Doctor Decibel & Friends

Calls for comment have been published on the multiple parts revising AES41-2009, "AES standard for digital audio  -  Recoding data set for audio bit-rate reduction". For ease of future maintenance each part is presented independently. Parts 1 and 2 represent a revision of the earlier document; parts 3, 4, and 5 are new draft standards.

The Call for Comment on DRAFT REVISED AES41-1-xxxx "AES standard for digital audio – Audio-embedded metadata – Part 1: General" was published 2012-04-03

The Call for Comment on DRAFT REVISED AES41-2-xxxx "AES standard for digital audio – Audio-embedded metadata – Part 2: MPEG-1 Layer II or MPEG-2 LSF Layer II" was published 2012-04-03

The Call for Comment on DRAFT AES41-3-xxxx, "AES standard for digital audio – Audio-embedded metadata – Part 3: AAC & HE-AAC" was published 2012-04-03

The Call for Comment on DRAFT AES41-4-xxxx, "AES standard for digital audio – Audio-embedded metadata – Part 4: Dolby E" was published 2012-04-03

The Call for Comment on DRAFT AES41-5-xxxx, "AES standard for digital audio – Audio-embedded metadata – Part 5: EBU loudness, true-peak, and downmix" was published 2012-04-03

These calls are posted at http://www.aes.org/standards/comments/

By Julie Jacobson, December 14, 2011

SUNNYVALE, Calif., December 14, 2011 – The Wireless Speaker and Audio (WiSA™) Association was launched today to advance the adoption of wirelessly transmitted high-definition (HD) surround-sound audio in the home theater environment by establishing the industry’s first interoperability specification and certification testing programs for manufacturers of high-performance wireless speakers, DTVs, Blu-ray Disc players, and other consumer electronics (CE) devices. Aperion Audio, DEI Holdings, Inc. (parent company to Polk® Audio and Definitive Technology),Hansong Electronics Co., Klipsch® Group, Inc., Meiloon Industrial Co., Pioneer Corporation, SHARP Corporation, Silicon Image and Summit Semiconductor signed Letters of Intent to join the WiSA Association as Advisory Board members to promote interoperability of interference-free, wireless surround-sound audio across a wide range of consumer electronics devices.

The WiSA certification and test program addresses an industry need to develop and deliver HD wireless audio products for the home while ensuring interoperability between any manufacturer’s CE devices such as speakers, DTVs, Blu-ray Disc™ players, gaming consoles, set-top boxes, and mobile devices. Consumers will be able to outfit their home entertainment system with WiSA-certified speakers and components from any participating vendor with the assurance that the devices will interoperate with each other and provide the highest standard in wireless HD surround sound audio.

READ THE CEPro FEATURE ARTICLE: WiSA to Set Standard for Wireless Audio

“Consumers are looking for a reliable, high-quality wireless audio experience that offers seamless interoperability between products from multiple brands,” said Jim Venable, president of the WiSA Association. “With the interoperability testing and certification programs created by the WiSA Association, manufacturers will be able to bring products to market that provide consumers with a wireless audio experience of exceptional performance and ease of use.”

Initially, the WiSA Association’s interoperability testing and certification program will be aimed at products offering interference-free, uncompressed HD audio over the 5 GHz Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) frequency band. This is a portion of
the spectrum that is largely unused compared to the lower-frequency Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) radio bands, which are becoming increasingly crowded with signals from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® devices, cordless phones, and other radio emitters in the home.

By operating in the U-NII spectrum, WiSA-certified products will be designed to avoid the interference, signal loss, and generally unpredictable behavior reported by many users of legacy wireless speaker connections. A wide range of WiSA-certified products are expected to be available, addressing the high-end of the market as well as entry level products and delivering 16 or 24-bit audio and up to 96 kHz sampling rate in configurations ranging from stereo to 7.1 surround sound and beyond. The WiSA Association’s interoperability testing and certification program will also ensure easy set-up and configuration, with the goal of enabling consumers to set up a 7.1 home theater system in less than 30 minutes on average.

Opportunities to participate in the WiSA Association exist for Members and Associate Members. Companies and organizations interested in joining the group are welcome to contact the Association. The application to join and information about membership fees can be found at http://www.wisaassociation.org.

