Having designed and manufactured amplifiers and DSP for the best part of two decades, Renkus-Heinz is well-versed in exploring emerging technologies and experimenting with unconventional approaches. In September 2024, the California-based loudspeaker manufacturer introduced OmniBeam – a new beam-steering software tool available for free with the latest RHAON II 2.5.0 release. Speaking exclusively to TPi, Renkus-Heinz Product Manager, Brandon Heinz, reflects on the company’s decades-long pursuit of research and development in steerable technology.re4
“We are incredibly excited to bring OmniBeam to our customers,” enthused Heinz. “OmniBeam will help deliver dramatically better results when using our beam-steered loudspeakers in as little time as possible, allowing our partners to save time and money on their installations and deployments, which will lead to greater success on their projects. We can’t wait to see what kind of projects this new algorithm will enable for our customers!”
PUTTING SOUND WHERE IT’S NEEDED
Beam steering can account for, and in most cases overcome, challenging acoustic environments. “Because the coverage is generated via the beam steering, you don’t need to physically adjust the array to make any coverage adjustments, so if your plan doesn’t quite match reality when you get on-site – any adjustments can be handled through software.”
The benefits, Heinz cites, are apparent when you consider acoustics. “We put sound where it’s needed. This happens in 360° because of the relationship between the steering and the direct line-source transducers giving us a dramatic difference in terms of direct-reverberant ratio compared to traditional loudspeaker systems. This allows us to run the sound system louder without exciting the room as much – so you get more clarity, more intelligibility due to the reduction of the reflections of the reverberations within the space,” he explained.
With this coverage generation happening in 360°, Heinz referred to this as an ‘umbrella opening and closing’, with corresponding gesticulation. “This 360° coverage generation means beam-steered sound systems have improved off-axis coverage, resulting in more seats getting the same sound quality as the on-axis coverage – dramatically reducing the need for out- and front-fill loudspeakers. This reduces the number of loudspeakers required to cover a venue, and fewer fill loudspeakers means there’s less unnecessary energy going into the room which results in a clearer mix.” he said.
“When we think about outdoor music festivals and live events, noise control is something that is incredibly important. You want to make sure that you’re not putting too much sound into neighbouring stages and external environments, and with digital beam steering, there is an incredibly dramatic drop-off once you’re outside the intended coverage zone, which can be a huge benefit when maintaining good relationships with your neighbors and meeting any legal requirements for noise levels off-site.”
When it comes to compatibility with pre-existing systems, Renkus-Heinz amplifiers feature audio-over-IP, so end users can use most desired audio sources, and standard ethernet control with no specialised hardware required. The amplifiers can also be used with existing mixing consoles and platforms.
“All of our steerable loudspeakers include the latest generation processing power to accommodate the many channels of FIR filters required for beam steering. Our multi-channel amplifiers use a very non-traditional amplifier topology for the pro audio world, which gives us a marked benefit in terms of linearity and sound quality,” Heinz said, highlighting a selection of the manufacturer’s beam-steered solutions.
In technical terms, Renkus-Heinz’s amplifier range can be described as ‘true digital, no negative feedback Class D’ amplifiers. Essentially, if you access the amplifier digitally – either via AES or Dante – there is no conversion to analogue in the entire signal chain, all the way from DSP through to the drivers. According to Heinz, this means there is “no loss of information” when it comes to determining the sound quality.
He added: “We use an FIR-based feed-forward correction system which helps to correct for the amplifier-transducer system, and that provides a very linear output stage, more traditional than a Class AB amplifier, which gives us the sound quality of the Class AB amplifier because of the no-negative feedback, with the efficiency of Class D.”
As music and programmed content is often complex, negative feedback circuits can correct steady-state signals like sine waves and tones. Heinz elaborated: “However, music is dynamic, so sometimes the negative feedback circuit is attempting to correct something that has already passed. Without that, using the FIR feed-forward and understanding the relationship between the transducer and amplifier, we can correct those distortions as well as having a linear output stage – so we get really good sound quality and highly efficient electronics as well.”
SUSTAINABLE SOUND SOLUTIONS
“Customer feedback and input are important to us,” Heinz said, explaining how the company utilises these insights during its rigorous product development process. “Some of the feedback we get when considering our beam-steered loudspeakers is the ease of setup, how consistent the coverage is, how good it sounds overall, as well as how easy it is to transport.”
As all digitally beamed loudspeaker systems are self-powered, their inclusion on a rider can simplify transportation needs because you’re only transporting your loudspeakers, as opposed to both loudspeakers and amplifier racks, which can radically reduce the amount of space needed and inflate transportation costs, as well as impact environmental considerations. “Thinking about the environment is very important for us as a company and the way we design our loudspeakers reflects that,” Heinz remarked.
Indeed, all Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers tend to be self-powered, optimised with the inclusion of incredibly high-efficiency electronics, which can generate very high voltage swings to produce good power and have low current draw, with overall usage reportedly lower than some competing sound systems on the market.
“The way we design our loudspeakers is they don’t draw a lot of heat, which results in lower VAC usage in venues, which can lower resource usage when you’re thinking about utilisation in venues,” Heinz explained.
“We manufacture in California, which has some of the strictest regulations in the US when it comes to environmental considerations for manufacturing, and we do not just meet those requirements, but we exceed them by large levels.”
Looking to the future, Heinz theorises on the role of emerging technologies: “A lot of machine learning algorithms are data-driven, and at this point, we’ve been doing live sound for a long time, so I could see machine learning being used to simplify setup on-site – making it easier for crew to enter a venue and get their desired results from a loudspeaker system. I could also see this being used for development, using data to drive product development in such a way that helps us meet the specific needs of specific markets, helping us understand greater what environments our users are operating in to meet their desires as opposed to developing generalised products.”
Artificial intelligence, he believes, can be used to “simplify” the setup process. In addition to the machine learning, which enables AI.
Words: Jacob Waite
Photos: Renkus-Heinz
