The future of audio

• Features

• 24/01/2025

The way the AV industry is evolving will undeniably impact the means by which humans communicate and collaborate with one another. And in today’s world, one of the primary ways we communicate with one another is through technology. The role of audio technology in facilitating human connection should not be understated, and the quality of sound can make or break the effectiveness of communication. As a leading audio player in the business communications field, Sennheiser is no stranger to this notion.

At the helm of Sennheiser’s success in helping foster communication is Kai Tossing, head of product management at Sennheiser. Tossing gives insight into the brand’s approach to creating high-quality audio output: “At Sennheiser, we really care about good audio especially when it comes to business and government applications, as well as higher education. This goes beyond hardware matters — it’s also about how to integrate and adopt technology in the best way possible.”

As emerging technologies make their way to the AV world, the landscape for audio solutions in the business communications field undergoes a shift. Meeting spaces have evolved to the point that good audio is no longer seen as an added bonus, but a necessity. At the same time, there is a growing expectation for all forms of technology — novel or not — to be naturally integrated into meeting space environments without being the core focus of the environment. How is Sennheiser keeping up with this shift?

Tossing answers: “This fundamentally goes back to key questions that I ask myself during our product development phase. How do users engage with our products? Are our products easily understood? How can you make best use of the technology at hand? Especially with emerging technologies in audio, how can we make sure that technology becomes easier to deploy and use? When developing our products, we look at things through a holistic lens and try to make technology as accessible as possible, without taking away from its main purpose – to make collaboration and learning easier.”

There are many emerging technologies that are poised to revolutionise the way audio is delivered, and one of them is beamforming technology. Tossing observes: “Beamforming is a game changer when it comes to audio technology and has made it much easier to deploy technology in spaces with architectural constraints. In the past, it was typically a bad idea to fit multiple microphones into the ceiling because no one wants to see these microphones jutting out. Hence, we now have to consider how our products can be more condensed and scalable as we keep up with emerging technologies while being mindful of spatial limitations. With our original TeamConnect Ceiling M microphones, we were able to re-engineer it for midsize spaces by modifying the topology of our microphones and reducing the number of capsules needed — bringing down costs while still being incredibly effective.”

According to Tossing, beamforming has caused a disruption in the audio technology scene as people start to rethink how technology can be deployed more effectively in a meeting space. He sheds light on how Sennheiser’s TeamConnect (TC) Bar leverages beamforming technology to deliver better meeting outcomes: “With beamforming’s ability to facilitate exclusion and priority zones for more precise audio capture, unwanted reflections can be filtered out as exclusion zones help to mitigate interference from sources like walls or glass partitions. On the other hand, priority zones can enhance focus by directing attention to specific areas or individuals within the room. This approach offers an alternative to traditional bespoke solutions, where each component of the audio system is individually selected and hence, more hardware has to be deployed. By incorporating all the necessary features into our all-in-one TC Bar, we’re able to create a product that is scalable for all targeted meeting spaces.”

Moreover, there is a rising trend amongst end users to opt for solutions that allow room for flexibility and interoperability. Tossing comments: “This is where having audio over IP features, such as Dante, open up possibilities for greater flexibility. It allows users to mix and match solutions while catering to a wide variety of applications. With new trends in audio technology, the baseline is that we always try to stay close to our customers, understand their pain points, and align ourselves with our brand mission which is to make collaboration and learning easier.”

When discussing up and coming trends, speaker tracking cannot be missed as more people give greater weight to meeting equity and inclusion. Tossing reflects on Sennheiser’s foray into the world of speaker tracking: “Initially, we didn’t focus primarily on integrating camera tracking with beamforming microphones. However, it turned out to be a really efficient and accurate way of detecting speakers and their positions swiftly. Camera tracking in itself is evolving, and we have been collaborating with our partners such as Q-SYS and Crestron, to bring different forms of technologies into a single system. The combination of these technologies with beamforming vector information allows for a more precise determination of audio sources, and thus more accurate camera tracking. The more information we can bring together, the more precise the tracking becomes and thus, the better the meeting experience.”

It seems that for Sennheiser, the art of its business lies in the brand’s ability to strike the right balance between innovation and practicality. Tossing shares how this is done: “We invest heavily in research and development when looking at what technologies are on the horizon. To achieve this, we closely monitor how user applications are evolving and how technology facilitates these changes, especially over the next five to 10 years. We don’t build products just for the sake of innovation; rather, we want to genuinely address customer needs.”

Cautious of jumping on the bandwagon for popularity’s sake, Tossing notes: “When it comes to emerging technologies like AI, we often recognise them as buzzwords. However, to me, AI represents a different approach to problem-solving just like how beamforming technology is a different way to solve certain audio challenges in a meeting space. Technology is simply an enabler. We don’t hop on emerging technologies for the sake of it, but only when necessary.”

Tossing highlights the importance of technology as an enabler of better communication and collaboration outcomes, and audio’s crucial role in fostering an emotional connection between humans. He says: “The more immersive an audio experience is, the more natural the environment can be, be it a meeting or a lecture. It reduces a lot of the fatigue that people experience these days.”

He concludes: “Moving forward, we will continue to leverage our expertise to create more immersive experiences. Recently, Q-SYS, one of our Global Alliance Partners, has chosen our industryleading TCC 2 to play a central role in crafting the first ever Microsoft Teams Room certified solution that supports spatial audio. With this, our TCC 2 can seamlessly integrate with Q-SYS’ solutions such as the Teamscertified Q-SYS Core processor and SPA series amplifiers. We’re excited about the possibilities this opens up and are continually exploring ways to further enhance audio experiences."