Members
Members are companies that manufacture and promote WiSA-certified products. They agree to perform compliance and interoperability testing, and to abide by the WiSA trademark and logo usage guidelines. Members pay an annual fee of US$5,000.

Associate Members
Associate Members are trusted vendors of WiSA-certified products, such as branded resellers, who agree to sell compliant products. Associate Members may display the WiSA logo signifying their membership in the Association and indicating that they sell WiSA-certified products. Associate Members pay an annual fee of US$3,000.

The WiSA Association will offer product demonstrations during the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 10-13, 2012 in suite 31-219 at The Venetian Hotel. For appointments, please contact info@wisaassociation.org.

Advisory Board Member Quotes

Aperion Audio
“The Aperion Audio team has been working diligently with Summit Semiconductor for the past 18 months and we’re proud to be the first speaker manufacturer to have product in the market,” said Jim Hillman, CEO of Aperion Audio. “We look forward to working closely with the WiSA Association as an Advisory Board member to promote the interoperability certification program and ensure consumers have a choice of wireless audio solutions that work together seamlessly.”

DEI Holdings, Inc.
“DEI Holdings Inc., parent company to Polk Audio and Definitive Technology, is pleased to be part of the Advisory Board for the Wireless Speaker and Audio Association,” said Stu Lumsden, VP of Engineering, Polk Audio. “We look forward to supporting the Association in its efforts to standardize the interoperability between speakers and CE devices based on the new WiSA interoperability specification.”

Hansong Electronics
“As a world leader in speaker electronics manufacturing, Hansong Electronics is looking forward to participating as an Advisor Board member in the WiSA Association” said Helge Kristensen, Vice President, Hansong Electronics. “Ensuring interoperability with wireless
speakers for the home will be a key factor in the long term success of quality wireless audio technology.”

Klipsch Group, Inc.
“Klipsch provides a Live Music Experience through high fidelity playback speaker systems, especially as they apply to new technology formats,” said Mark Casavant, Sr. VP of Product Development for Klipsch Group, Inc. “Wireless technology is changing the way our electronics communicate with one another making home entertainment more appealing to a wider variety of consumers. Klipsch is positioned as it has been through the decades as a part of the quality experience, and our collaboration with the WiSA Association is vital to our research and development. People choose ease of use and Klipsch is determined to lead with products that deliver the power, detail and emotion of the live experience.”

Meiloon Industrial Co.
“Meiloon is a leader of acoustic system manufacturing and is proud to be part of the Advisory Board for the WiSA Association,” said Michael Wu, director of R&D for Meiloon Industrial Co. “We are looking forward to providing the best wireless solutions to our customers.”

Silicon Image, Inc.
“Driving interoperable HD connectivity is central to our strategy,” said Camillo Martino, chief executive officer, Silicon Image, Inc. “Being a WiSA Association Advisory Board member supports our efforts to develop and foster the delivery of highly reliable HD content in the home, both wired and wirelessly.”

Summit Semiconductor
“We are eager to participate on the WiSA Advisory Board in support of its mission to solve interoperability challenges that have plagued the industry for years,” said Brett Moyer, chief executive officer, Summit Semiconductor. “The WiSA Association will help bridge the gap between speaker manufacturers and suppliers and will accelerate the adoption of wireless speakers in the home.”

About the WiSA Association
Established in 2011 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the Wireless Speaker & Audio (WiSA) Association is an industry group dedicated to bringing reliable, high- performance interoperable wireless audio products to the consumer. The Association is responsible for developing specifications and performing testing and interoperability certification of WiSA-certified products, Association administrative management, and outbound marketing campaigns to promote the broad adoption of WiSA interoperability. WiSA, LLC, the agent for the WiSA Association, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Image, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIMG). For more information about the WiSA Association, visit http://www.wisaassociation.org

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (Dec 1, 2011) — ClearOne (NASDAQ: CLRO), a global communications and entertainment solutions company, today announced that its StreamNet™ training course now qualifies for InfoComm Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) Renewal Units (RU). The CTS accreditation from InfoComm demonstrates the growing adoption of StreamNet technology which is core to ClearOne’s strategy for integrating its full line of professional AV products with StreamNet IP streaming and control solutions.

