What is the pain point in a professional audio amplifier, and what can be improved? Is adding IoT capability worth it? What can be innovated in professional audio amplifiers?
How can it be improved with IoT? That implies sensors sending and processing data. Don't know how would use it to improve audio.
Dont think IoT, think edge compute.
- Signal Processing with room correction using machine learning at the edge. (calculated coefficients are shared over a public network to improve the cnn neural network)
- The above point, crowd sharing of user defined models to improve DSP shaping of data based on environmental + personal aspects.
- Amplifier self healing + safety features using modern relatime MCU's, lots of amazing work remains here. Reading multi channel speaker voice coil behaviour vs amplifier drive.
- Class-d amplifier behaviour modeling class-d control theory using software tools.
Amps could report data like signal level/headroom, temperature and status of options (filters, soft clipping/limiting, bridging) and temperatures (maybe fan RPM) wirelessly. Maybe standby status, gain, and options could also be changed remotely. That seems like it would be helpful for large installations or ones that run without someone in charge on site.
And, unsurprisingly, here in the science fiction world of the 21st Century, if you look at the specs of a current amplifier from Crown, there is indeed support for something called HiQnet protocol over TCP/IP networks, plus the ability to receive audio digitally (Dante/AES67 networked audio) rather than the caveman way with XLR and 1/4" jacks.
DCi 8|600DA | Crown Audio - Professional Power Amplifiers
I'd try an Arduino running Mysensors firmware to report signal level and temperatures, and maybe switch standby status. If an amp is part of a whole house audio system, fans and heat sinks clogging with dryer lint is a real possibility. Mysensors devices can interface with various popular home automation systems, and communicate over wired and wireless links.
And, unsurprisingly, here in the science fiction world of the 21st Century, if you look at the specs of a current amplifier from Crown, there is indeed support for something called HiQnet protocol over TCP/IP networks, plus the ability to receive audio digitally (Dante/AES67 networked audio) rather than the caveman way with XLR and 1/4" jacks.
DCi 8|600DA | Crown Audio - Professional Power Amplifiers
I'd try an Arduino running Mysensors firmware to report signal level and temperatures, and maybe switch standby status. If an amp is part of a whole house audio system, fans and heat sinks clogging with dryer lint is a real possibility. Mysensors devices can interface with various popular home automation systems, and communicate over wired and wireless links.
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The engineers from Crown got fired and started a new company:
LEA Professional - Home
For me improvements would be:
1) Increased power capabilities into 8 ohm loads (hard/impossible to hit peak output capabilities of large subs with modern drivers using current amps).
2) Temperature/excursion feedback on drivers to better inform limiting (this could be done at a low cost per driver with additional sensors but a standard would need to be developed, perhaps voice coil DCR could be sensed using amps though).
LEA Professional - Home
For me improvements would be:
1) Increased power capabilities into 8 ohm loads (hard/impossible to hit peak output capabilities of large subs with modern drivers using current amps).
2) Temperature/excursion feedback on drivers to better inform limiting (this could be done at a low cost per driver with additional sensors but a standard would need to be developed, perhaps voice coil DCR could be sensed using amps though).
Voice coil DCR is well tested technology for temperature sensing, it never caught on in loudspeakers but is absolutely standard in the record cutting game where there kW class amps push sub 1 inch diameter drive coils in helium filled drivers.
Usual approach is a bridge detector looking at a drive amp with a deliberate small DC offset.
One other thing you could do here is use that feedback to compensate power compression.
Plenty of kit has built in networking and DSP these days, but such things should almost always be wired, the RF environment at a reasonable gig is quite nasty enough without adding to it unnecessarily.
Identify a real problem then figure out the solution (Which may be 'IOT'), however "This needs to be IOT" is never a reasonable problem statement.
Usual approach is a bridge detector looking at a drive amp with a deliberate small DC offset.
One other thing you could do here is use that feedback to compensate power compression.
Plenty of kit has built in networking and DSP these days, but such things should almost always be wired, the RF environment at a reasonable gig is quite nasty enough without adding to it unnecessarily.
Identify a real problem then figure out the solution (Which may be 'IOT'), however "This needs to be IOT" is never a reasonable problem statement.
Deliberately creating the possibility for hackers to take over your amp is not a selling point to me(!), so any IoT facilities should be limited to performance monitoring, not control I suggest. Early failure analysis is a thing, attempting to predict problems and scheduling preventative maintainance.
But the most important thing I suspect is being bombproof, rugged and reliable - though that rather reduces the number of amps you can sell later if they never fail! Its also hard to guarantee, perhaps arranging for redundancy, so that failed modules can be switched out automatically and modules replaced later or even hot-swapped. Think RAID.