Just read this article and this seems very cool!
Not practical for portable use just yet but an intriguing development in personal sound.
2 Likes
"New Device puts music in your - no headphones required"
From the Noveto.com website:
"SoundBeaming works using ultrasonic waves and beamforming to place sound just outside the ears. The waves are generated using Noveto-developed proprietary DSP algorithms and pushed into the air via a custom-designed transducer array. From the inside it may look like a small speaker, but you wonāt hear anything coming out.
A 3D sensing module built into the hardware locates and tracks the position of your ears in real time, at which point the ultrasonic waves converge into small pockets of sound just outside the ears. Here the sound can be heard again as normal acoustic waves without disturbing others.
Move your head in any direction and the two sound pockets will magically follow. Spatial 3D capability makes it possible to experience sounds placed anywhere in space regardless of head movement."
This may provide a similar sensation to that which I get from the Bose Frames sunglasses, or to the Raal Requisite SR1a āearfield monitorsā, both of which I like a lot.
Noveto has been saying they will bring this to market in 12 months at least since 2016. Makes me wonder whether it will ever be more than vaporware.
Lots of Chinese money behind it though.
1 Like
No thanks. Welcome to the Matrix.
6 Likes
Would you like the Blue DAC Tablet or the Red DAC Tablet?
8 Likes
I think that in each generation of humans there is a select group of people who refuse the new technology - at least to some extent. Some are more stubborn than others, so that depends on the person. The rest follows the trends and technologies, āadaptsā essentially.
I mean, some people even refuse using planar magnetic headphones because they believe it affects the brainā¦ just like some refuse those Mag-lev turntables that elevate - they believe itās dangerous for health.
I donāt like the sound of thisā¦ Just as @generic said: No thanks.
Oh and btw, I think headphones are here to stay for quite some time. Unless the next generations moves onto a technology like this, who knowsā¦ everybody is using AirPods now, soā¦ everything is possible
Is it a balanced pill?
1 Like
There is only one pill in differing colors.
2 Likes
It might not be āsoundā but the cell phone already does the ābubbleā bit for the majority of the population.
3 Likes
I foresee massive implementation problems. Imagine getting any kind of reliability and performance consistency from this. Itās conceptually interesting if the idea is creating a personal sound bubble but thats about it for me.
I enjoy pissing off my neighbors too much to invest in something like this.
4 Likes
These kinds of Soundbeam plays pop up every now and then https://www.holosonics.com/ . Iāve seen them at CES before and itās still going to be a while before they can really get implemented properly.
I see it as a bit like a 3D TV. It will be prohibitively expensive and only applicable for certain situations.
Itās a neat concept though and I am sure there will be some early adopters that absolutely love it but I donāt see it being mainstream with its current implementation. Still a ways to go!
6 Likes
Yes, Iād be curious to give this a go, but headphones have the advantages of simplicity, portability, miniaturizability (with IEMs), decades of engineering experience, plus the option of active or passive isolation. This new tech will not play the same role, and will probably take time to catch up sonically. I see it as a niche technology. Itād be great for things like museum exhibits or marketing displays at trade shows.
3 Likes
New innovative tech is always cool, but in the end we will always hold on to simplicity and familiarity. Like VR, which is super cool and has some great potential for certain things, but unlikely to ever take over as our primary type of display to visualize digital content with in our daily lives.
With audio, hardware technology has already matured so much that there arenāt many more āproblemsā to solve that would require an entirely new approach from top to bottom. Assuming this tech will eventually mature to the point where it works as good as it can be, it will still not replace headphones. It wonāt be able to deliver the physical sensation that you can get from circumaural headphones, IEMs and loudspeakers, unless they somehow manage to defy the laws of physics.
Iām sure that this can have its place, but it will have its own shortcomings as well as its own benefits.
3 Likes
Iād never heard it, but it sounds absolutely ludicrous to me that people donāt put planars on because of some obscure effect on health. Itās not like dynamic headphones work any differently, itās just the shape of drivers and magnets thatās different.
This tech appears interesting, but I guess it wonāt be viable for quite some time, and it wonāt be widespread for even more time. Especially with pet owners wanting to have some peace of mind. But this kind of things makes me think of the famous quote from Arthur C. Clarke: āany sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magicā.
2 Likes
I happily use my planars - but there are some older people that I have spoken with that donāt quite like the idea of having strong magnet on their head. I mean itās their opinion, I respect it, and at the end of the day - they can continue their healthy lifestyle =) As long as they are happy and arenāt affecting others, itās fine.
A manager of an audio distribution chain has told me that people donāt buy MAG-LEV levitating turntables because they donāt think it will harm their kidās health. Also canāt really blame them, they are just being skeptical and trying to protect their kids. Again, itās a personal choice that is fine as long as they arenāt running some type of protest campaign and trying to stop people from buying them without any proof that it is harmful.
At the end of the day I am just trying to be understanding.
Personal sound bubbleā¦hehā¦hehā¦
Back in the CD era I visited a store with about two dozen ādomes of silenceā for demoing music before buying. They were placed about 7ā or 8ā (2 meters) above the floor and didnāt move. However, they were extremely effective and one couldnāt hear a thing more than 3ā away from the dome.
3 Likes
And perhaps the opposite of the Cone of Silence, the National Statuary Hall in the US Capitol. If you havenāt experienced it, you should watch the video through.
1 Like
The one that mother gives you, donāt do anything at all.
2 Likes
I only manage to see this now, sorry about that. I get what you mean and I generally agree. I canāt help but wonder, though, how this mindset affects society. The problem is that some people appear to put their beliefs ahead of reality and science; in this case it is planar headphones, in other cases itās other things (the list is endless and includes vaccines and whatnot). The main issue I take with this kind of thought process is that it is not based on proof and experimentation, but on belief and fear: two tools that are not really the best way to navigate reality.
Case in point, the magnets on planar headphones are not any different from those found on dynamic headphones, except for shape. I can name a few dynamics that have stronger magnets than the average planars (e.g. Beyerdynamic Tesla which, as the name implies, have a magnetic flux density > 1 T). We are building quantum computers, basically hacking reality itself to bend it to our will, and we still have people who fear some specific kind of magnets without any proof that they do any harm.
So I do take issue with this kind of reasoning, because it is not based on any fact and is not consistent. Itās not a rational approach, and as such I think it shouldnāt still permeate our present. The point being that it may seem fine when it comes to headphones and turntables, but it is applied to everything else as well and this prevents people from advancing society if you look at the broader picture. Having said that, I have nothing against the people, just against the way they think: itās not those peopleās direct fault, itās more of a systemic issue that Iām not sure we will ever overcome.
2 Likes