“ClearOne has partnered with InfoComm as an RU provider to reinforce its standing commitment to the continuing education of CTS professionals on the latest developments in our industry,” said Michael Braithwaite, Chief Strategy Officer. “StreamNet represents a simple, flexible and dependable solution for combining AV content, meta-data and control signals all over your existing IP data infrastructure. This demonstrates ClearOne’s commitment to help AV integrators achieve proficiency to capitalize on burgeoning networked audio and video opportunities.”

Individuals that hold an InfoComm CTS certification (including CTS, CTS-D and CTS-I) are required to earn RU credits periodically in order to keep their certification current. Participants who successfully complete the StreamNet training through ClearOne’s popular ClearOne University will receive four RU credits.

ClearOne offers its accredited courses in-person throughout various locations in North America. To register for an upcoming training event, participants can enroll online through ClearOne University at www.clearone.com/training, and select the Audio/Video Distribution and Control Products training course.

About ClearOne
ClearOne is a global communications company that develops and sells audio and video solutions for conferencing, collaboration and multimedia streaming. The reliability, flexibility and performance of our advanced comprehensive solutions enhance the quality of life through better communication, education, and entertainment.

We develop, manufacture, market, and service a comprehensive line of high-quality audio conferencing products under personal, tabletop, premium and professional categories. We occupy the number one position in the global professional audio conferencing market with nearly 50% of the global market share. Our conferencing solutions save organizations time and money by creating a natural environment for collaboration.

NetStreams, a ClearOne brand of residential products, delivers the ultimate IP A/V experience by distributing high definition audio and video over TCP/IP networks. NetStreams’ products, designed for commercial and residential use, offer unprecedented levels of performance, functionality, simplicity, reliability, and expandability. By combining audio/video content, meta-data and control signals into one stream and incorporating industry standards, NetStreams’ newly patented StreamNet® solutions are a smart investment, enabling the Power of AV over IP™ – today.

NetStreams’ StreamNet technology provides elegant solutions for streaming media & control applications such as digital signage, distribution of HD video and audio, LAN Cloud Matrix Switching™, and audio paging over data networks.
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http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=509&to=ea&s=0

An immense home theater and residence in Western Canada requires five fully stuffed, impeccably designed equipment racks.

By Steven Castle, November 04, 2011 Original Story can be found here

Tom Redhead and Sean Sullivan, formerly of the electronics design and installation firm AVI Design by Audio Warehouse in Saskatchewan, Canada, and now operators of their own CE firm, SuRe InnoVations in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, certainly had their hands full – of cabling, components, you name it – with this palatial space.

The home theater and lobby were designed by North Miami, Fla.-based First Impressions Theme Theatres in grand fashion: an ear-splitting JBL Synthesis sound system, a jaw-dropping 155-inch Screen Innovations display fed by a Runco projector, a whole-house digital audio system by NetStreams, extensive home automation by AMX, and even a dedicated audio/video zone in the CineBar lobby outside the home theater.

Most of the home’s entertainment and control systems reside in a room off the home theater lobby, through French doors where five full-height, 32-inch-deep Middle Atlantic racks are recessed into the wall and accessible from behind via another room.

Redhead reports that eight more mini-racks are scattered throughout the 20,000-plus-square-foot house to hold other systems and amplifiers for the IP (Internet Protocol)-based NetStreams DigiLinX music system.

One rack holds 18 satellite receivers and a Kaleidescape server system, while another rack and a half houses the NetStreams head-end gear. Additional racks are dedicated to the powerful JBL Synthesis system and amps and the home’s extensive computer network with a commercial-grade IT backup from APC. There’s a special space for the AMX home control system processors, plus APC and Belkin uninterruptible power supplies and surge protection.

Redhead says it took an installer 500 hours to dress the racks and organize the miles of wiring into neat bundles. Special lacer bars were added to hold the wiring in place. Additionally, the rack space was equipped with its own dedicated air conditioning unit – there are eight for the house – and each rack has fans on top to keep air moving within them.

Does Redhead have advice for other CE pros on planning for such a huge rack system? “Details, details, details,” says Redhead. “Design first and double-check your design. There are hundreds of power cords and you have to calculate your [electrical] draw. You can always scale up, but if you haven’t calculated properly, you make bigger mistakes.”

