Abstract: A microphone having a multi-channel mixer and one or more connectors usable to receive and/or output audio. Any of the connectors may be used as an input connector, as an output connector, or configured to be switchable between being an input and an output connector. The user of the microphone may be able to conveniently use one or more of the connectors to expand the microphone to become part of a larger setup that uses multiple microphones. For example, an XLR connector of the microphone may be passive, and may be configured such that a user can daisy chain the output from an XLR connector of another microphone into an XLR connector of the microphone. In such an arrangement, an output based on one or both of the microphones may be output through another connector of the microphone, such as a USB connector.

Abstract: There is provided a system for estimating a total acoustic attenuation of a hearing protection device including an interface at a distal end and a sound canal extending from the interface to a sound opening at a medial end of the hearing protection device. The system comprises: a measurement unit including a loudspeaker and a microphone and being attachable to the interface in such a manner that, when the hearing protection device is worn in an ear canal of a user, the loudspeaker and the microphone are in acoustic communication, via the sound canal of the hearing protection device; a control unit configured to provide the loudspeaker with test audio signals to generate test sounds in the occluded ear canal volume and to receive test response audio signals captured by the microphone from the test sounds; and an evaluation unit configured to estimate a leakage acoustic impedance.

Abstract: A device for sensing a motion of a deflectable surface includes a deflectable element having a first side beam deflectable and includes a reflective surface at a second side of the deflectable element, proposing the first side. The device includes an optical emitter for emitting an optical signal towards the reflective surface and an optical receiver for receiving a reflected optical signal from the reflective surface and for providing a reception signal based on a reflective optical signal. The device includes a control unit in communication with the optical receiver for determining information related to the motion of the deflectable element based on the reception signal.

Abstract: Embodiments of this application disclose a noise reduction headset. A branch pipe is disposed in the headset to connect a sound cavity inside the headset and an external environment. The branch pipe has a low-pass filter function to filter out high-band noise entering the sound cavity from the external environment, so that impact on sound quality inside the sound cavity that is caused by noise in the external environment is reduced, thereby implementing passive noise reduction.

Abstract: A panel audio loudspeaker includes an actuator module. The actuator module includes an intermediate layer. The intermediate layer has a voice coil connected to the intermediate layer at a first surface. The actuator module includes a magnet assembly including a plurality of magnets. At least one pair of magnets are separated by an air gap. The actuator module includes a frame connected to the intermediate layer at the first surface, one or more springs connected to the frame and suspending the magnet assembly relative to the frame so that the voice coil extends at least partially into the air gap, and a spacer connected along a portion of the intermediate layer at a second surface of the intermediate layer opposite the first surface. A stiffness of the spacer at a region of connection to the intermediate layer is less than a stiffness of the intermediate layer at the connection portion.

Abstract: A piezoelectric MEMS microphone includes a substrate and a piezoelectric sensor movably coupled to the substrate. The piezoelectric sensor includes a multilayer cantilever beam with multiple piezoelectric layers and multiple metal electrode layers. The beam is attached to the substrate and extends to a distal tip at a free unsupported end. A feedback control circuit is electrically connected to one or more of the metal electrode layers and applies a direct current bias voltage between at least two of the metal electrode layers to actively control an acoustic resistance of the piezoelectric sensor.

Abstract: A Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) device comprises a piezoelectric transducer having a first frequency behavior, wherein the piezoelectric transducer comprises a piezoelectric trimming region, and control circuitry to provide a bias signal to the piezoelectric trimming region of the piezoelectric transducer for adjusting a second frequency behavior of the piezoelectric transducer.

Abstract: A method may include measuring a physical quantity associated with a load driven by an amplifier, generating a windowing function having a variable length and based on a number of samples of the physical quantity to be processed, applying the windowing function to the physical quantity, performing a transform on the physical quantity as filtered by the windowing function, and determining a characteristic of the load based on the transform.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure relate to power management techniques for reducing the power consumption of playback devices. Additionally, aspects of the present disclosure related to distributed processing techniques for processing audio across two or more processors.

Abstract: In one aspect, a first playback device is configured to: (i) play back first audio content in synchrony with a second playback device, (ii) receive, via a network interface, a message indicating second audio content to be output by the first playback device, and (iii) in response to receiving the message indicating the second audio content: (a) cease playing back the first audio content in synchrony with the second playback device; (b) play back the second audio content while the second playback device plays back the first audio content; and (c) after playing back the second audio content, resume playing back the first audio content in synchrony with the second playback device.

