Redefining acoustic testing
Redefining acoustic testing
Audio Precision’s APx517B acoustic analyser has been designed specifically for the production-line testing of speakers, microphones, headphones and headsets
On a production line, any time spent setting up a new test system, calibrating a system for a new shift or reconfiguring a system for a change in DUT (device under test) means that production is temporarily halted. Audio Precision has designed an all-in-one solution, the APx517B, to reduce setup and reconfiguration time by eliminating multiple individual components (from a variety of vendors) and their associated cabling. Unlike those individual components, the APx517B is delivered with an accredited ISO/IEC 17025 calibration to ensure the quality of obtained results.
According to the manufacturer, most, if not all, current acoustic analysis systems are an assortment of individual components from different vendors. As such, one of the risks of these systems is the quality and reliability of each component, along with the configuration of each connection point. The APx517B is an integrated system engineered and assembled to the same standard as all other APx analysers and is delivered with a three-year warranty.
In its base configuration, the APx517B is a ready-to-go system for measuring analogue equipment. For digital devices, the APx517B has a module slot for the addition of a single APx digital interface module, of which there are six in total, Digital I/O, Bluetooth, Digital Series I/O, PDM, HDMI or PDM-16 input.
On the software side, a standard system provides a core set of measurements and functionality to allow out-of-the-box, fundamental testing of acoustic devices, such as file analysis, sequence mode, input signal monitors (including FFT monitor), level and gain, THD+N, loudspeaker product test (including rub and buzz), stepped frequency sweep, pass/fail and signal acquisition measurement.
As with APx500 Flex, the manufacturer’s APx500 software paired with an ASIO-capable audio interface, a trio of Flex Packs is available for the APx517B, each offering different groups of more advanced measurements. Perceptual audio measurements – including ABC-MRT and POLQA – can also be used with Flex. For users that need the base configuration plus just one or two more measurements, an à la carte menu of measurements is available. Audio Precision reports that APx500 Flex remains the best solution for analogue-only test applications but for midrange analogue test and digital test applications, such as Bluetooth headphones and smart speakers, the APx517B is the preferred solution.
APx500 software release 6.0.1 is also available for download by APx B Series or Legacy analyser users with a valid 6.0 licence and is compatible with all analysers in the APx500 Series (note: an APx KeyBox is required to run v6.0 on Legacy APx analysers). As with all other new APx analysers, the APx517B ships with version 6.0.1 software and one year of software maintenance, licensing the instrument for APx version 7.0 when it is released, as well as any minor releases that occur between versions 6.0 and 7.0.