The five racks in the control room, for example, use 10 15-amp circuits and six 30-amp circuits, the latter for the JBL amps. Every other sub-rack in the house has one to two dedicated circuits.

While hidden from view, the racks play a very important role in the efficiency of this tricked-out house. Without them, servicing the equipment would have been a nightmare. Instead, the CE pros can tweak, upgrade and troubleshoot from a few key equipment areas. There’s even a TV and speakers in one of the equipment rooms so they can see and hear their modifications without leaving the space.

Congratulations to Tom Redhead and Sean Sullivan for a Neat-O! installation. We’re looking for over-the-top projects. Cool, unique, tidy or meticulous, share your best work with our readers. E-mail your submissions, with high-resolution images, to managing editor Arlen Schweiger at aschweiger@ehpub.com.

And thanks to CEPro for this great story!
Original Story can be found here

In a quiet corner of Crestron Electronics’ cavernous Rockleigh, N.J. research lab, an aged engineer hunches over a chaotic assembly of plastic tubes, spinning motors and wire. He flips a switch and an exhaust pipe spews a plume of white mist. “This is my Rube Goldberg machine,” says George Feldstein, with an impish grin. “I always have to keep my hands busy. Not bad for a CEO, huh?”

At 70 the founder of Crestron Electronics—maker of myriad home automation devices—is as fit and energetic as a man half his age. He’s also a tireless tinkerer, with 14 patents to his name. His latest project—a more efficient?humidifier—has been in the works for over a year. Typical evaporative humidifiers require water tanks (breeding grounds for bacteria), while the steam-injection variety gobble electricity. So Feldstein invented a system that pressurizes a small amount of water and pushes it through tiny nozzles, atomizing it into vapor. When he tested it in his home last winter, the mist left a dusting of salt all over the furniture. (“My wife nearly threw me out,” he says.) With any luck the boss’ latest invention will hit the market next year.

Feldstein doesn’t just create gad­gets—he creates jobs. As protesters, pundits and politicians bemoan corporate America’s addiction to cheap overseas labor (the manufacturing sector now employs 11.8 million people, down nearly 40% in three decades), Crestron has added 500 people—20% of the company’s workforce—in the last five years.

Feldstein owns 100% of Crestron, which could very well make him a billionaire. (He won’t comment on his personal fortune.) Based on sales of similar companies over the last few years, Crestron, which carries no debt and pulls in $500 million in annual revenue (on its way to our list of largest private companies), could be worth at least $1 billion. Yet somehow Feldstein has attracted little attention outside of the trade press, even as he provides new jobs by the hundreds in a prolonged downturn.

“I have great belief in American enterprise,” he says. “When the economy went south we brought everything in-house and paid more for it, rather than lay people off. People don’t realize the importance of the continuity of labor.”

Translation: This isn’t about patriotism—it’s about strategy. By manufacturing 80% of his products—1,500 in all—in the U.S., Feldstein says he is able to build technologically complex devices in low quantities with few errors. Hiring at home also allows him to develop the kind of long-term, committed help he needs to keep expanding. Even with the company’s latest growth spurt, Feldstein estimates around 15% of his workforce has been on staff for at least a decade. “We bring in people, and we give them a profession,” he says. “It’s one of the most important things about a job: It should provide a career for people who want them.” And by keeping Crestron privately held, Feldstein doesn’t have to answer to pesky analysts and shareholders who might have him cut costs by shipping production overseas.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering: Crestron isn’t for sale. “To anyone who asks, the answer is no, not how much,” barks Feldstein.

Crestron’s success story is little-known outside of northern New Jersey, but its electronic control systems are everywhere: automated light, sound and temperature controls for luxury homes; fancy digital screens and speakers for conference rooms; surgical-camera controls and displays; classroom projectors; digital signs and retail displays; and even remote controls for hot tubs aboard luxury yachts. The company’s equipment orchestrates conference rooms at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash. It’s in seven out of eight Ivy League schools; in the penthouse of the Trump World Tower in New York City; and in a situation room at the Pentagon.

