The Audio Engineering Society's AES Show 2016 ended Sunday with what most attendees agreed was an engaged crowd filling its dozen expo aisles and extensive conference program.
Given the turmoil surrounding the changing RF landscape, which is in the middle of seeing its desirable 600 MHz territory auctioned off to mobile-technology users, it's not surprising that the topic garnered considerable mindshare at the show.
One panel on the schedule was dedicated solely to the subject. However, the message from the Wireless Spectrum Update session was unexpectedly more anodyne than alarming. While acknowledging that the loss of the 600 MHz range via a series of FCC-mandated auctions would be disruptive, panelists suggested that recent events might be mitigating that disruption to a degree. Sennheiser's spectrum guru, Joe Ciaudelli, noted, The longer the auction stays open, the better it is for us. We're in better shape than expected.
That's because, he explained, each successive round of the auction has decreased the amount of spectrum to be sold off. The initial numbers have not met expectations: asking price for 126 MHz of television airwaves to be sold for wireless use has come in at just over $23 billion thus far, well below the hoped-for clearing target of $88.4 billion. As a result, under the auction's rules, the range of available spectrum for sale now decreases to 114 MHz, and as much as half the professional wireless microphone systems in use today could remain legally operational, with many still within the broadcast-friendly UHF range.
Shure VP, Corporate and Government Relations, Mark Brunner summed up the emerging sense of optimism: We're still losing a big chunk of the spectrum, but the range of alternative options is growing and will be able to some extent offset the losses.
Audio-Technica VP, R&D/engineering, Jackie Green expanded on that, adding, There won't be one wireless solution anymore. There will need to be multiple tools in our toolbox.
Audio-Technica U.S. President/CEO of Philip Cajka (left) and VP, Engineering, Jackie Green
A-T's New Venture
Audio-Technica showcased one of those tools at a press conference at its booth, and it's more than a product: the company announced formation of an entirely new subsidiary. Alteros, which will occupy a separate building across the street from A-T's U.S. headquarters in Chillicothe, OH, is tasked with developing wireless systems in response to ongoing spectrum loss. The new company's first product, the GTX wireless series, will operate in the 6.5 GHz range and provide up to 24 channels of wireless audio without the need for frequency coordination, once it becomes available early next year.
Alteros, which will be headed by Green as president/CTO, initially employs eight A-T engineers, with at least two more expected to be hired soon. We're deliberately looking outside of pro audio [for new hires], she explains. Our base is still pro audio, but, as we move up into the 6 GHz to 10 GHz ranges, we're entering new territory, and we need new thinking to go with that.
Higher frequency ranges bring different ways of design and workflow. For instance, the 6.5 GHz band will have limited range compared with the UHF spectrum, and, at 2 nW, the GTX series will have a range of barely 100 ft. but will achieve necessary area coverage by creating a grid of cells from multiple systems; up to GTX transceivers can be used in a single array. One advantage of the low-power approach is that it won't require frequency coordination.
Broadcast sports will be a major market for Alteros, Green notes, particularly as the breadth of sports genres continues to expand: We're all going to the next level now.
MPEG-H To Be a Core Codec of the Next Olympics
Fraunhofer, developer of the MPEG-H immersive-audio format, also had some news to share at the show. The format is moving toward inclusion in the immersive-audio component of the DVB Europe-based consortium's standard for broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television. Robert Bleidt, GM, audio and video codecs, Fraunhofer USA Digital Media Technologies, says that development and testing is under way for the MPEG-H commercial module specification. DVB will sanction a number of audio codecs as part of its immersive specification, with individual countries choosing which ones their national broadcasters will adopt.
In addition, MPEG-H, which in April was announced as South Korea's next TV standard, will be the core multichannel-audio codec for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. MPEG-H is the codec for the world's first 4K TV system, which will launch in that country in February. Bleidt says the nation's major networks will use the intervening time to gain operational experience with object-based audio ahead of the games: They will be in the process of setting expectations for an entirely new audio system. Four domestic manufacturers - DS Broadcast, Kai Media, Pixtree and Media Excel - have new codec engines ready for deployment.
Over the Top
Also during the show, the AES's Audio Guidelines for Over the Top Television and Video Streaming (AGOTTVS) technical group, formed earlier this year to study the issues related to audio loudness variations in streamed video content, announced publication of preliminary guidelines, with a goal to develop comprehensive, effective guidelines for managing audio loudness of soundtracks of television and video content delivered to consumers via OTT and by online video distributors (OVDs).
The guidelines, delivered in a paper at the show titled Preliminary Loudness Guidelines, have a three-fold mission, according to Jim Starzynski, chair of AGOTTVS: First, to create awareness in the industry of a developing loudness problem; also, to invite a
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
The Audio Engineering Society's AES Show 2016 ended Sunday with what most attendees agreed was an engaged crowd filling its dozen expo aisles and extensive conference program.
