John La Grou
Location: NYU Clive Davis Institue, 194 Mercer Street Studio 510, NYC
Moderated by: Jim Anderson, NYU
Speaker(s): John La Grou, The POW-R Consortium, Millennia Media
A brief look at the evolution of audio electronics, a theory of innovation, and a sweeping vision for the next forty years of audio production technology. Informed by the growth theories of Moore, Cray, and Kurzweil, we project the next forty years of professional audio products, production techniques, and delivery formats.
John La Grou is founder and chair of POW-r Consortium, the world's leading digital-audio bit-length reduction algorithms, used annually on roughly 1/3 of all CDs and audio downloads (licensed by Apple, Avid, etc.). “If you listen to music, you listen to POW-r.” He is founder and CEO of Millennia Media, a world leader in the design of audio electronics for critical acoustic music. Roughly half of all major Hollywood film scores are recorded via Millennia electronics. Over 50,000 Millennia channels are in use worldwide. Millennia has received 30+ major industry awards and was recently selected by the U.S. Library of Congress to design and manufacture a new generation of archiving electronics for converting the Library's collection of 3 million legacy audio recordings (of every conceivable historic format) onto high resolution digital storage.
Other Business: Come to the Meet and Greet at 6:30. Election results and new officers will be announced.
Posted: Friday, March 14, 2014
Location: NYU's Steinhardt Studios 35 West 4th St 6th Floor New York, NY 10003-4595, and the Institute of Audio Research, 64 University Place, Room 33, New York, NY 10003-4595
Moderated by: Jonathan S. Abrams, Nutmeg Post
Speaker(s): David Bialik: Streaming Engineer, CBS Radio / CBS Local; Jack Cote: Product Manager, iZotope; Howard Schwartz: Consultant, owner of the legendary HSRNY studios, Dan Gaydos: Host at IAR
Is your entry into the audio workforce imminent? Are you still in an audio-centric program and want to get ahead of your peers? Then attend this meeting and gain insights from those in different areas of the business.
What do people look for in prospective interns? What do they expect interns to walk away with when their internship is finished? Does interning give you an advantage over others when trying to get an assistant position?
If you have already completed an internship, then what do people look for in prospective hires? What is the progression beyond an internship or being an assistant? What skills are emerging as important to have?
The audio business changes regularly. How have things changed over time? How have they stayed the same? What things are not taught in the classroom that can only be learned by actually being involved in the workplace?
If you attend this meeting, you will hear these questions and others addressed. Take notes and bring your CV.
This meeting will have a joint teleconference link between NYU and the Institute of Audio Research.
Posted: Sunday, March 9, 2014
Dr. Sean E. Olive
Location: Harman Flagship Store. 527 Madison Ave @ 54th St
Moderated by: David Bialik
Speaker(s): Dr. Sean E. Olive, Harman International
The popularity of headphones has now exploded to produce annual worldwide sales of almost $10 billion. Market research indicates sound quality is a driving factor in headphone purchases with brand and fashion also being important factors among younger consumers. Yet, ironically the science behind what makes a headphone sound good and how to measure it is poorly understood. This combined with the lack of perceptually meaningful headphone standards may explain why purchasing a headphone today is like playing Russian Roulette with your ears. The magic bullet to achieving more consistent headphone sound quality is science.
Harman recently conducted a series of controlled double-blind listening tests on popular headphones (both real and virtualized models) to better understand the relationship between their perceived sound quality and acoustic performance.The results of this research show that when the influence of brand, fashion and celebrity endorsement are removed from headphone tests, both trained and untrained listeners generally agree on which headphones sound best, and this correlates to their acoustical performance.
Dr. Sean E. Olive is Director of Acoustic Research for Harman International. He directs the Northridge, Corporate Technology Acoustics group, and oversees the subjective evaluation of new audio products. Prior to 1993, he was a research scientist with Dr. Floyd Toole at the National Research Council of Canada. Sean received a Bachelors in Music from the University of Toronto, and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Sound Recording from McGill University in Montreal. He has written over 35 research papers on the perception and measurement of audio for which he was awarded the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Fellowship Award in 1996, and two Publication Awards (1990 and 1995). In 2013 he was awarded the ALMA Titanium Driver Award for scientific contributions to the loudspeaker and headphone industry. Sean is the current President of the AES.
