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Toronto AES Bulletin


Dr. Sennheiser of SENNHEISER Electronic GmbH & Co.

presents

MICROPHONES FOR THE AGE OF MULTIMEDIA

Right on the heels of his presentation before our sister section in Montreal, Dr. Jorg Sennheiser will discuss the particular challenges faced with when applying microphones to multimedia applications and SENNHEISER's unique response to these challenges.

The lecture will begin with a discussion of the theoretical purpose and effect behind the multimedia experience. As Dr. Sennheiser explains, Multimedia is a mediator between reality and ourselves. It links us to reality. We perceive reality by using all our senses (sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing).

Dr. Sennheiser suggests that the impact of the multimedia experience is determined on a very personal level, derived from personal experience creating individual parameters of perception. With the overwhelming importance of our sense of sight and sound , developers tend to focus their efforts on the visual and auditory experience, thus limiting the achievable quality of perception.

In his research, Dr. Sennheiser has determined the following requirements for a good microphone for multimedia applications:

- Smooth frequency response

- Minimal internal noise

- A minimum of distortion components, even at highest sound pressure levels

- Immunity against electromagnetic interference (EMI)

Dr. Sennheiser suggests the following quality parameters for microphones that operate with signal levels close to the threshold of hearing:

- Conventional condenser microphones

- Professional condenser microphones (e.g.. Neumann)

- RF-condenser microphones (e.g., Sennheiser MKH-Series)

- Dynamic microphones

Immunity from EMI can be measured and Dr. Sennheiser's research has discovered differences between different manufacturers. Dr. Sennheiser explains that manufacturers of wireless microphones must be particularly sensitive to the specific requirements of the microphone in multimedia applications because of the very dense packaging of transducer and RF emitting circuitry.

To fulfil the stringent requirements of professional recording in any media, SENNHEISER applies many solutions in their advanced designs and all of their products must meet or surpass these specifications.

For certain applications the audio parameters of the microphone will be tailored to their specific needs. For example:

- microphones for laptops

- microphones for man-machine interface

- microphones for telecommunications especially in noisy environments including: hands-free telephones in cars, in communications in cockpits of civilian and military airplanes, communications in tanks and other heavy duty vehicles for example

- microphones for automatic speech recognition

As Dr. Sennheiser explains if we know the (physical) limits we can tailor the performance to these specific needs.

Dr. Sennheiser will also discuss current and future developments in digital microphones.

Following Dr. Sennheiser's discussion, representatives from Sennheiser Canada may treat us to a product update.


Prof. Dr. Jorg Sennheiser - Bio

Born in Bevensen, Germany, Dr. Sennheiser studied Electronic Engineering at the Technical University of Hannover, German, and the Polytechnical Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), Switzerland. Dr. Sennheiser completed his Ph.D. Thesis at the Institute of Telecommunications at the ETHZ in Zurich.

Dr. Sennheiser worked as project engineer for Siemens-Albis AG, Zurich between 1974 and 1975. He was technical director at SENNHEISER Electronics, Germany between 1976 to 1982 and CEO since May of 1982 and Chairman of the Board since April 1996.

Dr. Sennheiser has lectured at the Technical University of Hannover, Germany since 1981 and was appointed a professorship in March 1991.

 


SENNHEISER Electronic - Company Hi-Lites

 

The company was founded in 1945 by Dr.-Ing. Fritz Sennheiser as the Laboratorium Wennebostel (Labor W). In 1962 Labor W develops its first original microphone, the MD 2, which quickly became very popular as a radio microphone. In 1954 the MD21 dynamic microphone was launched and it is still widely used by radio and TV stations today. In 1956 Labor W developed its first shotgun microphone...the MD82. In 1958 the wireless microphone system Mikroport is successfully used on TV and stage. In 1959 the MDS 1 stereo microphone is produced. In 1960 one of the studio standards, the MD 421 microphone is launched, and more than 350,000 units have been sold to date. In 1962 Sennheiser develops a highly directional condenser interference tube gun microphone for film and TV. In 1976 Sennheiser presents infra-red transmission technology with the SI 406 transmitter and HDI 406 stethoset receiver. In 1980 the first wireless vocal microphone, the SKM 4031, is presented in its classical Sennheiser design. In 1985 Sennheiser launched their new studio condenser microphone to meet the special requirements demanded by digital recording technology. In 1987 Sennheiser was awarded with the Scientific and Engineering Award , the technical Oscar, for the MKH 816 shotgun directional microphone. In 1996 Sennheiser won an Emmy award for pioneering development in broadcast wireless microphone technology.


Back to the September 1998 Bulletin


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