General meeting of the members of the Dutch section:
The general meeting was held at the new premises of Duran Audio BV, Zaltbommel.
The section committee gave an overview of the activities of the Dutch section in the past season. Furthermore, the need for sponsoring of meetings and events was discussed. Two section committee members were re-elected, so the composition of the section committee remains unchanged.
Lectures on array technology:
Two lectures on array technology were given. The first one was presented by Rinus Boone from Delft University of Technology, who focused on end-fire microphone arrays. Basic techniques for focusing and beamforming were explained. As an example, the concept of the hearing glasses was presented.
Rinus Boone
The second presentation was given by Evert Start from Duran Audio. His talk was related to the DSP-controlled focusing of subwoofer loudspeaker arrays. By combining both summing and differential beamforming, hyper(cardioid) and dipole patterns can be formed. For live performances, these setups can help to reduce the sound pressure level on and behind the stage significantly.
Evert Start
Guided tour and demonstrations:
After the lectures, guided tours through the new factory of Duran Audio were given. It was possible to see several parts of the production lines, from the development department to the final assembly of loudspeaker array systems.
In parallel, there were demonstrations of the hearing glasses as a supplement to the first lecture.
de Hoorbril
Furthermore, a subwoofer array with changeable directivity was presented outside. Even moderate weather could not keep the interested visitors from walking around in the drizzling rain to listen to the capabilities of the system.
Evert Start demonstrating the subwofer array
Barbecue:
At the end, a nice barbecue was generously sponsored by our host. There was ample opportunity to meet and discuss the impressions of the day.
Enkele impressies:
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foto's: Bert Kraaijpoel