Crestron sells its products through a small army of 15,000 independent partners and dealers—tiny home-theater vendors to major home builders—backed by an internal sales, customer-support and marketing staff in 57 offices spanning 45 countries. Feldstein’s central operations are scattered around Bergen County, N.J., a 30-minute drive from New York City. Its Rockleigh campus houses corporate management, manufacturing, training facilities and a 100,000-square-foot research center. The previous headquarters, in nearby Cresskill, has become an automated preproduction plant, where Crestron assembles circuit boards used in its products.

That’s some serious infrastructure for a company started in a room above a Cresskill delicatessen. “I had no money, four kids, a mortgage and a Dodge Dart,” says Feldstein. “My capital equipment was my own tools. Now we have two jets and a worldwide business.”

Feldstein grew up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where his father worked as a sewing machine operator. Young George showed an early aptitude for engineering, winning a citywide physics competition at 15, and went on to earn a master’s degree in electronic engineering from New York University.

After graduation he landed at a firm that built industrial-control-and-testing equipment, working as chief engineer. In 1969 he had a falling-out with the boss, who fired him. (“They went out of business a year after I left,” Feldstein recalls.) The spat convinced him to never work for someone else again. “I came to the realization that I’m not employable, that I never would get along with another boss,” he adds. “So I started a company.”

In the beginning Feldstein cold-called businesses, offering to build or repair whatever they needed. Crestron’s first job, for Colgate-Palmolive, was a laser-leveling device that helped automated assembly lines put the right amount of powder in boxes of detergent. By 1973 work was steady enough to hire an employee. Two years later the company moved into a commercial garage, where Feldstein whipped up everything from bank deposit machines to human-nerve stimulators. “I did anything to make a buck,” he says.

Business really started to pick up after Feldstein developed a wireless remote for commercial audiovisual systems. Then came audio switches, video projectors and lighting control panels. By 1990 Crestron had 100 employees and generated almost $5 million in revenue, much of it from selling integrated audiovisual systems to companies, colleges and casinos. President Clinton had Crestron’s SmarTouch line of touchscreen remote controls installed in the White House.

As the company grew, Feldstein faced a different kind of challenge: letting go. “A lot of people have total control as they build a company up,” he says. “And then when they don’t, they have all these problems.” Feldstein relied on what he calls the “black marble” theory: If you don’t know what’s in a jar but you reach in 20 times and pull out 20 black marbles, it’s safe to assume the jar is full of black marbles. The same is true of employees: If every time you check on them they’re doing well, they’ll probably keep doing well without you. However, says Feldstein, “If I detect something’s wrong, I’ll spend a lot of time focusing on that.”

That balance of vigilance and trust propelled revenue to $25 million by 1997. Betting on the right customers—specifically, high-end homeowners—helped, too. When the dot-com bubble popped, Feldstein’s core audience still had money to spend. By 2004 Crestron had 500 employees and $170 million in sales. Today Crestron gets 40% of its top line from customers who don’t flinch at spending $50,000 on a home theater setup.

One banking executive (who would rather remain anonymous) bought a 4,500-square-foot residence on the top floor of the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. It was already wired with basic Crestron controls, but the buyer wanted “the ultimate bachelor pad.” Roughly $245,000 later the apartment had the latest in lighting, climate-control and home-entertainment equipment. In one room projectors turned a 35-foot-diameter domed ceiling into a massive video screen. The client can also change the color of the fireplace—made of onyx and backlit with multicolor LEDs—according to his mood.

His customers might be flashy, but Feldstein is not. He holds management lunches at a local diner; wears button-downs and slacks to work; and rides his bike 40 miles a day (weather and work permitting), up to Bear Mountain or along the Hudson River. A licensed pilot, he has been known to take customers for a spin in his Extra 300L aerobatic monoplane, and on occasion he’ll fly the company jet to make service calls. “When I started this business, I used to sit by the phone all day and wait for it to ring,” he says. “I appreciate my customers.”

Crestron is a family affair. Feldstein’s son Dan, 39, is vice president of operations and daughter Wendy, 44, is director of engineering services.

