Videos from ML

We already published a few new product videos on our YouTube channel and are working on a monthly video series focusing on education, history, tips and techniques.

Here's what we got so far, and many more to come over the next year:

Ask Professor Vojtko - Episode 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= yGGaB7q9xz0&hd=1

Electrostatic Loudspeaker (ESL) Technology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGhFYSk4zJI&hd=1

The MartinLogan Listening Experience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFaAU41uTPs&hd=1

Introducing Montis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TqYzF4h2-k&hd=1

Ask Professor Vojtko - Episode 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj5t7kiTB-s&hd=1

The History of MartinLogan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTILeHDHI8o&hd=1

ElectroMotion Series Overview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rMUn1DnXto&hd=1

Ask Professor Vojtko - Episode 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWCI4GqjVf8&hd=1

Basic Room Acoustics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckoqpBmS_mw&hd=1

Subwoofer Setup & Optimization
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzCIMufCQLk&hd=1

Busting Electrostatic Speaker Myths
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCodk1tN4GI&hd=1

Ethos & Theos Overview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v04gT1rWU4E&hd=1

ESL Setup & Optimization
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHWP6Bq8rHw&hd=1

Motion Series Technology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ggIq_kZMbM&hd=1

Motion Series Design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9D8DpCIcdo&hd=1


Just wanted to let you know they were there if you haven't seen them. I'll post more as they become available.

Enjoy!

~Justin

Thanks Justin for keeping us up to speed

Nice!
Always interesting to see stuff like this, keep 'em coming

Really nice.
Any video about the Ethos coming up?

Stefan said:

Really nice.
Any video about the Ethos coming up?

Click to expand...

Yes, probably next week.

~J

urskog said:

Nice!
Always interesting to see stuff like this, keep 'em coming

Click to expand...

Yes, Please. Most welcome. And pretty well done, too.

Agreed. Very well done, Justin. The ESL setup video really nails it, so much better than words on a page (of course you make it look a lot quicker and easier than it actually is ).

Justin,

Regarding the ESL video, a great executive summary.

GG

Thanks guys! Peter flew in to help out today, and we just got done with another day of shooting some more videos, so I'll be sure to keep you posted when they're done.

~J

Here's another quick overview video on the Ethos and Theos, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v04gT1rWU4E&hd=1

~Justin

These are great - great work!

Here's our latest educational video featuring the one, the only, Peter Soderberg on Subwoofer Setup & Optimization.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzCIMufCQLk&hd=1

Enjoy!

~Justin

Good stuff.

Next step? iPhone/Android ML setup apps. You could use AudioTools to play with internally within the compnay to decide for yourselves whether this is sensible. See if you think the iPhone's internal mic is linear enough between phone samples, using compensation tables - what you are looking for is consistency among phones and overall FR of the internal mic, I guess.

Android is much more work as I suspect you'll have to derive compensation tables for each phone type.

The point is basically to pump some pink noise through your sepaker setup and get as flat an in-room FR as possible.

You may decide this is a bad idea and that is could give customers too much insight into their room problems - but I think the actual effect can only really be positive.

As always in the commercial world, you'll have to decide whether the development costs are worth it against any potential gain.

You could supply reasonably cost effective mics with the speakers for laptop use instead, I guess - but that doesn't serve existing users. So you could sell an ML mic for use with laptops/smart phones. Or develop automatic room eq into the speakers with a switch for those that don't want it?

Using Wavepad from NCH software (free app) on the iPhone I notice you can record at 44.1KHz at 32 bit precision (max - 16 bit is there too). I'm just trying to get the mono internal mic recording of a church Xmas sing song I went to onto my PC for evaluation.

Just thinking out loud, really I'm sure some of this has been through ML's minds. We've been having fun with phones at work - they're just getting too good to ignore.

User211 said:

Just thinking out loud, really I'm sure some of this has been through ML's minds. We've been having fun with phones at work - they're just getting too good to ignore.

Click to expand...

Good post, we have thought, discussed and even worked on an application a few months ago. The limiting factor was indeed the microphone and the inconsistencies between phone models that made it more gimmicky than actually useful.

