Intellivox DSX Now shipping

We are pleased to announce that the AYXS Intellivox DSX products are now shipping.

As the name suggests the DSX series will only be available with DDS, digital directivity synthesis technology. The outward physical appearance of the units will not differ from the existing Intellivox DS range and the DSX will be available in the standard 180, 280, 430 and 500 lengths.

The AXYS Intellivox DSX products will have a small horn array in addition to the 4” transducers resulting in a frequency response that is extended to 18 kHz, making them ideally suited for applications where a more “hi-fi” sound quality is required.

Specification sheets and brochures are now available for the products and UCF files for DSX products are now included in DDA. So full design support is available!

It should not be forgotten that the DC/DS 115 has always had an extended HF response thanks to the two dome tweeters in the units.

New Duran Audio manufacturing facility. (04.10.07)

After nearly a year, excitment is in the air as the construction work on the new Duran Audio Factory draws to a close.

The contractors moved in at the beginning of November 2006 to start building the new factory which has been built on the same grounds as the old building. The site was large enough however, to leave the old building in place until the new facility was complete. From a practical point of view, this means that production can continue until the move.

The new building includes a large manufacturing space, improved office facilities and a special area, set aside for the R&D team where they can work undisturbed by manufacturing noise and by the busy sales and administration offices. A showroom and seminar facility has also been included.

Duran Audio recieved the Keys to their new home on Friday 28th September, and are hoping to complete the move in time for Christmas.

Duran Audio give FREE Seminar at PLASA 07

Duran Audio once again exhibited their AXYS brand of products at the PLASA Show, which was held at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre from 9th to the 12th September 2007.

A wide variety of products from the AXYS Intellivox and Target ranges were on show on their stand. In addition to this the company previewed its second generation of self powered AXYS Sound Reinforcement products, which boast on board Digital Signal Processing and advanced driver technologies.

During the Show, Dr Evert Start, from Duran Audio’s Research and Development Team, hosted a free seminar entitled ‘Modern Loudspeaker Array Theories and Technologies’. The seminar covered the basic physics of loudspeaker arrays and show how the directivity of loudspeaker arrays can be altered using 'beam steering' or Digital Directivity Technologies. It also investigated how these technologies can help achieve high levels of speech intelligibility and music clarity in even the most difficult of acoustic spaces and also how the technologies can be used to gain directivity at low frequencies. The theory and technologies discussed can be applied to both the worlds of Commercial Audio and Sound Reinforcement.

The seminar was fully booked and judging by the feedback a lot of interest was generated in the technology.

Wimbledon gets the AXYS Treatment (09.08.07)

The Centre Court atmosphere at this year’s Wimbledon Tennis Championships was a very different one due to the absence of a roof!  This very different environment called for a very different loudspeaker system.

It was clear to Tim Speight and Jon Berry, of sound contractor RG Jones Sound Engineering (suppliers of sound systems for the Club), that installing a distributed system would not be a viable option; as the limitations on possible loudspeaker positions and cable routes would have compromised the performance of a distributed system enough to render it useless. So an innovative approach was required.

“The distributed approach was not an option” commented Jon Berry “So we started thinking about possibilities for a point source system, but designing a point source system that was capable of throwing the 100 metres across the bowl whilst at the same time containing the sound within the bowl to prevent noise nuisance to neighbouring courts and residents. After our experiences at St Paul’s Cathedral with Duran Audio’s DDS beam steering technology we asked them what their AXYS Target/Intellivox ranges may be able to offer. The 3D predictions they came back with convinced Tim and I that this would be a viable option for a temporary installation.”

Tim Speight went on to explain “We then decided to do a demonstration to the client, The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, its umpires and the BBC to collect their views on the systems final design ahead of The Championships. Due to the unavailability of Centre Court this took place in Court Number One. The demo was a success and all parties agreed that this should be the solution for Wimbledon 2007”

“For the installation a total of thirty AXYS Target U16 mid/hi units and four AXYS Intellivox DS1608’s were installed. The area taken up by the loudspeakers was very compact (helped by the built in DSP and amplification) and the system was invisible to the untrained observer. The fact that the U16’s were effectively ground stacked at the back of the east stand made the rigging very easy; all we needed was a small enclosure to protect the units from the inevitable rain. The result was very impressive and there were several comments from officials that this was the best sound that had ever been achieved in centre court.”

“The great thing about the Target and Intellivox units” commented Jon “is they maximise the throw that you would get from a conventional line array whilst minimising unwanted spill and reflections. This meant that we could achieve our three major design goals for the system: (1) to keep as much sound as possible away from the umpires microphone and the playing surface, (2) to minimise the reflections from the press boxes opposite the arrays and spill to other courts and residents and (3) most importantly to ensure that all spectators heard the announcements reproduced clearly”.