AXON’S Synapse goes Linear AcousticJanuary 14th, 2009

Synapse will be enhanced with DTV audio loudness management and stereo to 5.1 upmix algorithms designed by Linear Acoustic.

In order to fix inconsistent DTV audio loudness (or the so-called ‘loud commercial problem’) Linear Acoustic developed the AEROMAX 5.1 channel loudness and dynamic range control algorithm and the UPMAX upmixing algorithm with AutoMAX-II. Now, AXON will incorporate these useful functions into its Synapse modular system on two different platforms. Axon will show this new module at NAB2009.

With this functionality within Synapse, viewers are protected from loudness shifts and loss of surround sound. The built-in loudness control, upmixing and metadata control make it the ideal choice for high-quality and seamless surround sound experience for viewers. Control of all parameters will be available through Axon’s free-of-charge monitoring and control software Cortex.

The new unit will accept 4 pairs of PCM audio to handle two-channel to 5.1 channel audio programming and a bypass input. Multiband, multistage loudness control and selectable upmixing can be applied to the input audio resulting in smooth, consistent audio that can be 5.1 channels all the time. Another Synapse card will perform the same features in the embedded SD, HD or 3Gb/s domain. A full-time LtRt or LoRo downmix version of the main program is provided as the fourth AES output pair. Metadata is accepted as a standard RS-485 serial input for control of upmixing and processing functions.

Peter Schut, Axon’s CTO comments; “We are very pleased with the opportunity to incorporate Linear Acoustic’s expertise into Synapse. These units will be a welcome expansion to Synapse’s audio for video handling. We have been very successful with incorporating Dolby functionality in our Synapse and we are sure that these new products will be beneficial to our customers DTV applications”.

“We are excited and honored to be working with Axon”, says Tim Carroll, president of Linear Acoustic. “Adding our technologies to the comprehensive Synapse modular system will be very beneficial to customers world-wide as they will now have a complete high-density audio processing solution”.