• Welcome to ASR. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Room acoustics and speakers obsolete?

JustJones

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
2,639
Likes
3,736
Will Sound Beaming solve the room and speaker problem or create new problems to solve. Is this technology as promising as it appears ?
https://noveto.com/
 
The technology has been around for 20 years. This is a new application.
 
I see plenty of press releases and speculation.

I see patents.

I don't see user reviews or measurements.

(I get to be wrong)
 
Isn't it used in wifi? Or is that something different. I'm usually wrong.
 
I see plenty of press releases and speculation.

I see patents.

I don't see user reviews or measurements.
I don't see any real products.
 
Would be just the thing for people living in smaller spaces in close proximity to others also living in smaller spaces--especially if they're armed.
 
Would be just the thing for people living in smaller spaces in close proximity to others also living in smaller spaces--especially if they're armed.

if only there was such a discreet, personal solution already available to this problem...
 
Found this paper on beaming sound:

"Sound From Ultrasound: The Parametric Array as an Audible Sound Source"

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/4393713.pdf



1605380259317.png



It would seem to require a bit of EQ to approach flat:

1605380572917.png




12dB/octave sloping down from the lows to approach "flat" as I read it... it probably won't go low.



1605380918758.png




1605381010182.png



10% THD at 1kHz at 72dB or so.


I suppose that today (20 years later) there has been some improvement in results, but sometimes it's hard to trick mother physics...
 
Last edited:
Couple years ago there were two men in the show "Invent it rich" who developed an alarm clock with beaming sound.
 
I made a joke earlier but seriously, headphones exist already guys
 
Good for conferences and museum tours?

I'd say that's the primary market, yeh.

The problems with this tech have always been bandwidth, distortion, and SPL capability. I don't see that changing radically, and I don't read anything on the Noveto website that suggests it has.
 
I have used these things (2 different kinds / manufacturers) in museum installations, and the fidelity is truly awful. Last time I heard one was 2-3 years ago, so unless they have improved a LOT, this will not change what we are doing. PA line array technology and beam-steering is much more likely to make it into home audio sooner than these things.
 
I've heard the Turtle Beach version. It's a neat trick but sound quality was terrible.
 
Back
Top Bottom