Overcoming Communication Barriers With Manufacturers to Solve Product Issues
In recent years, the demand for quality speakers has been increasing and it’s due to the popularization of home theaters and vehicle audio requirements. A good speaker should theoretically be able to produce good sound quality regardless of the volume as long as it’s being powered within the suggested range. However, there are still many issues that may occur during usage.
As the division of labor is becoming increasingly detailed in various industries, it is not easy for manufacturers to create good products. The easy part is to have other manufacturers be responsible for product specifications and components. The hard part is to communicate well with manufacturers that lack a common test protocol for testing products. This makes it easy for them to make errors and delay product shipments. In this article, we’ll share an example of this situation.
Case Study
A European/American company found an OEM in Asia to assist with production. However, the OEM was always unable to provide clear and satisfactory answers on time. This company entrusted Allion to assist with sound quality performance with their products. After understanding their demands and background, our wireless audio consulting team immediately conducted a comprehensive inspection of their products. The following is an analysis of the test results.
In the low-frequency areas (marked with a red box in Figure 1), it’s easy to reach the background noise levels of the measurement system when the volume is turned down (10%, brown line). This is because the frequency response of the speaker is relatively low, causing unwanted errors. For this speaker, the F0 is around 1kHz. After applying the effective bandwidth calculations, the low frequency is measured to be 600Hz (pink line in Figure 1). The frequency responses below 600Hz are too low, therefore there is no need to pay attention to it.
Next, let’s look at the THD curve for speaker A. From the results, it can be seen that the THD has suddenly increased (blue circles in Figure 2, the distance between the two curves becomes larger) when the volume is adjusted from 90% (dark blue line) to 100% (purple line). This means that when the user adjusts the volume above 90%, sound quality will change.
Lastly, speaker B was tested to compare the performances. For frequency response, the linearity of both speakers does not have much difference. However, the difference is visible in terms of THD. In Figure 3, it can be seen that the THD increases dramatically (red circle) when the volume of speaker B goes above 70% (bright green). In an actual listening test, the sound distortion is felt.
From the results of comparing Figures 2 and 3, it can be confirmed that the performance of Product A is better than Product B. Allion’s wireless audio consulting team then submitted the results to the client and their OEMs at the same time to help them make the right choice, greatly shortening their product development schedule.
Allion has professional technical teams and a wide range of testing equipment and environments that can provide comprehensive wireless audio-related consulting and testing services.
- A team of experts with more than two decades of industry experience
- Has the ability to conduct complex and detailed audio tests such as frequency response and THD tests for different volume levels
- Has a high-quality, low-noise microphone that detects tiny signals, accurately testing speaker performance
- Has professional anechoic chambers that provide an extremely low noise environment (10dB) which can properly measure signals without being affected by noises in the environment
Faster, Easier, Better! Your Most Trusted Speaker Product Testing Consultant
Allion has decades of experience and expertise in testing audio and speakers. With a wide range of testing equipment and professional instruments, we are confident in providing clients with the best evaluation for your products, identifying issues one by one.
Faster
With our rich testing experience and collection of testing equipment, we can provide clients with fast and accurate testing planning that effectively shortens the schedule. No matter what the product stage is, Allion is able to provide our clients with fast and accurate results.
Easier
By implementing AI and automation solutions, Allion ensures that audio and speakers test is “qualitative, quantitative, and reproducible”, helping our clients to improve product performance in a more efficient manner.
Better
With more than 30 years of expertise, Allion has many professional teams with the knowledge to design quantitative testing methods and user experience verification testing. We also know how to design quantitative tests and user scenario simulations, allowing our clients to comply with requirements and user expectations.
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