Most consumers who listen to music through their personal devices don’t hear much of the nuance and detail that was meticulously crafted and constructed during the recording process in the studios. Sure, they “listen” to their music through their headsets and enjoy it enough to sing and keep listening to it, but they really don’t “hear” the highly detailed and immersive sounds which recording engineers have meticulously captured.
There is quite a lot lost during the journey from that was faithfully recorded initially in the music studio to the path of the consumer’s ears.
At the most recent Pepcom Digital Experience show in San Francisco, some of the most cutting edge companies displayed their latest mobility wares, and featured a few audiophile manufacturers thrown into the mix, which was a refreshing change. Problem was that some of the companies couldn’t instantaneously demonstrate how good their audio products were since the surrounding booths would drown each other out and no one would be able to hear anything in the room.
Luckily, at the Shure booth, they didn’t have that issue. Their audio demo was quite minimalist with a table that included an iPad attached to their KSE1200 analog Electrostatic Earphone System.
Lyle Lovett’s “Her First Mistake” was the first demo from the Shure booth. Photo by Marcus Siu
When I put those little earphones on, the sound was so pure and lifelike that I felt I was put right in the actual recording studio alongside with singer Lyle Lovett and his band. I could hear every little acoustic detail from his band, along with every breath that Lyle took while singing. This demonstrated to me that this is as honest as music is going to get. Even coming from the mainstream iPad, it was still unbelievable that the sound could sound so true.
My initial impression was how could something so light and small put out such detailed and realistic lifelike sound coming from these tiny little 5.8 ounce earphones? It was disbelief for me for the first few minutes, and then I just surrendered to the music and just could not stop listening.
Not only that, but these lightweight earphones were extremely comfortable. There was never an issue with “headphone fatigue” like other headphones I have tried on before. After the first minute or so, I almost forgot I had them in my ears all together once I started hearing the music.
I really got into the music while I was moving and a grooving. I was gettin’ down like James Brown and I’m sure the other fellow journalists around me probably thought I was a nut or just overreacting around the Shure booth to get some attention, but I was most certainly not.
I was so immersed with the music making that was produced through this system and was listening carefully to hear if I could discover any imperfections at all, which never happened. This is as close to hear what the sound engineers hear in the studio. Nothing to obstruct between your ears and the music. It was just me and the music. Pure and simple.
Photo courtesy of Shure
Actually, the KSE1200 Electrostatic Earphone Systems aren’t new with Shure. According to Sean Sullivan, who gave me the demo in the booth, he explained that the Shure KSE1200 is the second product in Shure’s lineup of the Electrostatic Earphone Systems, but is the same system as the Shure KSE1500 (list price $2999) that included the same electrostatic amplifier and earphones, except that the KSE1500’s amplifier included a digital front end (a DAC; a screen on it, and also a DSP built into it).
“So many people starting using the KSE1500 ($2999 list) with the analog input, but the price was still a hurdle for that. The KSE1500, and now the KSE1200 both have an analogue input and the same circuity, literally the exact same electrostatic earphones for $1,000 less. Takes all of the digital front end and stream additional components out of the mix that people really already have in their players these days,” Sullivan noted.
Nowadays, most people don’t need the additional components that were built into the KSE1500 system, since many media devices already have these components built in. Bypassing these items, Shure was able to release the KSE1200 for $1000 less. Especially that more than ever, common everyday media players have started sending digital audio out from their devices. More and more of these players that have been coming out allows you to store massive lossless files already have great components, such as DACs, already built right into them.
At $1,000 less, it becomes a pretty good deal. Especially, if you happened to have heard the KSE1500’s when they first came out a few years ago.
Photo courtesy of Shure
But what makes these earphones extremely special compared to all the other ones out there is the electrostatic circuitry technology. This is why these headphones sound like no other.
“The earphone themselves are driven differently than a standard speaker…so, in your dynamic speaker; you have your magnet, you have your coil, you have your diaphragm…all of that has a relative mass to it…and as fast as it could move, we’re so used to using these speakers…they produce really good sound, don’t get me wrong…”, Sullivan explains…
“however, the electrostatic driver is compiled of a massless diaphragm that literally weighs nothing. It has a DC charge on it, and there are two plates that hold the audio signals at plus or minus 200 volts. Those plates are placed right next to each other, but not touching and they create the electrostatic energy field between them. The diaphragm is suspended between those, and because it’s massless, it moves as fast as that energy field can move, so there is no magnet or coil that has to force back and forth.,, the result is the fastest diaphragm, best transient response, clarity in detail…out of this world.”
Photo courtesy of Shure
I couldn’t agree more. It sounded out of this world…and I felt like I was transported to heaven, but went back to earth after taking the earphones off.
Intersolar and ees North America, the premier solar and energy storage exhibition and conference in North America, today welcomed an expected 15,000 attendees to San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Located in the heart of the U.S. solar and storage markets, the event offers more than 40 conference sessions and workshops, exhibitor presentations on two stages, and numerous networking opportunities that connect leaders in the solar, storage and smart renewable energy industries.
