Audio at the IFA: In the beginning was the noise...
The IFA in Berlin not only exhibited smart devices of all kinds, but also audio devices. In Hall 1.2, Team digitec had to put up with a lot of noise and enjoyed an unexpected musical experience.
Hall 1.2 at IFA can best be described with the word "sensory overload". It's loud, very loud. The noise level at IFA is generally rather high, which means that video producer Stephanie Tresch and I like to enjoy the peace and quiet of the editorial team in the evenings and only hear the clicking of mice and the clattering of keyboards. But we would never have imagined what goes on in 1.2. That's where all the audio manufacturers are and they're in an arms race with bass, tweeters and 360-degree sound from all angles.
At Magnat, "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC seems to be competing with the White Stripes and "Seven Nations Army". Magnat desperately wants to drown out Jack White and Co. but the White Stripes can be even louder. Teufel also wants to get in on the act, and although they are a long way away, they will make the hall in the surrounding area shake with their bass.
After five minutes, Stephanie and I fall silent. So far, we've been discussing the day's plans, coordinating meetings and shoots as well as ideas for videos and making plans for lunch. The sonic bombardment never stops. Plus bright lights, spotlights and flickering screens.
"The people who work in here must be the hardest people ever," says Stephanie. I nod my head. Because we have the luxury of being able to leave the hall if it gets too much for us. The Danes and Germans at the Libratone stand don't have that. Neither do the other stand helpers, consultants, streamers, DJs and salespeople in the hall. The hall becomes a borderline experience after about an hour.
But still: we keep stopping, pricking up our ears and trying to concentrate on just one song. Because the sound of the equipment is amazing. Without exception. No matter which stand we're at, the sound system sounds fantastic. The people who chose the songs for the sound system playlists have diverse and very good taste when it comes to music.
Teufel: The terror of the Badi
D Teufel draws attention to itself with a thunderous bass beat. Both the speakers and the stand have an industrial design. Rough shapes, hard edges, rough surfaces and the tables have steel beams as legs and pallets as table tops. On top of this, in a cage made of water pipes and metal grating, stands a knee-high box. I really liked it. The device is called Teufel Rockster Air and makes a really great noise.
It's the device that will provide Latvians with such an annoying sound on a hot summer's day that anyone else who turns up with a Bluetooth speaker can pack up and head for the pension meadow. The e-ink display on the cage says that the Rockster Air has up to 14 hours of battery life, so you can be sure that you really can scare away every last Letten visitor. Especially if you follow the Zurich tradition and only play each track halfway through, as someone in your group will get the idea that another track sounds just as good. "We were a bit conservative with the battery life," a woman in a Teufel uniform tells us, "on average 18 to 20 hours is about right". Plus the fact that the Rockster Air can be 111 decibels loud. That's the volume of a car horn from one metre away. Despite the noise, the Rockster Air, which has larger and smaller siblings, is impressive. It manages to dispel the flood of stimuli from its immediate surroundings through sheer volume and sound damn good at the same time.
Not only does the Teufel Rockster Air work with a rechargeable battery, but any mobile can be connected to the speaker via Bluetooth 4.0 with AptX. It also has cable connections at the back for microphone, guitar, line and aux. In other words: noise from all sources, loud and good. I want one. I really do.
We tried to record the noise in 1.2 on camera. Since our Sennheiser mic, just like the Sony a7S II's onboard mic, filters and cancels out the noise, we're not able to accurately bring you the sonic bombardment. But imagine about 100 clubs that are in a gigantic hall, have far fewer dancers and can just blast noise into the open space.
"Clocks" as a warm relief
After three hours in Hall 1.2, we feel mentally shattered. We're not tired, but it's impossible to think clearly. It's an overkill of information, everything wants to affect us. We don't talk to each other any more, because there's no need for another stimulus. We sit on a wooden bench near the Magnat stand, eat a carrot and drink mineral water. Just for five minutes. Then we move on. Maybe we've missed a great speaker or a beautiful system.
Piano sounds.
Warm, beautiful sounds. The melody: "Clocks" by the British band Coldplay, but the piano sounds different. Not as if it's thundering out of a loudspeaker. Warmer, livelier. We follow the sound.
We stop in front of a Yamaha grand piano
.
He plays alone. The keys move. Everything that is not piano in "Clocks" sounds like a stereo system standing in front of a sofa. Sitting down actually sounds like a pretty good idea. The grand piano sounds better. We watch the instrument spellbound. Coldplay have never sounded better. Okay, maybe live, but neither Stephanie nor I have experienced that before. That's why we let Chris Martin and his bandmates sprinkle us a little after the sound of battle.
"I used to have an electric Yamaha piano as a child," says Stephanie. The broad smile has returned to her face. 'I feel much better than I did five minutes and seven seconds ago. I think I'm smiling too, but I'm probably looking a bit happy-goofy in the neighbourhood.
In front of us is the seventh generation Yamaha Disklavier Enspire. A smart piano, so to speak. It integrates into an environment's Wi-Fi and takes over the piano parts of the songs that are streamed via the Enspire Controller for Android and Apple iOS. The audio files in the app are optimised for the piano and remove the sounds that the Disklavier can take over from the audio file. The result is spectacular. I don't know much about pianos, but I do know what good music sounds like and how it can touch listeners. I have no idea what makes a good grand piano, or whether I have mixed up the names for the instrument in this article. But I do know that I wish everyone had the experience we had at the Yamaha booth, if only for the duration of one song.
The case is clear: we're making a video. No matter how short it is, we want to capture the memory of the moment and share it with you. An unobtrusive stand employee briefly enquired what we were doing and then ran "Clocks" again. By the end of the shoot, we're up to three Coldplay and one jazz tune that another onlooker requested.
We put the camera away and listen a little more. Simply because we're here, having found a few minutes of happiness away from the noise arms race. We say a decent and grateful goodbye and head back into the noise. We feel light, happy and refreshed. So refreshed that we are ready for every shoot and every text.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.