Posted: Saturday, January 25, 2014
Location: The Dolby Theatre 1350 Ave of the Americas.
Moderated by: Kenneth R. Hunold Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
Speaker(s): Tom Kodros, Senior Manager, Content Services Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
Last year, at our May meeting, Charles Robinson of Dolby Laboratories discussed the new cinema audio system called Dolby Atmos. Since that time, over 70 motion pictures have been produced in the format, and around 1000 theatres worldwide (about 700 in North America) have installed the system hardware.
This month, our Section will have a rare afternoon meeting that will feature actual demonstrations of the system in the Dolby Theatre in New York. This theater has been rebuilt with the Dolby Atmos system. Tom Kodros, Senior Manager, Content Services will lead the discussion and give the presentation.
The primary topic of discussion at the meeting will be the technology that allows the design features of the system to be implemented. There will also be a tutorial demonstration of the system, and clips from some of the films that have been produced in the system, courtesy of the studios. There will be time for questions and answers about the system and the installation.
The Dolby Theatre is located at 1350 Ave of the Americas. The entrance to the building is on the southeast corner of Avenue of the Americas and 55th Street. The theatre is on the main floor. We hope to see you there.
Posted: Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Location: The New School University Jazz Performance Space 55 West 13th Street, (between 5th & 6th Avenues) 5th Floor New York, NY
Moderated by: Ron Ajemian, Owl Fiber Optics, NY
Speaker(s): Dominique Brulhart, Merging Technologies - Puidoux, Switzerland; Morten Lindberg, 2L (Lindberg Lyd AS) - Oslo, Norway; John Newton, Soundmirror - Jamaica Plain, MA, USA
With the recent release of 11.2 MHz Quad-DSD production tools, more than a decade of DSD and DXD productions and the rapidly growing availability of DSD and DXD material available for download on the market, there is a constant debate in both the professional and the audiophile sector about the difference between DSD and PCM and ultimately which one “sounds better.” This panel would like offering the opportunity to two known specialists of these formats, John Newton from Soundmirror and Morten Lindberg from 2L, to present some of their recordings and discuss about their experience making productions in DSD and DXD. Recent recordings in 11.2 MHz DSD, and DXD will be presented and recording, editing, mixing, and mastering techniques and considerations using DSD and DXD will be discussed and compared.
Posted: Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Location: The New School for Jazz Performance, 5th floor 55 West 13 Street, New York, NY, USA
Moderated by: Robert Auld, AuldWorks
Speaker(s): Doug Pomeroy, Pomeroy Audio; Seth B.Winner, Seth B. Winner Studios; Andreas Meyer, Meyer Media; Bob Shuster, Shuster Sound
Join us for a Meet & Greet at 6:30pm
When it comes to audio restoration, it is the best of times and it is the worst of times (with apologies to Charles Dickens). The increasing capabilities of computers and audio software make it possible to restore historical and damaged sound recordings in ways that were not possible before. Not only can we remove clicks, pops and hiss (while producing less in the way of unwanted artifacts than previously), but now even discrete, unwanted sounds, like audience coughs in live concerts or other background noises, can be excised with little or no effect on desired program material. Previously insoluble problems with pitch can be fixed, even the frequency response and phase issues of old microphones and recording methods can be addressed to a surprising degree. Compared to the limitations of analog methods of restoration, the digital revolution is a big improvement.
And yet, we are in danger of losing access to our recorded heritage. The tape and disc players that allowed high quality playback of older audio formats are no longer made, are becoming older, replacement parts are becoming unavailable and, most important, the expertise to keep the machines running is dying off as the generation that built and maintained them passes from the scene. The major record labels that made most analog recordings have been reorganized out of recognition, with most of the institutional memory of giants like RCA, Columbia, EMI, etc., disappearing into faceless corporate conglomerates. In the United States, existing copyright law makes the issuing of newly discovered historical material a legal nightmare. Copyright issues are handled somewhat better in the European Union, but we don't live there.
Join us on June 11th, when the monthly meeting of the New York AES section will discuss these issues, with the help of an expert panel of audio engineers from varied corners of the industry.
Posted: Tuesday, June 11, 2013