A packed room was on hand for this morning’s Opening Ceremony, which featured keynote speakers Dr. Elaine Ulrich, senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy, and Tony Seba, author and Silicon Valley entrepreneur.
The keynote speakers reflected on the continued growth across the solar and storage industries, spurred by technology developments and groundbreaking policies. Dr. Ulrich also reminded attendees of how collaboration accelerates efforts to bring valuable technologies and services to the new energy economy.
“This industry is incredibly innovative and we’re excited about the future we’ll see together,” noted Dr. Ulrich. “We know that industry partnerships are the cornerstone of our success. Without broad industry-wide participation, we would not be where we are today.”
Mr. Seba focused on how smart energy technologies are enabling a major shift in the automotive industry, drawing parallels between the evolution of telecommunications and the electrification of the transportation sector.
Tony Seba, author and Silicon Valley entrepreneur at Intersolar Press Conference. Photo by Marcus Siu.
“By 2030, because of pure economics, every building, house, device, will have a battery,” he said. “That is going to enable another disruption: the electric vehicle disruption. By 2025, if this cost curve persists, essentially every new vehicle will be electric.”
During the Opening Ceremony, California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. was honored with the Champion of Change Lifetime Achievement AWARD, presented in partnership with the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA), for his unwavering commitment to solar industry advocacy over the past three decades. Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of CALSSA, presented the award, and commended Gov. Brown for his dedication to the advancement of solar throughout California.
“Many of you remember [Gov. Brown’s] first foray into solar back in the 1980s. He was supporting our technology way before anyone else saw the potential for it,” said Del Chiaro. “During his first term in 2011, we had 2 GW of solar in California. Today, we have 10 times that.”
Gov. Brown described Intersolar as a “gathering that can re-inspire so many innovators” before thanking organizers for the award. He went on to note: “It is California that is setting the pace. And yet we ourselves have so much more to do. Recognize, celebrate what we’ve done, but never for a moment think we are close to the goal – we have miles and miles to go.”
The Intersolar and ees North America exhibitions will showcase the latest trends in solar PV, energy storage, and smart renewable energy in six exhibition segments. With approximately 450 international companies present on the exhibition floor, attendees will gain early access to some of the most innovative solar and energy storage technologies being brought to market from across the industry value chain. The co-located conferences will feature over 170 influential speakers who will share their insights into market dynamics and opportunities for growth in 2018.
Solar and energy storage installations in the United States continue to set records and demonstrate their economic viability. According to GTM Research, 55 percent of all new electric generating capacity brought online in the U.S. in Q1 2018 came from solar. Solar installations are forecasted to reach 104 GW this year – moving forward, annual installations in the U.S. are expected to exceed the 100 GW threshold through at least 2022. The U.S. energy storage market is estimated to grow 17 times from 2017 to 2023, while the solar-plus-storage annual market is expected to reach 2.2 GW by 2023.
California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. was honored with the Champion of Change Lifetime Achievement AWARD, presented in partnership with the California Solar and Storage Association. Photo by Marcus Siu.
Focus on Smart Renewable Energy Previews Next Major Industry Development
Increasingly, utilities worldwide are looking for smarter ways to manage renewable assets, including solar, energy storage technologies, and rising energy demand from electric vehicles (EVs). A recent report from the Rocky Mountain Institute projected that 2.9 million EVs will hit the roads by 2022, adding over 11,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity demand to electric grids across the globe.
Reflecting its commitment to anticipating industry trends, ees North America debuted the Power2Drive conference track, which features four sessions on managing the storage and infrastructure demands of the electrification of transportation. An exclusive white paper from GTM Research, “Grid Edge Innovation – Technologies, Business Models and the Future of Demand Flexibility,” offered further discussion on these trends, as well as the market potential for solar-plus-storage. The paper is available for download at http://www.intersolar.us> News & Press > White Paper.
The iconic legendary Japanese game creator, Koji Igarashi, whose Castlevania series created him loyal fans from all around the world is coming back with a new action-adventure video game.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was developed by ArtPlay, DICO and WayForward Technologies, and published by 505 Games. Bloodstained is expected to be released on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Xbox One in the Summer 2019.
As opposed to previous projects when Igarashi (Iga) worked with established studios, this time he chose to raise the funds for Bloodstained through the Kickstarter campaign as independent developer. In the interview with Paul Philleo, Iga talks about what inspired him to create Bloodstained and how the process of developing this game was different compared to his previous projects.
An essential necessity for people who spend hours sitting, few companies on the E3 show floor offer comfortable chairs designed specifically for gamers. More than just office chairs, these ergonomic and high-back racing styles offers strategic sitting positioning for gamers. Here are the links to the demos from DX Racer, AK Racing and Ewin Racing.
