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The AES is always trying to find ways to improve the AES Conventions. Since the complexity of products in the market has changed quite a lot within the last few years, there is now a need for more in-depth information, not just about cutting-edge theory, but also about new products and new trends in product development.

So, starting with the 114th convention in Amsterdam, the technical program will be supplemented by a series of Exhibitor Seminars. These will be presentations by exhibitors on their product or service to explain the technical background and functionality. For the visitors, the benefits of the new exhibitor seminars are that they get detailed information about the new product, learn about its unique features, and how it fits into their own audio environment.

Most of the seminars are arranged in one-hour slots, but some topics such as DVD-Audio or Super Audio CD take two or three slots to describe the processes involved.

This brand-new element in the AES Convention Program has had an incredible response from exhibitors: There are a total of 25 Seminars! The topic range is as wide as the pro-audio world.

A number of the Exhibitor Seminars present products and technologies concerning broadcasting, such as "Challenges and Solutions for Enterprise-wide Radio Integration" by Jutel Oy, "Broadcast Loudness Problems" by Dolby, "DIGA system in Radio Broadcasting" by DAVID, "Low Delay Transfer throughout Telecom Systems" by AETA and J & C Intersonic and "FFT Processing procedure for Voice, Audio and On Air Signal processing" by IDT and J&C Intersonic.

Another hot topic is Surround Sound - and not only on SACD or DVD-Audio. "Surround Sound Metering" will be explained by DK Audio, "5.1 via TCP/IP" is a subject for APT Audio Processing and "A Simple Way to Record Surround Sound" will be presented by Soundfield. And related to the SACD, Sadie will discuss "Mastering for Super Audio CD".

Computerization and computer networks play a major role in today's audio technology. "Audio and MIDI over FireWire" by Yamaha and "Audio over IP" by Mayah highlight this fact. "Quality Audio Coding" by APT Audio Processing and the "Technology of Advanced Audio Coding" by Telos Systems give new information about perceptual audio coding.

Another subject is Loudspeaker Technology such as "Ribbon Technology for Loudspeakers" held by Alcons Audio, "New Directivity Control Concepts" by Duran Audio, or "Laminar Spiral Enclosure (LSE) Technology" which is offered by Genelec. AKG will talk about "Wireless Microphones", and "Miniature Microphones and Speech Intelligibility" is the topic in the seminar held by DPA Microphones.

Other seminars deal with "Bass Creator for Active Noise Control", held by Ampco, or "Weiss Digital Audio Products" offered by Weiss Engineering. And, an interesting topic from Earthworks, who speak about "The World beyond 20 kHz - Earthworks Model of Human Hearing".