“Although my name is not Feldstein, he has been a father to me,” says Randy Klein, a 21-year veteran of the company, now executive vice president and chief operating officer. “He’s technically my ‘boss’ on the organization chart, but he has always treated me as an equal. We learn from each other.” The biggest challenge of working for George Feldstein, according to Klein? “Keeping up with him.”

Feldstein often patrols the Cresskill preproduction plant—partly to keep a watchful eye but also because he just can’t help himself. “I spend probably an hour a day at my desk and the rest of the time running around,” he says. “I don’t understand a CEO who runs a car company and doesn’t know how to make a car.” Inside, rows of laborers in protective blue coveralls assemble circuit boards. Even the simplest tasks—inserting components into a board and soldering them in place—require skill and precision. More delicate work, like operating one of two Panasonic high-speed chip-placement lines, takes plenty of expertise.

During one visit Feldstein stops to issue light warnings to assembly-line workers who hadn’t clipped grounding wires onto their clothing. It’s a minor infraction but a potentially serious one: Ungrounded workers could damage a circuit with static electric discharge, the same way you get a shock from a metal doorknob. (When his new humidifier is completed Feldstein plans to install a few in the assembly area, where static charges tend to build up in dry air.)

Experienced assembly-line workers earn $17 an hour, more than double the state’s $7.25 minimum wage and better than the $14.90 State of New Jersey average for electronic equipment assembly jobs. Employees receive medical coverage, a 401(k) plan “and real coffee ground from real beans,” boasts Feldstein. Most of the workers are Hispanic women who hail from working-class neighborhoods in north Jersey, Brooklyn and the Bronx; many hold down two jobs. “We’re trying to set up a bus to bring people here from the city,” says Feldstein. “We’re always hiring, so we don’t have enough parking.” Feldstein spends about $1 million a year developing employees, teaching them new assembly techniques and helping them obtain safety certifications. “Most of our management comes from people who started at a lesser job, including some of our vice presidents,” he adds.

A far bigger chunk of the company’s budget, roughly 15%, goes toward development of new gadgets. Energy-management devices are especially hot, given the rise in electricity and gas prices. “The market perception of Crestron is still very luxury-oriented,” says Konkana Khaund, an analyst with technology consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. “But if they can spin this energy story, it will open up whole new areas for sales.”

Craig Foster, senior analyst at ABI Research, a market research firm, thinks the home-automation trend will only accelerate—and not just among Hollywood executives. Foster estimates that worldwide shipments of everything from sensors to servers should rocket twentyfold to 12 million units by 2016.

Energy management is a piece of the automation story, but there are more powerful trends at work. Apple has sold 150 million iPhones and 40 million iPads; throw in competing smartphones and tablets, and Crestron and its competitors have a soon-to-be-ubiquitous built-in interface for their products.

Better yet, their distribution channels are about to get a lot bigger. Telcos, cable companies, security outfits and ­energy utilities are starting to roll out new bundled-automation packages. In ­October Verizon launched a ­home-monitoring service powered by startup ­control-maker 4Home. iControl Networks, another home-automation firm, has inked partnerships with Comcast and ADT Security Services.

Even more critical to Crestron’s future, perhaps: What happens when Feldstein finally runs out of steam? “The succession plan is essentially, ‘Everyone keep doing what you’re doing,’” he says. Klein, 59, will likely be tapped as CEO.

Until then Feldstein will keep tinkering: “I don’t plan on retiring. Even on the weekends I get separation anxiety.”

This story appears in the December 5, 2011 issue of Forbes Magazine.

AROUND 14 years ago, Betty Williams and her partner Steve Bailey bought a period house in Remenham dating back to the 17th century, with the sole aim of creating a family home which would accommodate them as well as Betty’s daughter and her family.

Several years and planning applications later, after Betty’s daughter moved to Devon, their dream was modified and, instead of concentrating on developing a new-build home for two families, they turned their attentions instead to updating and improving the current property and expanding it to create a substantial single residential dwelling in which Betty and Steve could live and entertain.

The result is quite simply an extremely unique property fashioned around the couple’s individual requirements and, as a result, the attention to detail is both remarkable and commendable. No element of this house has been overlooked from the configuration of the accommodation to the high-quality finish of the fittings and fixtures. Add a selection of state-of-the-art technology into the mix and this property really does provide everything anyone, including James Bond, could ever want from a home.