I like the idea of the external mic and room eq adjustment, but there are so many companies that have built-in room correction into their processors, it seems like a redundant thing for us to develop.

User211 said:

As always in the commercial world, you'll have to decide whether the development costs are worth it against any potential gain.

Click to expand...

It's actually been an internal debate while developing some new high-end subwoofers (we are only in the "talking about it" phase, no actual products or official plan yet) -- should we put money into room correction functionality, or focus on making them sonically the most kick-ass subwoofers for the money and leave the room correction to the processor or aftermarket accessory. What are your thoughts?

~J

Well - on the mic and the mic alone - I don't think it is bad. I've been suspecting it isn't from the in-room FR plots I've taken of my speakers.

Just to double check it, I've just this minute recorded myself using AudioTools at 44.1KHz/16Bit strumming away on my Gibson. I've just uploaded it to the PC and played it back using a vintage Luxman L435 and a pair of M&D Sapphires with AMT drivers. Result? Pretty impressive, actually, considering its tiny size, albeit mono but so is the guitar. I wish I could upload it here...

Here's some in-room FR plots. I don't think they are far off the mark. The reason for posting is I'm not sure how much effort you expended checking out the mic.

Plot with 211s driving Apogees no Descent:



Plot with Luxman L435 driving Apogees no Descent:



Mic at usual position - literally where my ears usually are. Pink noise input, averaged over 20 seconds.

TBH I'm starting to basically trust it - even if it isn't 100% correct, it IS good for comparative purposes. Now I've got some time I'll use it to align the Descent. I'll post the results.

Input from others here appreciated - I'll probably post some more thoughts later. Things to do, places to go.

BTW: positive proof to the bystander amps really do make a difference! Look carefully at the Luxman's bass response - also look at the worst case peak to peak over the frequency range and compare it with the 211s.

Additionally - apps to do this obviously already exist - but an ML badged one, with setup tips and perhaps using AudioTools s/w tech would be a nice touch (give him a call - I know he does contract work and has done for major brand names/manufacturers). You never know - he might be cheap

-justin- said:

It's actually been an internal debate while developing some new high-end subwoofers (we are only in the "talking about it" phase, no actual products or official plan yet) -- should we put money into room correction functionality, or focus on making them sonically the most kick-ass subwoofers for the money and leave the room correction to the processor or aftermarket accessory. What are your thoughts?

~J

Click to expand...

I'm inclined towards the former as I like as little crap between me and the music signal, but then I think of the JL subs (at least some of which have built in room correction).

-justin- said:

It's actually been an internal debate while developing some new high-end subwoofers (we are only in the "talking about it" phase, no actual products or official plan yet) -- should we put money into room correction functionality, or focus on making them sonically the most kick-ass subwoofers for the money and leave the room correction to the processor or aftermarket accessory. What are your thoughts?

~J

Click to expand...

Justin,

In my system I use 4 subs, two Descents and two Velodyne DD-18's. The Velodynes have equalizers and as you know the Descents do not. I use the the Meridian 861 v6 processor and use the MRC (Meridian Room Correction) to manage these subs. My vote goes strongly for "sonically the most kick-ass subwoofers for the money" - I'll leave the room correction for the Meridian.

Regards,
Gary

I had a stab at aligning the Descent with the Apogees yesterday using the iPhone. After the activity, the Descent settings remain the same.

What becomes apparent though is that the controls aren't really flexible enough to achieve a really nice blend. It's more a case of seeing a bump in the frequency response produced by the Descent and controlling the amplitude of that bump.

I reckon that producing the best subs must involve finding a really flexible way of "contouring" its output, together with an easy means of confirming it. IMHO, an iPhone is probably good enough for the task.

Just my 10 cents...

Hey everyone, just posted a new monthly video on Basic Room Acoustics with Peter Soderberg at the helm. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckoqpBmS_mw&hd=1

~Justin

Great job on the acoustics presentation! I particularly liked Peter's reference to using bookshelves, as that's exactly what I've done!