New Speech Enhancement Technology Let's You Hear Over The Crowd

We've all been at an airport or train station, or even a concert, where there's an announcement and we can't quite make out what it was over the noise. Those days may soon be over thanks to a new speech enhancement technology from Fraunhofer called ADAPT DRC.

Researchers at the Project Group Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology at Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology developed the ADAPT DRC software in an effort to improve any type of electronic communication, but venues with congregations of people were the primary target.

What happens is that microphones are strategically placed around a venue to constantly monitor the ambient noise level. When the noise gets too loud, the software boosts the speech frequencies instead of the overall volume of the speakers. This keeps the speakers from distorting, making it even more difficult to understand the announcement.

Instead ADAPT DRC strategically boosts the consonant sounds like "P," "T," and "K," which are often spoken quickly, but are really the key to understanding what is being said.

The software also takes into account the parts of the speech signal that are naturally at a different volume and uses an intelligent algorithm called Dynamic Range Compression (the DRC in ADAPT DRC) to boost the intelligibility. This technology is already used on many cell phones.

I always marvel at how crappy some announcement sound systems can be, considering the technology that's available today. Let's hope that ADAPT DRC works as sited and is widely adapted so we don't miss that next flight to AES.

(Photo credit: Dornum72 via Wikipedia)

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NAMM 2011 Report Part 4

Here's my final report from Winter NAMM 2011.

The Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec is another significant product that appeared at NAMM (sorry I didn't mention this sooner). This is a mastering tool that enables the engineer to compare multiple encoders both visually, numerically and audibly in order to tweak and pick the best one. In other words, if you wanted to make an MP3 file, you could immediately listen between the audio of the original file and the encoder (without having to actually encode the file), listen to the difference audio, and make any minor level adjustments so there are no overloads (encoders are notorious for outputting hot). Plus you're able to do 5 encodes simultaneously and enter a ton of meta data. It's the best tool for mastering online audio ever. Plus, it will only be about 500 bucks, and available as a PC or Mac plug-in for virtually any DAW.

For some reason, this show featured a lot of small guitar tuners and this Snark was one of them. I especially liked the Abbey Road reference.

The Soft Step by Keith McMillan Instruments is a USB foot controller that's different because each key provides pressure, side to side and up and down motion, as well as rotation information. As the sales literature says, "It's a mouse at your feet."

I actually saw a "Sound Control" guy walking around with an SPL meter, although it was obvious that he never stepped foot into Hall A (the drum hall), which was so loud as to be disorienting sometimes.

For those of you who want the coolness of tatoos without the pain or the potential social stigma that goes with it (let alone trying to cover up at work), we have the "tat sleeve." All you do is slip it on and you instantly become a bad mutha for the gig.

Most vocalists are hip to Entertainers Secret, which has been a singers secret for keeping moist vocal cords for ages. I've always been surprised that there wasn't a competitor, but it looks like there is now, with Superior Vocal Health coming out with a whole line of products designed for the vocalist.

And finally, for the geeky techy engineer in your life, comes the Vari-Ohm from Magneto Audio Labs, which allows you to correctly match the impedance of your microphone to you mic preamp. Sometimes you can hear a big difference when you do this, and sometimes you don't, but it's way worth it when it works.

That's it until next year. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

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Invisible Speakers And Clothing Microphones

Now it's time for a look into the technological future.

For more than a hundred years now, loudspeakers have essentially been doing their jobs the exact same way. The voice coil is excited by a voltage which pushes a cone back and forth against the magnetic field of a magnet, which excites the air. Loudspeakers have gotten more efficient in how they do this, as well as very specialized, but the basic idea hasn't changed much.

Now comes the possibility of something new. The clever scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute of Manufacturing (another division of Fraunhofer brought us the MP3) have demonstrated a prototype speaker made out of our soon-to-be best friends (if you believe scientists around the world) the carbon nanotube (or CNT for short).

An array of nanotubes can activate the air just like a loudspeaker by heating up and cooling down when a small current is passed through them. But that's not what makes this technology a potential leap forward. A nanotube "forest" can be manufactured in extraordinarily thin layers that can actually be transparent, which means that they can be used on top of wallpaper, computer or television monitors, or even outdoor advertising (perish the thought). What's cooler still is that they can be activated remotely by a laser, so a CNT speaker can be completely wireless.

So imagine what would happen if your entire room was essentially a giant speaker. The low frequency response would be great because of the massive cone area, as would the high frequency response because of the insanely fast response of a super-thin transducer. Plus, by using some off-the-shlelf noise-cancelling technology, image how many acoustic problems could be solved. It would be easy to keep that cranked Marshall from raising the ire of your neighbors, and their loud partying from keeping you awake.

We may see a working model on the market in as little as three years.

On a related note, researchers at MIT have announced that they’ve made a new acoustic fiber out of a kind of plastic. This could mean that a shirt made entirely of this material would be able to pick up sound, essentially functioning as a walking microphone. This is certainly a spy's dream (keep it out of the Russian's hands please), and would certainly make a location soundman's life a lot easier. No word on how close to market it is.

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Follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating the music business.