I am driven by my passion for music: from its creation, to the technologies required to capture it and transmit it in our physical world.
I share my creativity and curiosity towards the intellectual challenges of innovation, acoustics and composition.
Designing a speaker system is a demanding engineering task: a delicate blend of knowledge, research, and musical taste.
I ponder transducers and materials because of a combination of technical and sonic properties. Customer expectations should be nurtured with intensive listening training.
I regularly use standard simulation software (e.g. FineCone, FineMotor, Femm 4.2, Abec, etc. etc.) to study, predict and share design targets between customers and OEMs alike.
My work always starts with the same questions: What is a true listening experience? How can we convey emotions to the final users? What is sound quality?
Passive Speakers
For passive system, I believe in a “less is more” approach, that performs significantly better against more complex designs which might seem more appealing on paper. Transducers’ quality is key to simplify the passive crossover network, thus minimising audio artefacts.
Years spent in listening and comparing products still suggest me it is always better to leave the final judgment to the ears, even after accurate measurements sessions, because there is always a more musical solution for any budget.
Active Speakers
Active speaker design offers possibilities that are simply not achievable with passive products. The final acoustical performance comes from the same balance that shapes a good passive speaker, plus a wise choice of DSP (EQ, limiters, converters) use. The goal is to enhance the results and preserve the audio quality from possible bottlenecks.
An optimal active design should feel as natural sounding as its passive counterpart. Casual listeners or professional users should not be able to discriminate an active system from a passive one only due to its sonic footprint.
A car sound system is a special case among active multichannel ones; it requires the highest standard in terms of reliability and performance. Considering new automotive trends and the evolution of self-driven vehicles is crucial to offer innovative solutions that can enhance the sound quality and the freedom to enjoy entertainment content in new ways.
How can your project offer more? Mixing superior audio quality with freedom of movement in the cockpit? Empowering the driving experience actively reducing noise and vibrations?
Audio signal processing is winning factor in all kind of audio devices, from mobile phones, to TV sets, from portable speakers, to car systems. Actually as all digital systems rely on DSP but not all the designs sound the same. Superior audio quality and better user experiences need transparency, correct time alignment, and careful system layout.
I’ve personally researched acoustic feedback cancellation and echo cancellation, angle sensing detection algorithms thanks to on-board microphones and real-time measurements (for beam-steering columns), ultrasonic sensing and processing for control algorithms and fault-detection in automotive applications, fuel detection algorithms for engine control units, and much more.
Designing spaces for speech and music applications is a major topic in acoustics. Modern facilities require flexibility to host music performances and/or conferences, thus needing very accurate planning and clear target performance. The actual acoustic response of your venue will leave a strong footprint (and memory) onto players and audience alike.
Knowing the challenges the corresponding constraints from both the engineer’s and musician’s point of view gives a tremendous help to understand, define and share the most desirable acoustic properties for any design, no matter if it’s a control room for a home studio, a multi-functional venue hosting theatre and live music, or a listening room for research and product development.
Designs of bass traps, wideband absorbers, scattering and diffusing panels are widely available, but on the contrary, how to integrate the acoustic treatment and create a comfortable environment for a specific budget is not obvious.
Careful measurements of the status quo, accurate and musically-oriented design rules and correct presentation of all the different phases of the project are the key factor for a winning design.
Having worked in both the academic and private environment I truly believe that both worlds should collaborate to exchange knowledge and commitment to achieve better results in a shorter amount of time.
Both entities will profit of great benefits once a clear plan for a common research has been set and the responsibilities have been shared.
I’ve covered all the possible tasks; from being the single researcher guided by tutors from university and company, to being a tutor myself. Accordingly I’m being able to facilitate all the processes involved.
Particular care should be taken especially when sensible information must be shared or when decisions about protecting or publishing relevant intellectual property could have an impact on the scientific community or on the market.
Click here to view my list of publications