Abstract: A method of controlling headphones having external microphone signal pass-through functionality may involve controlling a display to present a geometric shape on the display and receiving an indication of digit motion from a sensor system associated with the display. The sensor system may include a touch sensor system or a gesture sensor system. The indication may be an indication of a direction of digit motion relative to the display. The method may involve controlling the display to present a sequence of images indicating that the geometric shape either enlarges or contracts, depending on the direction of digit motion and changing a headphone transparency setting according to a current size of the geometric shape. The headphone transparency setting may correspond to an external microphone signal gain setting and/or a media signal gain setting of the headphones.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises a display panel configured to display an image, a vibration apparatus disposed at a rear surface of the display panel and configured to vibrate the display panel, a supporting member at the rear surface of the display panel, and a pad member between the vibration apparatus and the supporting member.

Abstract: A headset accessory comprises circuitry and is configured to mechanically attach to an audio headset. The circuitry of the headset may be operable to establish a link to the audio headset that supports conveyance of bias voltage, bias current, and/or information between the circuitry of the accessory and circuitry of the audio headset. The headset accessory may be configured to attach to a housing of the headset on a surface of the housing opposite an ear cup. A state of the circuitry of the accessory may be controlled based on the information received from the audio headset via the link. The information may include characteristics of audio being processed by the audio headset. The circuitry of the headset accessory may comprise non-volatile memory, and the non-volatile memory may store parameter settings for configuring audio processing circuitry of the audio headset.

Abstract: This disclosure describes a system and method for Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) interpolation when an HRTF dataset does not contain a particular direction associated with a desired source. The disclosed HRTF interpolation uses a finite set of HRTFs from a dataset to obtain the HRTF of any possible direction and distance, even if the direction/distance doesn't exist on the current dataset.

Abstract: Embodiments include a microphone array comprising a first plurality of directional microphone elements arranged in a first cluster formed by directing a front face of said microphone elements towards a center of the first cluster, and a second plurality of directional microphone elements arranged in a second cluster formed by directing a front face of said elements away from a center of the second cluster, wherein the first cluster is disposed vertically above the second cluster. Also provided is a microphone comprising a first microphone array comprising a plurality of directional microphone elements arranged in close proximity to each other and configured to capture near-field sounds within a first range of frequencies, and a second microphone array disposed concentrically around the first microphone array, the second array comprising a plurality of omnidirectional microphone elements configured to capture near-field sounds within a second range of frequencies higher than the first range.

Abstract: Acoustic microphone array systems including arrays of microphones placed on a printed circuit board or other substrate in asymmetric patterns. A plurality of additional non-microphone components also reside on the board. The asymmetric placement of the microphones in the array provides flexibility in physically accommodating the additional non-microphone components.

Abstract: A method is provided, including: defining a plurality of frequency bins; sending, during a training phase, a test signal at different amplitude levels to one or more speakers, and gathering resulting test voltage (V) and current (I) points for the different amplitude levels and for each frequency bin; for each frequency bin, applying a linear regression algorithm to the gathered test voltage and current points for the different amplitudes to obtain a reference electrical impedance of said one or more speakers; sending, during a monitoring phase subsequent to said training phase, an audio signal to said one or more speakers, and gathering resulting new voltage and current points to obtain an operating electrical impedance for said one or more speakers for each frequency bin, determining a deviation between the operating and the reference electrical impedance, and, if the deviation exceeds a defined tolerance, reporting the deviation to a user.

Abstract: An audio processing device includes: a sound level measuring circuit arranged to operably generate multiple sound level values, wherein the multiple sound level values respectively correspond to the sound levels generated by an audio playback device at multiple time points or the sound levels received by a microphone at multiple time points; an audio dose calculating circuit coupled with the sound level measuring circuit and arranged to operably generate an audio dose value corresponding to a measuring period based on the multiple sound level values and contents of a weighting table; a control circuit coupled with the audio dose calculating circuit and arranged to operably compare the audio dose value with a dose threshold to determine whether to generate a control signal or not; and an indication signal generating circuit coupled with the control circuit and arranged to operably generate a corresponding indication signal according to the control signal.

Abstract: A method, computer program product, and computing system for encoding audio encounter information of a reference audio acquisition device of a plurality of audio acquisition devices of an audio recording system, thus defining encoded reference audio encounter information. Location information may be estimated, via a machine vision system, for an acoustic source within an acoustic environment. One or more acoustic relative transfer functions may be selected from a plurality of acoustic relative transfer functions for the plurality of audio acquisition devices of the audio recording system based upon, at least in part, the location information. The encoded reference audio encounter information and a representation of the selected one or more acoustic relative transfer function may be transmitted.

Abstract: Electronic equipment includes a cover including a first hole, a printed circuit having at least one microphone mounted thereon and including a second hole, a heatsink including a third hole, a thermal pad including a fourth hole, and a compression element, the electronic equipment being arranged in such a manner that the first hole, the second hole, the third hole, and the fourth hole together define an acoustic duct that is arranged to enable the microphone to pick up sound signals coming from outside the electronic equipment, and in such a manner that the compression element compresses the thermal pad around the acoustic duct in order to ensure sound-proofing of the acoustic duct.