You can call them
“accessories”, but they really are “necessities” as they help enhance the
gaming experience, making gaming flow smoother and streamlining a competitive
edge for gamers. Some of these products include headphones,
keyboards, mice, speakers, cases and more from companies that were demonstrated
and showcased on the E3 show floor:
PDP gives an overview on the new gaming peripherals & headphones for gaming consoles and PCs. John Moore from PDP provides the details about their products.
1More shows the latest gaming headphones that are targeted towards both console and PC users. Alex Silverman from 1More goes into details about their products.
Cougar Gaming, new to American market from Germany, showcases their gaming PCs, cases, keyboards, mice and speakers. Their products feature active LED lighting.
Display Link shows their
wireless VR system and peripheral interface for gaming. The system
supports high frame rate, high resolution graphics with a peripheral lag that
is on a par with wired interfaces. The video demos the interface
being used as a first-person shooter game.
If you are looking for an outdoor game that doesn’t required much space but is a lot of fun when friends get together, Table Tiles makes a great choice. It is light probability and wagering, resource collection game. “You can learn Table Tiles in 2 minutes and play in 10” – says Alex Gonzalez, who describes the details of the game here:
Plantronics just released the new headset for gamers. RIG 500 Pro empowers competitive gamers to hear more, react faster, and play longer. The features of the headset: a metal headband with a lightweight exoskeleton, tuned acoustic chambers, 50 mm drivers and intuitive inline volume control which create a high-resolution audio experience. Carl B. from Plantronics demonstrates the new product:
Call of Guardians is a very fast, adventure game created exclusively for mobile devices. MOBA/CCG hybrid PvP game where players choose sides of one Guardian with assigned unique abilities and special weapons. Logan DeMel from Signal Studios explains the rules and introduces one of the game characters – First Officer Helvia Virika III. More details in the link:
The Global eSports revenue will reach $905 million in 2018, a year over year growth of 38.2% according to a new report published by Newzoo, the leading provider of market intelligence covering global games, eSports and mobile markets. For those who need to catch up with recent electronic sport here are some useful bits of terminology, statistics and predictions.
Esports is competitive video gaming at a professional level and in an organized format (a tournament or league) with specific goal (i.e., winning a champion title or prize money) and a clear distinction between players and teams that are competing against each other. The eSports Audience is all people who watch professional eSports independent of how often: Esports Enthusiasts (people who watch professional eSports content more than once a month) and Occasional Viewers (people who watch professional eSports content less than once a month.
The total prize money of all eSports events held in 2017 reached $112 million, breaking the $100 million mark for the first year. In 2018 eSports Enthusiasts will total 165 million, a year-on-year growth of 15.2% and 215 million of Occasional Viewers what makes 380 million participants worldwide, a year-on-year growth of 13.5%. The global average annual ticket revenue per eSports enthusiast will be $5.49 this year, up by 20% from 4.58 in 2017. In 2017, there were 588 major eSports events that generated and estimated $59 million in ticket revenue, up from $32 million in 2016.
Although 380 million people actively participate in eSports the global awareness of it is much broader. The number of people who hear about it but are not participants in 2017 was almost a billion worldwide.
The majority of $905 million of revenue from eSports that is expected at the end of 2018, 77% will be generated directly from sponsorship and advertising and indirectly from media rights and content licenses. Brands are expected to heavily invest in the eSports industry. They will pour $694 million to the end of 2018, an impressive 48% increase since last year.
In the next 10 years eSports will be the most popular sport in the world – predicts Frank Azor, co-founder of Alienware and vice president & general manager of Gaming & XPS for Dell who made the prediction statement during an exclusive interview at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), the biggest annual gaming conference in North America that took place in the middle of June in Los Angeles. The E3 expo featured 70 thousand attendees from 106 countries. E3 is the preeminent showcase for ground-breaking new games and technology that serves the growing community of gamers.
In March of this year Alienware opened its first professional eSportsTraining Facility in North America, located in Los Angeles. Just minutes from Riot Games LCS Studio, this new location helps Team Liquid, a professional gamer franchise team, improve the way they practice, train and prepare for eSports tournament. Alienware is the largest supplier of the gaming computer systems in the world, as a sponsor of the team, they provide the eSports athletes with access to incredible technology that is currently available. Alienware is also talking to new partners to build relationships that allows eSports to grow on unprecedented scale.
There are no other sports out there, with the exception of motorsports racing, where the athlete’s performance has a dependency on their equipment is as great as it is as esports athletics – elaborates Frank Azor. If you look at traditional sport like football or basketball, the equipment that the athletes use maybe helps in tiny fraction of the amount of their competitiveness. eSports however is more closely related to auto racing, the skill is in using the equipment to compete, so when your PC fails on you, you are out of the game.
The global industry has not completed the statistics, but the rumors are that number of people in the audience watching eSports tournaments has already passed the audience of baseball games.
Here is a full coverage of the interview with Frank Azor:
