Sennheiser, which announced last month it's working on a binaural recording headset for iPhones with Lightning connectors (see 1704240054), is designing a digital interface for Android phones based on a USB connector, CEO Andreas Sennheiser told us at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London Tuesday at a preview of The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains (May 13-Oct. 1) featuring Sennheiser’s Ambeo technology. Apple’s Lightning connector interfaces digitally with the digital-to-analog converter built into the Sennheiser Ambeo headphones, but there’s currently no such solution available for Android phones with an analog 3.5mm jack. “If we used an analog 3.5mm jack, the only way to get the Ambeo effect would be to do it in post-production, and pre-process the audio,” Sennheiser said. “To get Ambeo processing on the fly, the connector must be digital. We have started with Lightning but will later provide a model with digital USB connector, probably USB-C.” It’s also possible to do Ambeo processing in real time with wireless Bluetooth headphones, Sennheiser said. “It’s just a matter of time and when we get to it.” At the Pink Floyd exhibit, visitors to the exhibition are loaned a pair of HD 2.20 headphones (with an analog connector) with a portable receiver that detects the wearer’s position and automatically plays the appropriate soundtrack for the nearest of 40 videos containing material of historic Pink Floyd performances and interviews. The sound fades naturally in and out as the visitor moves position. Sennheiser encouraged guests at the preview to walk around the room and hear how the immersive soundfield changes subtly with position. With no “sweet spot,” the effect is “more like listening to a live event than a recording," the CEO said. "It’s like being there; if you go a little bit to one side you hear more drums, go a little to the other side and hear more of the guitar player.”
Audio-Technica announced the ATH-SR6BT wireless headphones ($199) with Bluetooth and near-field communications, due exclusively in Best Buy stores May 21. The headphones’ mic and volume control are built into the left earcup, and the phones can be used as wired headphones when connected to non-Bluetooth devices via the detachable 4-foot cable, said the company. AAC and aptX audio codecs are supported.
U.K.-based Henley Designs announced two special-edition Pro-Ject “Beatles” turntables based on existing turntable models. It chose the 2Xperience SB turntable to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, the company said Friday. The special edition 2Xperience SB ($1,602 USD), with a walnut finish, has the band’s logo, and the Essential III ($556 USD) features the drum kit design from the front cover of the Sgt. Pepper album sleeve, said the company.
Intelligent Audio Products, parent company of PlanterSpeakers.com, AV integrator Designed Sound and the Art Powers Design Group, said Tuesday it opened a new manufacturing facility in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The company is offering manufacturing capacity to brands looking for “well-priced, U.S.-made products” with a promise of quality control, said President Art Powers. With a history of making speakers and amplifiers, the company also is making turntables, acoustic panels and upcoming products for “some of the best names in the business,” Powers said.
Sennheiser announced a binaural recording headset said to create a three-dimensional experience in which the listener is “inside the soundscape,” hearing the direction of sounds and natural spatial characteristics of an event as they were recorded. Two omnidirectional microphones positioned in the ear pieces of the headset work with an analog-to-digital converter, mic preamp and Apogee’s Soft Limit software to capture “immersive 3D audio” that places the listener in the exact original sound field of a recording, said the company. When used with a Lightning-based iOS device, a consumer can use the device's camera, along with the headset, to “record, experience and relive the same balance of three dimensional sound and 180° visual perspective that we as human beings are accustomed to in our perception of the world,” said CEO Andreas Sennheiser. The microphones capture differences in timing, volume and timbre that occur as sounds from different directions reach each ear, and once captured, the 3D sound files can be experienced through any pair of stereo headphones, said the company. Price and availability weren’t given. An Android version is due later this year. A Sennheiser Ambeo VR condenser microphone is sold by retailers including B&H Photo for $1,649.
Premium turntables selling for above $250 had a 135 percent spike in dollar sales for the 12 months ended Feb. 28, said a Thursday NPD report. At the same time, entry-level turntable sales grew at the expense of margin, with lower end models at an average selling price decline of 6 percent during the period, NPD said. Overall, turntable sales were up 16 percent in dollars and 23 percent in units versus the previous 12-month period, it said. NPD analyst Ben Arnold attributed renewed interest in turntables to a breadth of colors and form factors that appeal to design-focused shoppers, plus “updated features like Bluetooth to keep up with the wider trend towards connectivity in audio.” Half of turntables sold in the 12-month period were Bluetooth-capable, 39 percent had the ability to digitize LPs into audio files and two-thirds were in colors other than black, Arnold said. The majority of turntable sales came from the top five brands: Innovative Technology, maker of turntables with vintage designs; Crosley; Audio-Technica; Jensen; and Sony, it said.
A new fixed-function audio bridge from Silicon Labs is said to provide a turnkey solution for digital audio data transfer between USB and integrated inter-IC sound (I2S) serial bus interfaces. The CP2615 digital audio bridge simplifies USB-to-I2S connectivity and accelerates time to market for power-sensitive, space-constrained USB audio applications based on the Android, Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems, said a Silicon Labs announcement. Applications include headphones, headsets, speakers, MP3 accessories, navigation systems and point-of-sale terminals.
Bang & Olufsen introduced the BeoSound Shape wireless speaker, a wall-mountable modular system, it said Monday. The Shape's hexagonal tiles can scale to numerous sizes and configurations. Each tile consists of a combination of speakers, amplifiers and acoustic damping material available in blue, purple, green, gray, brown, black, pink and “clay,” said the company. The BeoSound Core hub, hidden behind a tile, enables streaming via AirPlay, Chromecast built-in and Bluetooth, and the Core is compatible with B&O Play multiroom products, said the company. Availability is August, it said.
JVC expanded its Bluetooth headphone line for 2017, offering earbuds, sports, on-ear designs and a noise-canceling model, said the company. The neckband-style Marshmallow series HA-FX39BT ($49) includes a mic and remote and an adjustment feature to avoid tangled cords. Two sports models ($79) and ($59) are water resistant and include a magnetic clasp to keep the ends together when they’re not in use, said the company. The on-ear HA-S190Bs ($49) have swiveling ear cups so the headphones can be carried flat. The HA-S90BN noise canceling headphones ($149) have a foldable design, 20-hour battery life, three selectable sound modes, a detachable cord and carrying pouch, JVC said.
Zound Industries tapped Frontier Silicon’s Minuet audio platform to power its new Chromecast built-in-enabled connected speaker line under the Urbanears brand, said a Frontier Silicon announcement Monday. The Minuet platform gives brands and manufacturers a toolkit for developing smart audio devices with Chromecast built-in, said Frontier. Minuet offers Bluetooth, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Airplay, Spotify Connect, internet radio and mobile apps, and it was recently updated with Google Assistant to be controllable by a Google Home device or smartphones running newer versions of Android, said the company.