AES Digital Audio Survey
Kevin Gross, Chair of the Audio Engineering Society Network Audio Standards Group has posted a survey. The group is looking for input regarding networked audio applications from real world users.
From the survey…
“Thank you for participating in this audio networking requirements survey. In your responses, we will be looking for trends and general sentiment with regards to use of networking technologies for audio.
This survey is being conducted by the Network Audio Systems technical committee of the Audio Engineering Society (AES). Please direct any questions, comments or elaboration to tc-nas-survey@aes.org.
The results of this survey will be presented at an audio networking workshop at the 119th AES convention in October 2005. Knowledgeable and experienced respondents representing disparate applications areas will be invited to participate in the workshop discussion of audio networking requirements.”
It’s good to see a working group take an active role but I have to question if the AES is still relevant when it comes to cutting edge audio issues. The exhibits at AES have already been eclipsed by other shows like ETS-LDI, Systems Integration-NSCA and Infocomm. Reports from Europe indicate that the turnout at AES Barcelona a couple of weeks ago was pretty dismal. The way the AES is structured presently makes it difficult for the standards and working groups to keep up with the natural forces of the market. They just can’t respond as fast as the commercial market to changes in the market brought by technology or innovation from aggressive manufacturers. Many of these new manufacturers aren’t supporting the organization as others have in the past. The standards are being developed part time by volunteers while the technology is being developed full time by engineers and marketers paid to get products to market and provide solutions. In route to that the standards process gets the short end of the stick. The irony is that some of the volunteers are the same engineers that are charged by their respective employers to build bigger, better and cheaper (or more profitable) solutions.
I suppose my question is, what can be done to the structure of the AES to make the organization more proactive and able to develop standards faster than the market can? As an industry we need a professional society of the stature of the AES.
What can we do to make sure the AES is still relevant in five years?
June 16th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
AES has lost industry prestige, and along with that the money audio manufacturers spent to sustain the organization. Perhaps it is just a reflection of the times, less appreciation paid to those who further the science of audio technology. Personally, I think a little more effort spent on focusing the AES to the needs of potential members, guys like us in the audio trenches, would go a long way towards the recruitment of new members. The membership dues paid to AES from new members would also go a long way towards sustaining the society and its goals.