audioXpress Magazine March 2026

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audioXpress Magazine March 2026

audioXpress remains the authority on audio and reproduced sound by connecting manufacturers and distributors with developers, buyers and consultants around the globe! It's readers are the audio product designers, consultants, integrators, DIY enthusiasts, opinion leaders and your best customers. All of them agree that the coverage of trending topics, unique in the audio industry, make audioXpress a must read.

Every month, audioXpress combines the best educational articles on topic such audio electronics, speaker and headphone design, amplifiers (from tube to Class D), acoustics, practical test and measurement, audio engineering praxis, and standards. audioXpress provides inside stories on new audio developments, on R&D Stories, the most complete objective reviews of innovative products and software, and selects some of the best DIY audio projects from worldwide experts.

Simply Better
When we use AI to improve audio signals, it really delivers.
Editorial By J. Martins
Writing for this issue of audioXpress always happens when we are immersed in the incredible experience that is the most influential consumer electronics trade show in the world: CES. These days, CES is mostly about the consumer technology supply chain—technology providers and parts suppliers pushing the ODMs and the OEMs to embrace an idea and showcase the best and most cost-effective way to implement it on a real product and the fastest way to bring it to market successfully. When it comes to audio technology, CES allows seeing the most extreme of the equation, from sets of reference designs from where to start, all the way to projects in-the-works, with engineering and technology partners involved in a demonstration. As I often explain in my CES reports, most of the demos I attend are not of working products, but of loose parts of the technology ecosystem required to enable new product concepts and categories. And that can go from wireless speakers to home cinema systems, from gaming equipment to new headphones or hearables with cutting-edge features.
---> Simply Better: AI Really Delivers.

5 Supporting Companies

Features
44 A Guide For Developers
Evaluating And Testing Bluetooth LE Audio Performance
Part 4—The Analog Path
By Brewster LaMacchia
In this last part of our four-part article series,
we'll look at the analog path, continuing to use the
Cloud2GND Aurawave AW100 Bluetooth LE Audio
board as an example of a typical design that reflects
real-world Bluetooth LE Audio constraints, including
LC3 performance limits, clocking requirements, and
practical RF and analog trade-offs.

50 Phase and Delays Part 2—True Delays
By René Christensen
In Part 1 of this three-part article series, we looked at
how phase is introduced when having both active and
reactive components in a system, and how the two
delays "phase delay" and "group delay" are derived
from the phase response. In this article, we will
relate the special case of "true delay" to the phase
response, and we will also look at how a "polarity flip"
affects the phase response across all frequencies. The
transient and the steady-state delays are illustrated
for various systems, to show how many systems can
have the same steady-state delay, but differ in their
initial output.

58 What's All This Watts RMS Stuff?
By Paul Marchese
The term "Watts RMS" in audio and electrical
engineering continues to be used incorrectly when
rating amplifier or loudspeaker power. This article
agrees with Bob Pease's line of thought and attempts
to clarify why voltage and current are RMS'd and
argues why "Watts RMS" has no valid physical basis
and should not be used in technical specifications.

Columns
Hollow-State Electronics
62 Musical Instrument Amplifiers Through The Years
By Richard Honeycutt
Electric violins. Electric pianos. Early electric organs.
Several instruments were amplified before electric guitars.
These early systems typically used simple triode or later
beam-power/pentode vacuum-tube amplifiers, derived
directly from radios, feeding loudspeakers to make these
instruments audible on stage.

Test & Measurement
Market Update
8 Audio Measurements, AI, And Accelerated Change
By J. Martins
Test and measurement solutions are evolving to
meet industry needs, supporting new standards
and practices. This market update provides an
overview of the latest in audio development
and testing.

22 Dayton Audio DATS LA Loudspeaker Analyzer
By Stuart Yaniger
The new Dayton Audio DATS LA is a USB-connected
loudspeaker test system in a compact box with PC
software that measures impedance, Thiele-Small parameters,
and advanced nonlinear characteristics of loudspeaker
drivers and systems. A lower-cost option for speaker
designers and serious DIY users who need lab-style
driver characterization. Stuart Yaniger explores what
he can do with it.

32 Multiphysics Acoustic Testing With Dewesoft DAQ
By Grant M. Smith
In modern engineering and product development,
understanding sound and vibration—often the byproduct
of interactions among multiple physical domains—is
essential to designing reliable, efficient, and
high-performance systems. Discover how Dewesoft
DAQ systems enable multiphysics acoustic testing by
integrating sound, vibration, thermal, and electrical
data for any application.

36 Frequency Normalized Distortion
A Necessity for Modern Transducers
By Steve Temme
Frequency Normalized Distortion is a more accurate
method for measuring distortion in transducers, and
should be used alongside conventional THD measurements.
This article gives the background from the creator of the
original measurement.

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