All in the details: HocSonus’ new audio cancellation technology

The result of a five-year-plus R&D initiative, HocSonus’s new Background Noise Canceller audio decorrelation technology is designed to boost intelligibility for sports coverage and other broadcast applications. It is set to be used on three major international rugby matches in November alone.

According to the French audio developer, more than 99% of acoustic background noise is related to correlation (intermodulation). HocSonus’s new decorrelation technology therefore aims to remove acoustic noise mixed up with the useful signal and deliver a natural signal – a process that it achieves by: separating all the components of the audio signal; finding the sources and the original information; cancelling all the phenomena related reflection and echo (multi-path and multi-source); cancelling the jitter in the process channel; and improving the signal/noise ratio to 30 dB regardless of the dynamic noise.

The new technology can be found in two HocSonus interfaces: the Model S for 48 and 12 volt Phantom static microphones, and the Model D for dynamic microphones including wireless microphone receivers.

Thierry Jeandroz, who handles business development for HocSonus, explains that for sports coverage the technology “can be used on the journalists’ microphones, or on the field microphones to capture more details on the game. It’s also very nice to use it on the microphone of the stadium speaker to have a very clear PA sound.”

In the longer-term, Jeandroz anticipates roll-out for live music, opera and houses of worship applications, but for now it is clear that sports are seen as vital in spreading the word. “We want to be used around the world by the maximum [number] of TV sound engineers and production teams on major sports events,” he confirms.

In this regard, it would appear that HocSonus has hit the ground running, with a total of three international rugby matches being broadcast using the new technology in November alone. All set for coverage by national broadcaster French Television, the matches will take place on 10 November (Stade de France, France-Australia), 17 November (Grand Stand de Lille Métropole, France-Argentina), and 24 November (France-Samoa).

In the pipeline, meanwhile, is a double simultaneous processing solution – one dedicated to the cancellation of background noise, the other to the cancellation of acoustic artefacts. Reveals Jeandroz: “It will allow sound engineers to adapt the processing for football, basketball, etc.”