An emerging loudspeaker brand headquartered in Guangzhou, China, VA^® (Vatasa Audio) has adopted AFMG FIRmaker^® since early 2023 and successfully applied the technology to optimize system response in several sound reinforcement projects, including large-scale conferences, outdoor music festivals, and theater concerts, among other scenarios.

Developed by AFMG^® in Germany, FIRmaker combines modern acoustic modeling, high-resolution loudspeaker data, and advanced DSP control capabilities, to compute FIR filters according to the sound system configuration, audience area geometry, and user-defined optimization objectives, such as higher SPL output, better spectral consistency, and smoother sound coverage from the first to the last audience’s rows.

Instead of relying on a trial and error approach, FIRmaker's algorithm calculates the FIR filter settings needed to achieve the best listening experience at all locations in the room.

FIRmaker puts your sound where it belongs!

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"Before 2022, VA technical team realized that with traditional designing and tuning techniques, it is difficult to make a breakthrough improvement to the performance of large line array systems. When we learned about AFMG's FIRmaker optimization technology, we thought it would be a potential solution to enhance systems performance in terms of both dispersion control and sound quality. ", said Mr. HuiYang Wu, Technical Director of VA.

"We’ve been researching and evaluating FIRmaker technology for the past three years. After A/B comparative testing, we believe that FIRmaker can significantly improve the SPL uniformity and hearing consistency of the near, mid, and far-field covered by line arrays, measured results of SPL and frequency response at different positions match our listening experience very well.", said Mr. Chan-hee Lo, Director of R&D at VA.

"Since last year, we have been supporting our customers in adopting FIRmaker technology across several projects. One event that impressed me most was the China Seed Congress in Sanya. The conference hall had severe echo and reverberation interference. We used FIRmaker technology to optimize the vertical dispersion of the line arrays, ensuring high speech intelligibility in a very acoustically challenging space. The auditory consistency between the front and back fields was also very high.", said Mr. HuiYang Wu, Technical Director of VA.

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"The main line array speakers of the VA brand have GLL data. VA users are already familiar with EASE Focus' design workflow, which paves the way for implementing FIRmaker technology. Users only need the updated version of GLL data, which includes FIRmaker authorization to validate the calculation inside EASE Focus, and then export venue-specific FIR coefficients to VA’s DSP. In terms of hardware, with a newly upgraded amp-rack with FIR-capable DSP onboard, our flagship touring line-array systems including PRO X, and LAL and LAM support FIRmaker as default, and no changes will be required for the loudspeaker systems.", Mr. Wu added.

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AFMG's distributor for China Initial Audio Concept (IAC) has been collaborating with VA’s team on implementing FIRmaker. "We are very pleased to assist VA’s team in the whole process, from early days evaluation to on-site project commissioning. We will continue to support VA in building high-profile cases and offering FIRmaker training to the pro-audio communities!" Johnson Chow from IAC said.

"Thanks to the successful application of FIRmaker technology in several projects, our users' interest in FIRmaker technology is increasing, hence we have held several demonstrations and webinars in the past year and received very positive feedback. Going forward, we will continue to invest resources to help VA users better learn and apply FIRmaker with VA’s sound system ", said Mr. Canhui Hu, Managing Director of Concord Audio Industrial, the parent company of VA.

„We appreciate VA’s deep interest in our technology and are glad to see that FIRmaker works well for them in the field. Our good relationship with VA is greatly enhanced by our Chinese partner IAC and helps us to improve the technology even further. We look forward to the next steps in this productive collaboration!” AFMG’s managing director Stefan Feistel adds.

VA’s new GLL data unlocking the full capabilities of FIRmaker is a free download from VA’s and AFMG´s website.

Get more insight into the exciting China Seed Congress project.

VA^® (Vatasa Audio) is registered trademark of Concord Audio Industrial