Report of the Meeting of the SC-04-04 Working Group on Microphone measurement and characterization, held online, 2021-10-06
Vice-chair David Josephson convened the meeting.
The patent policy was read, the agenda and report of the previous meeting held 2020-5 online were approved.
In attendence were Richard Cabot, Bruce Olson, John Woodgate, David Josephson, Erhard Werner, Tad Rollow, David Prince, Marty Reiling, Steve Thompson, Thomas Gmeiner, Charlie Hughes, Scott Dorsey, Martin Schneider, Geoff Hill, Wes Dooley.
Open projects
AES-X085 Detailed Professional Microphone Specifications
After introductions, and a brief discussion on the standby nature of work in AES-X085, there was a discussion of array microphone specifications. Bruce Olson discussed the question of interface specifications and connectors. Several members discussed applications of autodirective beamforming arrays for conferencing and reinforcement and the lack of user-accessible specifications for comparison and selection of these systems. It was pointed out that major conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams performed tests but issued only a pass-fail rating. Dave Prince offered to coordinate a state-of-play report that might be published by AESSC and of value to members outlining the ETSI and other standards that platform operators use. Charlie Hughes, Marty Reiling and Tad Rollow also expressed interest in this effort and will participate. Rich Cabot clarified that the WG can issue a report at any time without a formal project definition. The goal might be a short document to inform AES members of relevant standards that might be used to evaluate beamforming array mics for their applications.
Liaisons:
There is no liaison work now underway. There is not a revision scheduled for IEC 60268-4 or 61938, the two standards where SC-04-04 has provided experts in the past.
New projects
No new projects.
New business:
No new business.
The next meeting will be scheduled in conjunction with the AES 152nd Convention, to be held online in May 2020.