There is a NetStreams DigiLinX system which controls all the video and audio hardware via an internet protocol network — ostensibly this means that all the cameras and entertainment devices are linked together and then displayed on the various touch-panels located around the house. Extensive wiring ensures that every room contains a double CAT5E RJ45 socket for plugging in phones and connecting computers to the internet via a hardwired Ethernet connection. There is also a Naim Audio NaimNet system which enables sounds to be piped throughout the house — rooms can either be grouped together with the overall volume synchronised or, adjusted separately.

Technology aside, the layout and aesthetic quality of the house has been painstakingly considered. Betty dedicated several years to studying articles in interiors magazines before ultimately deciding on what styles would (or wouldn’t) work for her and Steve.

“Once I found something I liked, I would put the picture on the wall and make a promise to myself that one day my home would look like that” she says.

The bespoke kitchen, designed by Mowlem and Co., Kings Road, Chelsea, is an interesting shape with a smooth architectural handle-less finish. The cooking functionality is situated at one end of the kitchen with a breakfast area, leading to the garden, opposite.

The bathrooms, designed by Betty herself, combine the dramatic with the functional. As for the rest of the house, the design of everyday necessities, such as the radiators, have been specifically selected in order to transform the ordinary into works of art.

The property is now available for sale through the Henley office of international real estate adviser, Savills. Charles Elsmore-Wickens of Savills in Henley, who is handling the sale, comments: “Yewgate is an excellent example of what can be achieved in a property when quality and attention to detail are combined. The accommodation flows seamlessly throughout and works equally well for formal gatherings as well as the informality of family life.

Intrinsically, this is an excellent house for entertaining featuring several fun elements including a party terrace to the rear which has a tiled floor, heating, lights and music and a large four-car garage with workshop features a fitted music system.”

The accommodation comprises five air-conditioned bedrooms, three with en-suite bathrooms, a family bathroom, entrance hall, drawing room, dining room, snug, family room, bespoke Neville Johnson fully-fitted office for two, kitchen/breakfast room, large grounds, ample parking and four-car garage.

The property is available through Savills at a guide price of £2.3 million. For more details, call (01491) 843000.

AES53-2006 (r2011) AES standard for digital audio — Digital input-output interfacing — Sample-accurate timing in AES47 has been reaffirmed.

This document specifies how the timing markers specified in AES47 may be used to associate an absolute timestamp with individual audio samples.  AES47 specifies a format for the transmission of digital audio over asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks.  A recommendation is made to refer these timestamps to the SMPTE epoch which in turn provides a reference to UTC and GPS time.

 

 

 AES52-2006 (r2011) AES standard for digital audio engineering — Insertion of unique identifiers into the AES3 transport stream has been reaffirmed.

The AES3 transport stream continues to be used extensively in both discrete and network based audio systems alongside audio stored as files. Audio content is moving towards being handled by asset management systems and descriptive metadata associated with that content is also being stored within systems. In order to provide a mechanism for AES3 transport streams to have similar abilities to work with content management systems, some form of unique label is required which can provide the link with these systems. One of the unique labels currently standardised in the media industry is the SMPTE UMID while another commonly used in the Information Technology area is the IEC UUID.

This standard specifies the method for inserting unique identifiers into the user data area of an AES3 stream. This specifically covers the use of UUID as well as a basic or extended SMPTE UMID.

 

AES51-2006 (r2011) AES standard for digital audio – Digital input-output interfacing – Transmission of ATM cells over Ethernet physical layer has been reaffirmed

This standard specifies a method, also known as “ATM-E”, of carrying asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cells over hardware specified for IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet). It is intended as a companion standard to AES47 (Transmission of digital audio over ATM networks), to provide a standard method of carrying ATM cells and real-time clock over hardware specified for Ethernet.  

AES47-2006 (r2011), AES standard for digital audio – Digital input-output interfacing – Transmission of digital audio over asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, has  been reaffirmed. 

This document specifies the method of carrying multiple channels of audio in linear PCM or AES3 format in calls across an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network to ensure interoperability. The specification includes the method of conveying information concerning the format and sampling frequency of the digital audio signal when setting up the calls.