Dr. Jörg Sennheiser to explore audio processing, perception and more at AES Berlin Convention

The Audio Engineering Society has announced that audio industry pioneer Dr. Jörg Sennheiser will deliver the presentation titled ‘A Historic Journey in Audio-Reality: From Mono to AMBEO”’for the 142nd AES International Convention’s Heyser Memorial Lecture on Sunday, May 21 at 6:30pm.

Dr. Sennheiser’s many storied years of experience in the electroacoustics business, particularly in bringing digital technology to bear in the product development area of audio engineering, will provide a fascinating backdrop to this convention highlight. Established in 1999 by the AES Technical Council and the Board of Governors in conjunction with the Richard Heyser Scholarship fund, the Heyser Lecture series, featured at each AES Convention, brings eminent individuals in audio engineering and related fields to speak on a relevant topic of choice. The Heyser Lecture is part of the Special Events schedule, open to all convention attendees.

This special event presentation will offer an in-depth look at the evolution of audio and the listening experience. Dr. Sennheiser outlines his presentation: “The foundations of human audio perception, based on the ‘natural laws’ of human hearing and their relative validity, will be revisited at the outset. The interdependence of hearing with other human senses will be outlined, showing the high degree of subjectivity and uncertainty of our audio perception.

“Keeping this in mind, the evolution of audio capturing, processing and reproduction by technical means will be discussed. Achievable hearing pleasure and audio quality level are reflected in the continuous development from single- to multi-channel reproduction systems with loudspeakers and headphones, benchmarked against ‘sonic reality’.

“The need for more emotionality in the hearing experience – especially together with visual presentations – leads to a requirement for new approaches and solutions throughout the workflow in the entertainment world and entertainment industry. Optimized solutions for capturing sound with action-cameras or smartphones are evolving, with prototypes and first products being already available and undergoing stringent end-user tests.

“Audio-visual presentations of sports events on TV call for the development of suitable high-quality audio formats in line with an individual choice of video perspective.

“The rapidly evolving field of gaming, augmented-reality (AR) and virtual-reality (VR) calls for ‘immersive’ audio technologies currently under consideration. Multiple stakeholders in this market segment – from producers and development engineers to end-users – have to work together to imagine and design ‘The Future of Audio.’“