May We Have a Word?
Ahoy, ahoy, audiophiles, and friends!
Shively Acoustics International is SAI-ling ⛵ into May, and at full speed. An excellent Noise and Vibration Conference in Grand Rapids is making way for AES Europe in Warsaw, a new analysis of the automotive audio market in 2025 is hot off the press, and fresh business for Roger & co. is emerging on the horizon.
Blue skies ahead!
Get it while it’s hot!
First things first: the June 2025 issue of industry magazine, and SAI media partner, audioXpress is now out! In it you will find “When Everything Is Now”, the latest in-depth report on the Automotive Audio by Shively Acoustics president Roger Shively, who co-authored it with audioXpress Editor-in-Chief and fellow APDA chair João Martins.
The expansive market report covers the automotive audio industry in the first months of 2025 up to now and discusses the present and looming challenges and opportunities associated with AI and large language models (LLMs), the evolution of software-defined audio, and innovations stemming from Chinese OEMs, among other things. Things have been and are moving fast in the world of Automotive Audio in 2025, with momentum only continuing to pick up. Read all about it and join in on the excitement!
Last week, Roger and SAI stopped by the SAE Noise and Vibration Conference and Exhibition in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from May 12 to 15. Held every two years and occurring in alternating years with AES’s Automotive Audio Conference, the two shows complement each other in providing a yearly platform to showcase technological trends in automotive applications. Some of the stops at this year’s NVC included a full session on active noise and vibration control, a workshop on acoustic materials, a full session on acoustics and vibration methods, and a panel discussion on what prototype-less vehicle development programs really mean for OEMs.
The legend: Wade Bray starts the BEV and HEV active sound design workshop (Photo: SAI)
A highlight for Roger this year was the workshop that kicked things off, Vehicle Development and Active Sound Design from HEAD acoustics. In their talk, Stefan Hank and Wade Bray of HEAD acoustics and Thomas Wellmann of FEV North America explored active sound design approaches for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs).
Another stand out followed later in the day, the conference’s sound quality workshop Practical Work Tips, New Standards, and the Human-centered Soundscape. This workshop, also given by Bray, was, as Roger describes, “what could be considered a benevolent sermon about perceived sound quality”. For a thorough exploration of Bray’s insightful “wise old talk”, keep a look out for edition #516 👀 of The Audio Voice newsletter, which is to feature Roger’s account of the conference discussing how new audio system design and AI are impacting both noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) and active noise control (ANC).
And speaking of newsletters: Now’s a good time to revisit Audio Voice #513, which features Roger’s guest editorial not only covering WCX 2025 in Detroit last month, but also including a preview of the Noise and Vibration Conference. A taste of what’s to come in the next one.
Update (05.23)
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Audio Voice #516 out NOW
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Click to read Roger's account of SAE Noise & Vibration
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Update (05.23) 〰️ Audio Voice #516 out NOW 〰️ Click to read Roger's account of SAE Noise & Vibration 〰️
On the business side of things, Shively Acoustics is continuing to build new relationships and explore novel applications. To this end, Roger is in Warsaw, Poland, this week. But such meetings are only the prelude. There is of course another reason we’re visiting the Polish capital this May. . .
…AES Europe is TOMORROW!!
And that’s not just in reference to the event’s tagline “shaping the soundscape of tomorrow”. The 2025 AES European Convention is commencing at the ATM Studio in Warsaw this Thursday and will run for three days from May 22 to 24.
SAI has spent months preparing for this year’s meeting in Europe, and as usual Roger can’t contain his excitement for a three-day arc of audio industry, innovation, and inspiration… Do we even need to tell you what the SAI Blog’s post in June is going to be about? 😉
While on the topic of the Audio Engineering Society, we’ve added another event to our calendar: Shively Acoustics will be attending the 2025 AES International Conference on Headphone Technology in Espoo, Finland, from August 27 to 29. Join us in Finland for an Espoo-cially good time!
Remember that all industry events that we plan to attend can be viewed in the SAI Newsroom, a list that is updated regularly. Coming up for us next month is the InfoComm trade show from June 11 to 13 in Orlando, Florida. See you there?
Stay tuned for June! 🎧 ■
Shively Acoustics International — Modern Audio Solutions, Worldwide