Wordsmith Communications Corporation
Phone: +61 3 9592 4440
Marius Jones
12AM
Phone: +61 3 9533 8255
Mobile: 0402 008 202
Website: 12am.com.au
Email: marius@12am.com.au
Problem: There’s never enough digital inputs on the mixing desk
Solution: SMART MERGE from East Coast Audio
You want to connect an increasing number of digital devices to your mixing desk – from effects processors and synthesizers to recording equipment – but invariably at the critical moment you run out of digital inputs.
To the rescue with a unique realtime solution comes East Coast Audio and SMART MERGE.
SMART MERGE is a fully automated, digital line mixer which is designed to mix four individual digital stereo sources (AES/EBU, S/PDIFoptical or coaxial) with varying sampling rates in realtime to one output.
Exclusive Australian distributor is East Coast Audio. Principal, Robert Bontschek, a 20-year veteran of the professional audio industry in Australia, said “SMART MERGE, with its 8-channel digital line mixer and routing matrix uses a 32 Bit floating-point processor, making it ideal as a submixer for musical instruments, effects processors and any kind of recording equipment with digital outputs.”
Designed and manufactured with typical German precision by Berlin-headquartered Mutec GmbH, it can work as a multiple sampling rate and format converter and it is able to be synchronised to various clock sources to provide problem-free integration into a range of digital environments.
Mr Bontschek said SMART MERGE made the handling of digital signal sources much less complicated.
“What’s unique about SMART\ MERGE is that for the first time such signals can be mixed in real time without any level control. This enables the producer or musician to concentrate 100% on the creative side of their studio work.
“Powerful 32bits-floating-point processing offers loss-free mixing without pre-attenuation of the input signals to secure the highest sound quality, with the output signal automatically limited to a max. level of -0.5dBFs. For the user this means simple digital mixing without wasting time monitoring the main speakers or patching digital sources to a single input,” he said.
SMART MERGE is not only ideal for studios wanting to expand the input channels of digital mixers, it can expand the effect returns; enable plug-free monitoring of different sources on one mixer input channel; provide multichannel sampling rate & format conversion; and simplifies the handling of asynchronous digital sources.
The built-in digital routing matrix enables easy monitoring of the input channels without affecting the mix signal via a front panel adjustable headphone terminal with a high-quality 24bit DA converter.
Mr Bontschek said SMART MERGE was the first of a range of SMART DIGITAL products from Mutec, designed to allow studios to better communicates in the digital domain despite different formats and interfaces. SMART DIGITALs are placed at the points of intersection, where they act as links ensuring the trouble-free exchange of digital audio data based on different standards.
Future additions to the East Coast Audio-distributed range would include SMART CLOCK, a centralised clock generator which integrates a broad range of digital studio and recording equipment.
SMART MERGE from East Coast Audio
SMART MERGE Specifications include:
Input - 4 × S/PDIF coaxial (Cinch/RCA), unbalanced, 75 Ohm, 200mV–2V;
IEC 60958; 1 × S/PDIF optical, Toshiba Toslink™, EIAJ RC-5720,
IEC 60958; 1 × AES/EBU (XLR), transformer balanced, 110 Ohm, 200mV–7V,
AES3-1992
Output - 1 × AES/EBU AES/EBU (XLR), transformer balanced, 4Vpp @
110 Ohm, AES3-1992 Frequency Range - 32.0kHz to 108.0kHz
Power Supply – Internal 115V/230V (switchable), 50–60Hz, power
consumption.
About MUTEC
MUTEC GmbH is a German manufacturer of high-quality professional
digital audio equipment. The product range includes video + word clock
+ AES/EBU generators, digital signal distribution amplifiers, digital
audio format converters and sampling rate converters as well as digital
audio signal processors and accessory parts. The product development
and production is strictly oriented on broadcast standards and takes
place at its head office in Berlin Germany.
www.mutec-net.de
About East Coast Audio
Over the past 20 years East Coast Audio has built an enviable
reputation in the professional audio industry. Headed by industry identity,
Robert Bontschek, East Coast Audio specialises in the importation and
distribution of a broad range of communications technologies and business
solutions targeted to the specific needs of the professional audio industry
(radio, TV, cable, satellite), including the recording studio and sound
reinforcement installation markets.
Contact:
Robert Bontschek,
East Coast Audio
Phone: +61 3 9525 6611,
Fax: +61 3 9525 6867, Mobile 0418 381 481
Email: robert@eastcoastaudio.com.au
Media Contacts:
Graeme Kemlo,
Wordsmith Communications Corporation
Phone: +61 3 9592 4440
Marius Jones,
12AM
Phone: +61 3 9533 8255
Mobile: 0402 008 202
Website: 12am.com.au
Email: marius@12am.com.au
About East Coast Audio
Over the past 20 years East Coast Audio has built an enviable
reputation in the professional audio industry. Headed by industry
identity, Robert Bontschek, East Coast Audio specialises in
the importation and distribution of a broad range of communications
technologies and business solutions targeted to the specific
needs of the professional audio industry (radio, TV, cable,
satellite), including the recording studio and sound reinforcement
installation markets.
Contact:
Robert Bontschek,
East Coast Audio
Phone: +61 3 9525 6611,
Fax: +61 3 9525 6867, Mobile 0418 381 481
Email: robert@eastcoastaudio.com.au
Media Contact:
Graeme Kemlo,
Wordsmith Communications Corporation
Phone: +61 3 9592 4440
Marius Jones
12AM
Phone: +61 3 9533 8255
Mobile: 0402 008 202
Website: 12am.com.au
Email: marius@12am.com.au